Syria's Foreign Ministry said Friday that armed groups in central Homs province rejected to hand over the bodies of two slain foreign journalists to the authorities.

"Out of humanitarian motives, the competent authorities in Homs sent Friday ambulances of the Syrian Red Crescent and delegated a number of Homs' elders to convince the armed groups in restive Baba Amr neighborhood to hand over the bodies of the two foreign journalists as well as other journalists who are working illegally in Syria," the ministry said in a statement carried by state-run SANA news agency.

"Despite hours of strenuous efforts, the armed groups in Baba Amr refused to hand over the bodies of the killed journalists as well as the injured French reporter," the statement said, adding that "this delay would further jeopardize the life of the injured journalist and would delay the deliverance of two bodies to their countries."

The journalists killed on Wednesday in Homs are Marie Colvin, an American working for Britain's Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik. At least two other foreign journalists have been wounded, one in very serious condition.

Witnesses say rockets hit the house they were using as a media center in the Baba Amr district. Both of the killed were veteran war correspondents. Colvin lost an eye when she suffered a shrapnel wound while working in Sri Lanka in 2001.

Ochlik was born in France and first covered the conflict in Haiti at the age of 20. Most recently, he photographed the violence in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

After the journalists' death, Syrian Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said he was not aware of their presence in Syria and urged journalists who had entered the country illegally to "go to the nearest center to regularize their status."

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi urged on Thursday foreign journalists to respect regulations in Syria and avoid sneaking illegally into the country.