Kurdish area sounds like a perfect place for a summer hike? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080100908.html Iran Says Three U.S. Citizens Arrested U.S. Officials Tap Allies for Diplomatic Aid TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz ad_icon COMMENT 52 Comments | View All » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Log In Again? CLOSE We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Discussion Policy Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this article By Nada Bakri Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, August 2, 2009 BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 -- Iranian television said Saturday that Tehran arrested three Americans who crossed the border from northern Iraq. The Americans, two men and a woman, were arrested Friday after they entered Iran while hiking in the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, a Kurdish security official said. A U.S. official in Baghdad said the United States asked the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Iran, to investigate the reports. Iran and the United States broke off diplomatic ties shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979. "We've seen the reports, and we are not able to confirm any details," the U.S. official said. "We have asked the Swiss protection power for information about whether they were detained by Iranians." The Kurdish official said the Americans were tourists who came to the region from Turkey on Tuesday through the Ibrahim Al-Khalil border point in Zakho, Iraq. They visited Irbil, the Kurdish capital, and on Wednesday arrived in Sulaymaniyah, the region's second-largest city, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad. The Americans went hiking between Halabja and Ahmad Awa, a picturesque tourist attraction 55 miles from Sulaymaniyah. "We are talking with the Iranian representatives in the region and the U.S. consulate here to try to find a solution for this problem," said Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of the Kurdish foreign relations department. "But we haven't reached anything yet." Al-Alam, an Iranian television station, said four Americans crossed into the country on Friday, ignoring warnings from border guards that the bounds in the area were not clearly marked. The station said that three were arrested and that the fourth returned to Iraq. Kurdish officials identified the Americans as Shaun Gabriel Maxwell, Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel. They said one of them -- it was unclear which -- remained at a hotel because he was feeling sick. His friends contacted him after they were detained, and he informed the U.S. Embassy of their arrest. He is now at the embassy in Baghdad, Kurdish officials said. Iranian state television reported earlier Saturday that the Americans were U.S. soldiers. "Three U.S. military personnel went missing in an area bordering Iran-Iraq," a news anchor said. "The reason for the presence of these American soldiers is not known."
"went hiking between Halabja and Ahmad Awa, a picturesque tourist attraction 55 miles from Sulaymaniyah." Why would the go there? "Tourists" indeed.
Seriously why can this stuff never be cleared up? They either are or aren't hikers. Surely there's some way of knowing.
Yeah it's so easy to know stuff like "are those random hikers in the Middle East real tourists." It's right up there with 1+1=2.
Well I assume there is some agency in the US which has in its possession documents which can prove whether or not these people work for the government or not. Let's see a history of employment contracts and bank account history. There must be some way of doing it.
No worries. I'm sure Iran will release them in about a month with a parting gift bag and a handshake from Ahmad. Albeit...I have to say hiking around Iran's borders is really stupid because Iran gets a hard-on any time they can catch and parade around "prisoners".
The more I hear about this story the more it doesn't make sense. Either these people were something more than tourists or they were remarkably stupid. On a side note I liked the lead in to the story by local Minneapolis news. They said "this is a tense situation and a new development is likely to ratchet up the tension." The new development, one of the hikers is from Minnesota. of course we all know that Iranians are particularly intent on capturing Minnesotans.
Another strange thing is this case isn't getting the same level of media attention as those Iranian American girl and the Korean and Chinese American girls incidents. Why?
Good question... There may be that Iran is currently overstocked in deaths, false captures and unfair trials... Isn't there something going on there right now?
Yeah. And I'm sure Iran would believe it. Just like I'm sure if the FBI captured some "tourists" from Iran, and Iranian government show us some employment history to prove that they're really tourists, the FBI would simply release them.
Since their names are known, I think the media should at least interview the captured "tourists'" friends and family. Then we can know more about them.
Those cases got plenty of coverage especially since one the journalists arrested by NK was the sister of Lisa Ling. The current situation is new so it is getting more coverage. The local news here in Minneapolis tried to interview Bauer's family but I think they aren't talking.
