3 Americans Disappear Near Iran-Iraq Border

[tekisui]

Source: Washington Post

BAGHDAD, July 31 -- Three U.S. citizens disappeared Friday in an area on the border between Iran and Iraq's Kurdish semiautonomous region, an Iraqi security official said.

The Americans could have been arrested by Iranian security forces after crossing the border at Tawila and Biayar, a small town known as a tourist destination about 55 miles northeast of the region's second biggest city, Sulaymaniyah.

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media, said Kurdish border guards and U.S. helicopters were searching for the three missing Americans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073102958.html

[tekisui]

1. UPDATE: 3 American hikers arrested in Iran

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — The U.S. State Department said Friday it was investigating reports that three American tourists have been detained by Iranians while hiking near the border in the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Two Kurdish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said the Americans apparently were arrested after entering Iranian territory without permission.

U.S. helicopters were buzzing overhead and many U.S. Humvees had moved into the Kurdish city of Halabja to search for the Americans, said a Kurdish border force official.

According to a security official, a fourth American who stayed behind at a hotel because he was sick said the missing Americans were tourists hiking near Halabja and the border town of Ahmed Awaa.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjHGpntcqmty1g-XebMWHr2UwDoAD99PM4E80

[robinlynne]

4. wow. That's where I would go hiking...for sure.

[tekisui]

7. Do you like pistachios?

The three contacted their companion on Friday and told him "they had mistakenly entered Iranian territory and that troops surrounded them," the official said, adding "that was the last contact with them."

The mountainous border area is a popular hiking destination and well-known for its thick growth of pistachio trees.

The border force official said Iranian authorities apparently arrested the three Americans because they had entered the neighboring country without permission.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. Embassy "is aware of the report and is investigating. We are using all available means to determine the facts in this case."

http://www.fresnobee.com/649/story/1569455.html

[Oregone]

10. Not that much

[robinlynne]

11. well, before they got "lost in Iran", they were hiking in.....Iraq!

ooh, I can imagine the script being sold right about now....

[NNN0LHI]

2. disappeared? Who writes this shit? Humans don't disappear

Go missing maybe? But not disappeared.

Don

[Mr. Sparkle]

3. CNN are saying 3 American Tourists are missing from Iraq!!

lol , who goes on holiday in Iraq, CIA rejects?

I cant help but feel there is a lot to know about these 3 missing "tourists" ...

[tekisui]

6. Iran is asking them a lot of questions, for sure. Hopefully no 'enhanced

interrogations' will take place.

[bbinacan]

9. I wouldn't jump to conclusions

A good friend of mine married a Kurdish woman from that area and they went hiking in the vicinity when they visited her family.

[Supply Side Jesus]

5. hmmm

I believe the LAPD is somehow responsible

[Turbineguy]

8. Homeless dumping?