Sunday, August 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States said Saturday it has asked Switzerland, which represents US interests in Tehran, to confirm reports that three American tourists were arrested through the border with Iraq. "We have seen Iranian media reports stating that three American citizens have been detained in Iran," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood in a statement."We have asked our Swiss protecting power to confirm these reports with Iranian authorities and, if true, to seek consular access," he said. "The protection of American citizens is our highest priority," he added. In northern Iraq, a Kurdish official said earlier that three US backpackers were arrested after having been warned on the Iraqi side not to hike in the mountains because of the proximity of the border with Iran. Beshro Ahmed, media adviser for general security in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, said the two men and a woman had entered from Turkey earlier along with a fourth American who did not join the trek because he was ill. According to media, Iran detained the three US nationals on Friday after they crossed into the country from Iraqi Kurdistan. Ahmed named the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel, while Shaun Gabriel Maxwell stayed behind in their hotel in the Kurdish region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah. Iranian state television, without quoting a source, said on an earlier Saturday news bulletin that three US military personnel had gone missing near the border. "Three US military personnel went missing in an area bordering Iran-Iraq," the announcer said.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
Comments