Missing Americans Held for Illegally Crossing Border

Source: Agencies, 9-10-2008
The fate of two American journalists suspected to have gone missing in Lebanon isn't anymore unknown...
Indeed, while some Lebanese figures started warning against the seriousness of the "incident," claiming that it "harmed" the country's "reputation and dignity," it has been reported that the journalists were arrested in Syria for attempting to illegally cross the border.
Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, went missing earlier this week after checking out of their Beirut hotel on October 1, when they told friends they had departed the Lebanese capital en route to Tripoli and Aleppo. Their families raised the alarm when they received no news of their whereabouts for days.
A US embassy statement announced that the "Syrian government has informed us that they detained two American citizens as they tried to cross into Syria. We are working with the Syrian government now to confirm they are Mr Luck and Miss Chmela and to gain access to them. For Privacy Act reasons we cannot say more about this case at this time."
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said that "the Syrian authorities arrested two American nationals -- Holly Chmela and Taylor Luck -- because they illegally entered Syrian territory this morning with the help of a smuggler," a Syrian ministry statement said.
"The security services are now interrogating them to find out how they entered without the necessary visas. The two American nationals will be turned over to the United States embassy in Damascus after the necessary procedures are completed."