2 hikers held in Iran to return to US on Sunday

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

Two Americans released from an Iranian prison will return to the U.S. on Sunday after more being held for more than two years as accused spies.

A spokeswoman for the families says Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were to return from the Middle East on Sunday afternoon. She is declining to publicly release details of their arrival.

The two were released this week. They arrived Wednesday in Oman under a $1 million bail deal and were embraced by relatives. Also on hand was Sarah Shourd, their fellow hiker who was freed by Iran last year.

The three were detained in July 2009 along the Iran-Iraq border. They say they were only hiking in Iraq's relatively peaceful Kurdish region. Last month, Fattal and Bauer were sentenced to eight years in prison.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44652413

[walerosco]

1. Correction

2 "hikers" held in Iran to return to US on Sunday

Wink Wink Wink :)

[MineralMan]

2. Why the delay?

I guess it takes some time to be properly "debriefed."

[buckrogers1965]

3. Duplicate.

Removed

[buckrogers1965]

4. Does anyone believe they were actually hikers?

I love how the MSM has a story about these poor "children" wandering off and being picked up by "evile" Iran.

[SkyDaddy7]

5. I do...These two were young adults...

Way too many people try to make EVERYTHING into a secret CIA plot. They were on foot in the middle of nowhere...HIKING. Folks act like they were caught with surveillance equipment, cameras & C4 near one of Iran's nuclear facilities.

The background of these 3 (Below) is such everyone here on DU should be proud of them for their world view 7 what they were doing to try & make the world better prior to getting arrested by the Iranians...Who probably crossed over into Iraq to get them. But NO NO NO the "EVERYTHING IS A CIA PLOT" crowd has no use for FACTS much like Young Earth Creationist, Flat Earthers, Anti-Moon Landers, 9/11 Truthers, Holocaust Deniers, Climate Change Deniers, etc., It is truly SAD that people could care less about who these 3 were & instead choose to spread lies with ZERO EVIDENCE to back them up!

Last time I checked Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch do not work to get US spies/CIA contractors released from captivity...Or does Amnesty International work for the CIA too?

"...Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report, their extended pre-trial detention is a violation of Iranian and international law. Their detention is arbitrary and inhumane and we call on the Iranian authorities to show Shane and Josh the same compassion they have shown Sarah and release them without further delay."

"Shane, a freelance journalist, and Sarah had been living in Damascus, Syria, at the time of their trip to Kurdistan. Sarah had been due to return to her job teaching English to Iraqi refugees a few days after their arrest. Josh, an environmental and global health advocate, had been visiting his friends on vacation after working as a Teaching Fellow on an International Honors Program study trip that brought him to India, China and South Africa.

Shane, Sarah and Josh are all graduates of the University of California at Berkeley. They care greatly about our world and have a documented record as advocates for social and environmental justice. They admire and respect different cultures and religions and share a love of travel that has taken them to many countries. That is why they went to Iraqi Kurdistan, not because they wanted to enter Iran."

http://freethehikers.org/

[Ohio Joe]

8. +1 - nt

[elocs]

6. Maybe, but you have to be more stupid than a bag of hammers to hike the Iraq/Iran border.

What next? Hike the border between North and South Korea?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. They aren't poor children, but I do believe they are hikers

Dumb hikers, with way too much money and time on their hands, who thought this was a "cool" adventure they could brag about to their fellow trust fund babies will sipping wine spritzers and dining on fois gras.

Some people, despite all the benefits handed to them, were holding the door when brains were passed out.

[lib2DaBone]

7. What I don't understand.. is who paid the Million Dollar Ransom?

Im glad they are free.. but..

I'm sure that if I was arrested on a border... there would be very few people come forth and pay $1 Million for my realease.

So how do these 2 rate? Just wondering...?