US hikers to be freed ‘in two days’: Iranian President Ahmadinejad

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=u.s.-hikers-to-be-freed-8216in-two-days8217-says-iranian-president-2011-09-13

Two American men sentenced in Iran last month to eight years in prison on spying charges will be freed in two days , Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told a U.S. television network.

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were arrested in July 2009 near Iran's border with Iraq, where they say they were hiking in the mountains. A third American, Sarah Shourd, was freed in September 2010 and returned home.

The U.S. network NBC, which interviewed Ahmadinejad in Iran, said in a Twitter message that the Iranian president had told it Bauer and Fattal would be released in two days. The interview was due to air later on Tuesday on NBC's Today show.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Glad they're being released

Ahmadinejad has been getting a lot of positive press lately. Must have hired a real go-getter of a PR firm.

[ljm2002]

2. I'm glad they're being released...

...but I have to say, "hiking in the mountains of Iraq, and oopsie! wandered into Iraq" hardly passes the smell test.

How do you get a visa to travel to Iraq to go hiking? Is it really that easy? And why would you want to? I mean, sure, every place is unique and it might have been on their list. But these are young people, surely they could go to some other place on their list and wait a few years for the war to wind down and things to settle down politically before travelling there. But no, they had to go while the war was raging, while tensions between the US and Iran were extremely high. Like I said, doesn't pass the smell test for me.

[Selatius]

4. As far as hiking destinations go, the Iran-Iraq border would not be my first. nt

[Distant Observer]

6. Wonder if we will ever get a reasonable explanation

[Enrique]

7. i like the North Korean border myself

very pretty in fall. :thumbsup:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Update: This has been confirmed by BBC.

[tblue]

5. Oh I hope so!

This has been a nightmare.

[jwirr]

8. Good.