Hiker Arrested in Iran Writes for The Jewish Week (Updated) Hikers "Linked to CIA" says Iran - Shon Meckfessel "safe" at US Embassy Baghdad
The three people detained by Iran for crossing the Iran-Kurdistan border illegally are Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer, and Sarah Shourd. Fattal lives in Eugene, Oregon, and the other two Americans are from the Bay area.
KING 5 News (Seattle) has learned that a fourth American who traveled with the group is a Seattle resident. University of Washington PhD student Shon Meckfessel appears to be the one American in the group who was not detained because he was not with the group at the time.
All three of the detained appear to be writers, as is Meckfessel, who authored the book "Suffled How it Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans." In an Amazon review of the book, Meckfessel is described as "a green-haired, banjo-playing anarcho-punk journalist from Sacramento."
Fattal is described as a writer for "The Jewish Week" however, there are only 2 articles on the site authored by Fattal.
Bauer is described as a regular contributor to "New America Media." Shourd is also noted as a contributor to "New America Media."
There is only one article from Shourd at the New America Media site, and 31 from Bauer.
The Iranian state TV report claimed the four Americans were together when they crossed the border, but "only one returned (to Iraq), while the three were arrested."
Shon Meckfessel, the only member of the group not arrested, claimed he did not go on the hike but stayed at their hotel because he was not feeling well.
The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
CNN reports: “My grandson has asked me not to talk to the media,” said Shon's grandmother, Irene Meckfessel of Carmichael, California, before hanging up.
Eugene, Oregon, where Fattal (originally from Philadelphia) lives, is also the home of the black ski-masked anarchists who disrupted the 1999 WTO march in Seattle by using violence and vandalizing storefronts. The ex-mayor of Eugene, Jim Torrey, called it "the anarchist capital of the US".Two of the hikers were "students in Syria."
Stay tuned.
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Update 8/2/09: Hiker's Using Aliases? Or is this a case of misspelled names? How can Fattal suddenly become Steel?
Beshro Ahmed, media adviser for general security in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, identified the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel.
In another report: The US nationals identified as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel were reportedly arrested on Friday after crossing into the country via Iraq's northern Kurdish region.
They had "mistakenly" crossed into Iranian territory Friday while hiking in a mountainous area, Kurdish officials from the self-ruled region were reported as saying.
This is while reports clamed Colonel Anwar Haj Omar of the Halabja police force in northern Iraq on Sunday linked the three to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
"These three people were agents working with the CIA and were arrested near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa," Omar was quoted by Ayandeh news as saying.
Another news item states: The fourth member of the group, who took ill and stayed behind at a hotel, spoke by telephone to the group who told him they were 'being held by soldiers who are not speaking Kurdish or Arabic.
Another report from TEHRAN (FNA)- After three U.S. citizens were reportedly arrested on Friday for crossing illegally into Iranian territory, officials announced on Saturday that Iranian forces have monitored and registered frequent flights by two U.S. drones over Iran-Iraq bordering areas.
Eyewitnesses said that since last night the two U.S. spy planes have been flying over 'Ahmed Awa' area in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan, where the American tourists stayed before crossing into Iran.
Also they said that three U.S. military vehicles also arrived in the region on Saturday morning.
Ahmed named the three as Shane Bower, Sara Short and Joshua Steel, while Shaun Gabriel Maxwell stayed behind in their hotel in the autonomous Kurdish region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah.
Ahmed said the group had originally been in Syria before going to Turkey and eventually crossing the Turkey-Kurdistan border. They stayed in the regional capital Arbil for one night before moving on to Sulaimaniyah.
The reason for the presence of these American nationals is not known. The western media, in the past few days, extensively propagated that these three U.S. personnel have been kidnapped.
OK - so "Shon Meckfessel" is now "Shaun Gabriel Maxwell", and "Joshua Fattal" is now "Joshua Steel". Help, I'm confused.
In local news (Oregon):
Joshua Fattal’s mother, Laura Fattal, of Elkins Park, Penn....A Joshua Fattal was the internship coordinator at Aprovecho Research Center (Cottage Grove, OR - south of Eugene - a "sustainable energy non-profit")...One (family member) said Fattal had left Cottage Grove about a month ago and was planning to travel to India....Fattal posted an entry on his Facebook page on July 17...wrote that he was on his way to Damascus and also that he was planning to be in Kurdistan....In Wednesday entries...Fattal wrote that he is “getting in touch with my roots between the tigres and euphrates valleys …” and that “Iraq is on my mind.”
Another report: The Americans range in age from 27 to 36, and two are studying Arabic in Damascus...Joshua Fattal's father is Iraqi...The hikers' detention will chagrin President Obama, who has been courting better diplomatic relations with Iran in recent months. In May, the American journalist Roxanna Saberi was freed...she had been convicted of spying.
Meckfessel was studying Arabic, his grandmother said: “He’s very much interested in people and languages and he’s working on a Ph.D. in linguistics.”
Meckfessel has a blog. He has also written the essay Standing Challenges to Capitalism in the Balkans in the anthology Confronting Capitalism: Dispatches from a Global Movement a book made as an outgrowth of the 1999 Seattle Anti-WTO march. Meckfessel is associated with two NGO's on his blog, Voice of Roma and Balkan Sunflowers that have to do with Gypsies. Shon Meckfessel's Facebook profile is here showing Sarah Shourd and Shane Michael Bauer as "friends."
According to a blog, "earlier reports say that Meckfessel then left his hotel unannounced, leaving luggage behind" - the luggage was taken out of the hotel by Sulaimaniya security forces - it also states that the hotel clerk saw Meckfessel leave at 4:30 p.m. - the other three hikers were detained at 1:30 p.m. the same day.
Shon Meckfessel's family say they have heard from him and he is safe inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Kurdish authorities stated that Meckfessel was picked up by U.S. Embassy officials.
Shane Bauer has written for The Nation and "lives in the Middle East". Bauer has a website, is a "photojournalist" and has shot a movie about Darfur. As of 2006, Bauer is noted as "a fluent speaker of Arabic".
Sarah Shourd is a writer for Matador Pulse and is said to be from "the Bay area." There is a Facebook profile for a Sarah Shourd from California who is a "teacher/writer at Iraqi Students Project Connections." The profile also says Ms. Shourd is "currently based in the Middle East."
Joshua Fattal's Facebook profile is here. His relatives are Holocaust survivors, he wants to teach people about the Holocaust and he can translate from Hebrew into English.
Fattal was also accepted into Write On For Israel, which advocates for Israel through journalism.
The hikers' plight bears some similarity to the case of the two American journalists in North Korea for illegally crossing the border from China, who are currently due to serve 12 years imprisonment but "may become pawns of the high-stakes diplomatic game of a hostile regime bent on achieving nuclear power status."
Ain't that convenient?
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Update: August 3rd
Here is a pro-Zionist blog that gives another "slant" on who these people are. It seems no one can get this information straight.
Don't you love the lying cover stories of AmeriKa's Zionist MSM?
"Bombs at 5 Shi’ite mosques in Iraq kill at least 29; Despite attacks on sect, July’s casualties low" by Kim Gamel, Associated Press | August 1, 2009
BAGHDAD - .... Meanwhile, the State Department said it was investigating reports that three US tourists have been detained by Iranians while hiking near the border in the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
WTF? WHO HIKES in a WAR ZONE?
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"Conspiracy Trial for 100 Dissidents Begins in Iran" by Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi, New York Times | August 2, 2009
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Also yesterday, efforts were underway to secure the release of three American hikers who were arrested by Iranian authorities after they crossed the Iraqi Kurdistan region's border with Iran, a top Kurdish officials said.
The porous and mountainous border area between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, which is a popular resort and hiking area, is also used by smugglers and Iranian Kurdish guerrilla fighters oppose to Iran's government.
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And why does the Globe IGNORE the DETAILED DEPTH of my LOCAL?
"Iran TV Confirms Arrest of 3 Americans
(SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq) — Iran state TV confirmed Saturday that it has detained three Americans who crossed the border from northern Iraq, saying they failed to heed warnings from Iranian guards.
Kurdish officials from the self-ruled region in northern Iraq said the three -- two men and a woman -- were tourists who had mistakenly crossed into Iranian territory Friday while hiking in a mountainous area near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa.
"The Iranians said they have arrested them because they entered their land without legal permission," said Qubad Talabani, the Kurdish regional government's envoy to Washington.
Iran's state owned Arabic-language al-Alam TV station cited a "well-informed source" in the Interior Ministry that the three Americans were detained Friday after crossing into Iran's Kurdistan province.
The report said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Saturday that Washington had asked the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Tehran, "to confirm these reports with Iranian authorities and, if true, to seek consular access" to the detained Americans.
The detentions were the latest irritant in relations between Iran and the United States, which have had no diplomatic ties since 1979 when militant students stormed the U.S Embassy in Tehran and took Americans there hostage for 444 days. The two countries also are locked in a bitter dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
They also came at a sensitive time for the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government as it seeks to balance delicate ties between its U.S. and Iranian allies. Iraqi security forces recently staged a deadly raid on a camp housing an Iranian opposition group that was protected by the American military for years. The raid was applauded by Tehran.
Kurds occupy an area that sprawls across southwestern Turkey, northern Iraq and eastern Iran. The borders are mountainous and not clearly marked, making them popular smuggling routes for centuries. Iraq's Kurdish region has been relatively free of the violence that plagues the rest of Iraq.
First of all, this is more print about Kurdistan than I've seen in a year!
Turkey has military up there fighting the rebels, but YOU NEVER HEAR a WORD!!!
The second thing is, the newspapers are always saying the EXACT OPPOSITE! That "Al-CIA-Duh" and violence is persisting in the north! See why I don't want to read the newspaper anymore?
Foreigners often feel freer to move around without security guards in the area, and it's relatively easy to enter the region from Turkey, particularly by plane. The Kurdish government generally grants visitors visas valid for one week when they arrive at the airport.
The ethnic minority gained autonomy after rising up against Saddam Hussein in 1991, and the region was protected from his forces by a U.S.-British no-fly zone until Saddam's fall after the 2003 U.S. invasion.
The three Americans had traveled with a companion to Turkey, then entered the Kurdish region Tuesday through the border crossing at Zakho and traveled to Sulaimaniyah, according to the Kurdish regional government. On Thursday, the three took a taxi to Ahmed Awaa, it added.
The regional government's statement said the three went astray during an excursion and were detained by Iranian authorities at the border at about 1:30 p.m. Friday.
"After walking around the area and hiking the mountain, they lost their way due to their lack of familiarity with the location, and entered Iranian territory," it said, pledging to work with U.S. and Iranian officials to find a solution.
Yeah, I'd say so.
The three were last heard from after they contacted a friend saying they had entered Iran by mistake and troops had surrounded them, a Kurdish security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
Yeah, sure they did.
The official said the account came from the fourth member of their group who was feeling sick and had stayed behind in Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.
El STINKO!!!!
The Iranian state TV report claimed the four Americans were together when they crossed the border, but "only one returned (to Iraq), while the three were arrested."
The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
And I bet it won't be -- not in my lying Zionist war propaganda sheet!
The area where the three disappeared is a popular hiking destination known for a picturesque waterfall and rocky scenery as well as a thick growth of fruit and nut trees. The official said camping equipment and two backpacks apparently belonging to the Americans were found in the area and it seemed they were hiking above the waterfall when they accidentally crossed the border.
Are you believing any of this s*** because I am not.
Kurdish officials said U.S. helicopters and Humvees deployed to the nearby city of Halabja to search for the Americans after they were reported missing on Friday but left after it was determined they had been seized by the Iranians.
In March 2007, Iranian forces captured 15 British service members as they carried out a boarding operation in two inflatable boats launched from the HMS Cornwall in waters off southern Iraq.
We HOLD INNOCENT PEOPLE in HIDDEN TORTURE CHAMBERS, so WTF?
Iran charged them with being in its territorial waters, and the government televised apologies by some of the captured crew. They were all eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters where they were authorized to be.
Somehow this got TURNED BACK AROUND toward the IRANIANS?
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I'm going to keep giving you chances, Globe. Don't disappoint me.
"Opposition grows to harsh crackdown in Iran; Conservative seeks trials in bloodshed" by Nasser Karimi, Associated Press | August 3, 2009
TEHRAN - Iranian state TV confirmed it has detained three Americans who crossed the border from northern Iraq a day earlier.
Kurdish officials said the two men and woman were tourists who had mistakenly crossed into Iranian territory Friday while hiking in a mountainous area near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa. One of the Americans was identified as Joshua Fattal, according to Kurdish officials and a statement from his family in Elkins Park, Pa.
--more--"I hate to even think it, but a J....?
So WHAT is the COVER STORY GOING to be, America, over that DISCREPANCY of FOUR or THREE hikers??
"Sick American misses ill-fated hike into Iran; 3 friends captured after student skips trek due to a cold" y Michelle Locke, Associated Press | August 3, 2009
Pffft! WEAK!!!!!!!!!!
I BELIEVE the IRANIANS, not the lying AmeriKan MSM!!!!
Maybe the kid has swine flu, huh?
SAN FRANCISCO - An American linguistics student traveling in northern Iraq didn’t go on an ill-fated hiking trip because he had a cold - a twist of fate that prevented him from mistakenly wandering into Iran, where his three friends were reportedly detained.
The Swiss Embassy in Tehran was working yesterday to learn more about the Americans’ fate through its contacts with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Nadine Olivieri said. Switzerland represents US interests in Iran.
Shon Meckfessel sat out the hike because he had a cold, his grandmother, Irene Meckfessel, told The Associated Press from her home in Carmichael. He called her Saturday from the American Embassy in Baghdad, she said.
They are JEWISH?
Occupation Iraq: Israelis Killing U.S. Troops
Occupation Iraq: Israeli-Trained Death Squads
Oh, the ABSOLUTE STENCH!!!!!!!
The four had traveled to Turkey, then entered Iraq Tuesday and traveled to Sulaimaniyah, according to the Kurdish regional government. On Thursday, one stayed behind while the other three took a taxi to the resort town of Ahmed Awaa, it said.
The regional government’s statement said the three got lost during an excursion and were detained by Iranian authorities at the border. The area where the three disappeared is a popular hiking destination known for a picturesque waterfall and rocky scenery as well as a thick growth of fruit and nut trees.
Yeah, I heard that.
Camping equipment and two backpacks apparently belonging to the Americans were found in the area, and it seemed they were hiking above the waterfall when they accidentally crossed the border, a Kurdish security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.
Shortly before their capture, the three contacted a fourth member - Meckfessel - to say they had entered Iran by mistake and were surrounded by troops, the official said.
Iran’s state TV said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards. It cited a “well-informed source’’ in the Interior Ministry.
One of the missing Americans has been identified by Kurdish authorities as Joshua Fattal. His mother, Laura Fattal of Elkins Park, Pa., issued a brief statement yesterday....
Meckfessel and another of the missing hikers were studying Arabic, said Irene Meckfessel, who raised her grandson. Shon Meckfessel had most recently studied at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The COVER STORY LIES are SO OUTRAGEOUS its INSULTINGLY LAUGHABLE!!!
Yup, STUDY LANGUAGE right in the middle of a WAR ZONE!!!!
“He’s very much interested in people and languages and he’s working on a PhD. in linguistics,’’ she said. In Iran, Swiss diplomats have asked for consular access to the Americans if their presence in Iran is confirmed, Olivieri told the AP. Switzerland has represented US interests in Iran since American diplomats were taken hostage at the embassy in Tehran 30 years ago.
--more--"And the LIES get EVEN MORE BIZARRE!!!!!
See this one day wonder for a clue.
"Friends ID trio detained by Iran, say they were only hiking" by Michelle Locke, Associated Press | August 4, 2009
BERKELEY, Calif. - Shane Bauer, a freelance writer with a passion for travel and the Middle East, planned to spend a week covering the Kurdish elections in Iraq when he checked with his employer last week.
Related: Operation Mockingbird
In an e-mail, Bauer told Sandy Close, executive director of Pacific News Service, that he wanted to “feel out the situation there and get some ideas for deeper stories.’’
“Kurdistan is the big story in Iraq now,’’ Bauer wrote in the e-mail. “I’m off to Kurdistan . . . ’’
Within a few days, Bauer went missing - one of three Americans detained by Iranian authorities.
The status of the three remained unknown yesterday despite efforts by Swiss diplomats to obtain details from the Iranian foreign minister. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also appealed to Iran for information.
How many black hole torture sites and floating prisons do we maintain, bitch?
The three have been identified by friends and relatives as Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Joshua Fattal. A fourth member of the group, Shon Meckfessel, was to have gone on the hike but did not because he felt sick.
SO AM I!!
Close said Bauer was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
After he sent e-mails last week, Close said Bauer had gone backpacking with Shourd, his girlfriend, in a popular tourist area renowned for its scenery. Close doubted that Bauer would have deliberately tried to enter Iran.
“He did not express any interest in going to Iran. He did not speak Farsi, his passion was Arabic,’’ she said.
Bauer has traveled to the Middle East and North Africa and was most recently based in Damascus where he is working on a film about Darfur.
Bauer’s mother, Cindy Hickey of Pine City, Minn., said she is concerned for the safety and welfare of the group and hopes they return safely.
Fattal’s father, Jacob, who runs a tech magazine outside Philadelphia, echoed those sentiments. “All we care about is the well-being of Josh and his two hiker friends,’’ he said.
A Kurdish official in Iraq has said the three contacted a colleague to say they had entered Iran by mistake Friday and were surrounded by troops. Iran’s state television later said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.
Notice how the STORY DISCREPANCIES MAGICALLY DISAPPEARED in favor of this slop?
Bauer and Shourd, both graduates of the University of California at Berkeley, had been living in the San Francisco Bay area. Close described Bauer as “an artist whose first love is photography. He’s also linguistically gifted and just wanted to immerse himself in the Middle East.’’
This just gets BETTER and BETTER!
One of the articles posted on Bauer’s website is a piece written for The Nation about the US-backed Iraq Special Operations Force. Richard Kim, senior editor of the magazine, praised Bauer, saying “he did excellent and meticulous work on that article.’’
So NOW YOU KNOW that the NATION is a PIECE of CONTROLLED-OPPOSITION S*** -- which EXPLAINS their SILENCE on 9/11 Truth!!!!
Kim said Bauer is not currently on assignment for The Nation.
Shourd has written for a number of online publications, including Brave New Traveler. She has also has taught English.
Ross Borden, founder of Matador, an online travel magazine that includes Brave New Traveler, described Shourd as “very professional. She wrote a great story for us,’’
“She’s obviously a professional traveler, as you can see by her latest adventure, going hiking in Iraq,’’ he said. “Not many people go hiking in Iraq.’’
So now their NON-OFFICIAL COVER is REPORTER?
Fattal spent three years recently living with Aprovecho, a group dedicated to sustainable farming near Cottage Grove, Ore. He lived with about nine others and worked as the group’s intern coordinator before leaving about eight months ago, according to Jason Brown, who now holds Fattal’s job.
From January to June, Fattal traveled overseas as a teaching assistant with the International Honors Program, visiting Switzerland, India, South Africa, and China on a global ecology program.
Versatile agenda-pushing spies, you gotta give 'em that.
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