LOS ANGELES TIMES: Two men and a woman apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in Iraq's mountainous Kurdistan region. The State Department is seeking consular access.
Reporting from Baghdad -- Three Americans who apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan are in Iranian custody, that country's state-run television reported Saturday.
The Arabic-language Al Alam station quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the Americans, two men and a woman, were detained after they ignored warnings from border guards and crossed into Iran in a remote mountainous area about 55 miles northeast of the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniya.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating reports that the three were missing and couldn't confirm any details. The State Department said in a statement that it had asked the Swiss government, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran, to confirm the reports with the Iranians and to seek consular access. >>> Liz Sly | Sunday, August 02, 2009
