Two American journalists traveling in Lebanon have been missing and the U.S. embassy feared that they may now in the hands of Sunni extremist groups, local daily Ad-Dyar reported Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday, the two American citizens, Taylor Luck and Holi Chmela, have not been heard from since leaving their hotel in Beirut on Oct. 1.
The statement said that Luck arrived in Lebanon on Sept. 29 from Amman, Jordan for vacation, "the two reported to a friend on Oct. 1 that they were traveling from Beirut to Tripoli via Byblosthe same day. They were then to cross by land to Syria before returning to Jordan."
The two journalists have been working for the Jordan Times and had been expected back in Amman by Oct. 4th, the Editor-in-Chief of the Jordan Times Daily Samir Barhoum said.
The Lebanese daily As-Safir quoting Barhoum as saying that the two missing American journalists did not leave Lebanese territories, or crossed the borders to Syria.
"Our Lebanese friends contacted border authorities at Masnaa, (Lebanese-Syrian borders) and were informed that the two journalists did not cross the borders out," Barhoum told As-Safir daily in an interview.
On Oct. 5, Luck's mother called the newspaper's office and was worried because her son did not withdraw any money from his account during the past several days. She contacted the U.S. authorities who informed her not to leak the news to the press.
Meanwhile, the Ad-Dyar daily reported that the American embassy fears that they are now in the hands of Sunni Salaffi extremist groups connected to al-Qaida.
The Sunni Salaffi groups are active in north Lebanon, mainly in the city of Tripoli which witnessed clashes and terrorist attacks in the past months.
Source: Xinhua
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