Lebanon: Two US journalists missing
Two American journalists vacationing in Lebanon have not been heard from since Oct. 1 and are believed missing, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday, appealing for information on their possible whereabouts. The two, Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, have been working for the Jordan Times and had been expected back in Amman on Saturday, the Amman-based paper's chief editor told The Associated Press.
According to the embassy, the two reportedly left Beirut for the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
Earlier this week, the American embassy issued a statement warning its citizens about potential violent actions targeting Americans in Lebanon and calling on them to be more watchful.
Chmela and Luck arrived in Lebanon on Sept. 29 from the Jordanian capital of Amman on vacation and told a friend on Oct. 1 that they were traveling from Beirut to Tripoli through the coastal town of Byblos that day, an embassy statement said. They then planned to cross by land into Syria before returning to Jordan on Saturday, the embassy said.
"The families ... are asking for the public's assistance in providing information on the possible whereabouts of the two U.S. citizens," the embassy stated.
Lebanese security officials told The Associated Press they are searching for Chmela and Luck. The officials said authorities are searching for the two and are trying to ascertain whether they had left the country. A Jordanian security official said U.S. authorities in Beirut were investigating and that Jordanian authorities are not involved.
Taylor, who is from the Chicago area, has been a reporter at the Jordan Times for the past 18 months. Chmela, whose last U.S. home was in Washington D.C., worked as an intern at the English-language daily for three months before leaving the job several weeks ago, the paper's chief editor, Samir Barhoumeh, said.
Taylor, who speaks Arabic, planned to go to visit the Syrian city of Aleppo after passing through Lebanon, Barhmoumeh told The AP, adding that as far as he knows Taylor did not enter Syria.
Chmela and Luck left their Beirut hotel Sept. 30 after a one-night stay, the hotel manager Nimr Shalala said. "They checked out, took all their belongings and didn't say anything," he told The AP.