Syria Turns Journalists Over to US

 

     


DAMASCUS – UPI — Two U.S. journalists were handed over to the U.S. embassy in Damascus late Thursday after being detained in Syria.

Taylor Luck, 23, and Holli Chmela, 27, were to be returned to Jordan where they work for The Jordan Times, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported. The Syrian state news agency Sana said Chmela and Luck were picked up Oct. 2 as they entered the country “illegally with the help of a smuggler.”

Officials said they would be handed over to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus after “necessary procedures.” Chmela and Luck traveled from Jordan to Lebanon. They left Beirut Oct. 1, telling friends they planned to visit Syria, taking in Byblos and Tripoli on the way.

Amy Chmela, Holli’s mother, said she talked briefly to her daughter by phone Thursday. “I am thrilled,” she said. “She’s fine. She’s been through an ordeal, but there was no time for her to give us details.”