Hikers' Families Hope Videos Sway Iran

Loved Ones of Captured Americans Release Candid Videos to Show Hikers Were on Vacation, not on Spy Mission

(CBS/AP)  The families of three Americans being held in Iran plan to release video footage that they say proves the three were simply on vacation and had no underhand intentions when they strayed across the border.

Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, have been detained since July 31. They apparently crossed into Iran by accident while hiking in a scenic area in northern Iraq. They have been visited by Swiss diplomats, who oversee U.S. interests in Iran, but have had no contact with their families.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said last week that investigators are still questioning the three and that their fate rests with judicial authorities.

Mottaki gave no other details on the case. But his comments suggested that formal charges could still be possible against the Americans, although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with The Associated Press last month that he could ask the judiciary to "take a look at the case with maximum leniency."

One of the videos, set for release on YouTube Tuesday, shows Fattal performing an impromptu rap song - "Yo, it's hot/It's 'cos I'm in Iraq." - against a backdrop of the city of Irbil in Iraq. A second video shows Fattal, Bauer and Shourd dancing in an unfinished cinder block building.

CBS News station WCCO-TV in Minneapolis broadcast clips of the videos Tuesday morning. (Watch the station's story and the videos in full below)

"These kids were on vacation. They were just traveling; they were having a good time," Nora Shourd, Shourd's mother, said in a phone interview Monday.

"It's obvious they're on vacation. This makes it real clear that they were there having fun," said Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, who lives in eastern Minnesota. "This is a carefree attitude and not an attitude of someone that was meaning to do harm."

Laura Fattal said the videos showed her son looking well and fit - "on top of his game."

But it was hearing his voice that really affected her.

"It took me aback," Fattal said. "I said, 'That's really Josh. And I really haven't heard from him.' When you hear a voice, that pulls at your heart strings."

As for his rapping ability, Fattal said, "Of course I think he's adorable."

More importantly, she said, the two videos show "the harmless nature of all three of them."

Fattal, who lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, said she and the other two mothers traveled to the United Nations Iranian mission in New York on Oct. 15 to deliver a petition signed by more than 2,500 people asking that the hikers be released.

Iranian authorities have had nearly three months to question the hikers, Fattal said, and "I can't imagine what else they're expecting to hear."

The videos were made two days before the hikers were detained. They were shot by Shon Meckfessel, a fourth American on the trip who did not go hiking with the others because he was feeling ill.

Shourd, Bauer and Fattal are friends who all graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. Bauer had been living in Damascus, Syria, with Shourd, his girlfriend. Fattal went to visit them after traveling overseas on a teaching fellowship with the International Honors Program.

Watching the videos has been bittersweet, Hickey said. "It was kind of fun to see that they were having fun and they were being kids. "But it also made me really wonder why they're still being held. It made me miss Shane even more."

Nora Shourd, who lives in Oakland, said she's watched the videos "50 times already."

"It's wonderful to see them. It's wonderful to see Sarah dancing and they're really having a good time," she said. "But then I feel the opposite, which is - Why in the world are they sitting in a jail in Iran?"

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On the Web:

Family Web site: http://freethehikers.org/

[zimexlady]

These hikers had the audacity to think they can enter any area at will. The world has a zillion hiking venuesand it was stupid of them to go to that area while it is so sensitive. They are jeopardizing USA relationships with Iran, provoking them. Six previous episodes should have prevented them from going any where near the border. I will not buy the book when it comes out. They wanted to be in the news and the dancing video was a simpleton's idea of "proving innocence". I do not buy it. I will oppose paying for diplomatic time and tax dollars for these arrogant Americans. Who issued the visa to them?

[Noetical]

I'm sickened by the fact that 3 out of the 7 people who've commented thus far have mentioned their concern over their "tax dollars" being spent on helping these hapless hikers. It's ungracious & petty to disparage people who are facing such adversity. Anyway, I'm not sure what dollars you think are being spent on them, but I can assure you, it's negligible. Most of the money that's being spent on them is coming from the hikers' friends & families, who have been working tirelessly to keep the plight of their loved ones in the public eye, in the anguished hope that it will hasten the hikers' release.

That said, I certainly hope it IS true that there're people working at the State Dept., who are spending some of their tax-payer funded time making phone calls & monitoring the situation. Of course, that's nothing compared to the, oh? $225,635,255,796 the US government has spent in 2009 through The National Flood Insurance Program to help people whose property has suffered flood damage. Most of this money is spent in areas where the property owners KNEW they lived in flood zones. Please tell me...which victims of natural disasters do you think deserve help? Should we refuse to help those who "intentionally put themselves at risk" by living along the gulf coast, since the most costly & deadly hurricanes in the US have hit there? Wouldn't you find it mean-spirited & uncharitable if someone were to complain about the use of "their" tax dollars to help you if your home were destroyed by a flood, an earthquake, mudslide or fire? I'm sure you would...even if you lived in a place where such disasters were common.

Where do you draw the line as to who "truly deserves" help? If you've never done something that made you think afterwards, "Wow I shouldn't have done that! I'm lucky to be alive...or I'm lucky nothing bad happened...", then you've probably never left your bed...even to use the bathroom. By the way, "slip & falls" account for over 20K fatalities per year in N. America. It's the 2nd leading cause of accidental death & disability after automobile accidents...so don't put yourself in danger by taking a shower!

Which victims of car accidents should we help? In 2007, 41K people were killed & 2,491K people were injured in automobile accidents in the US. Anyone who "does the research" is an idiot if they decide to get into a car or cross a street. Furthermore, it's statistically much more dangerous to drive when there are more cars on the road. Do people who are stupid enough to drive to work during rush hour "deserve" the resources of our police, fire & rescue services? Should we spend our tax dollars on helping them?even though they should know the risks? Perhaps we should only help those who have accidents during statistically safe hours of the day. We'd sure save a lot of tax dollars if the city didn't provide fire & emergency medical services during rush hour.

For those of you who think that the National Parks are "comparatively safe," Yosemite Search & Rescue responds to an average of 193 rescues each year. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate it if someone complained about his or her tax dollars being spent on one of your loved ones if they happened to be one of those unlucky enough to need help. By the way, we spend many more tax dollars on search & rescue efforts in our National Parks each year than has EVER been spent on "rescuing" Americans from perils encountered in the area where these hikers were detained. Only a couple of years ago, the LA Times featured the area where they were hiking, describing a resort area to which tourists flock to enjoy "the forested hills enclosing the teal-blue waters of Dukan Lake." None of us were there & most don't know the area, the circumstances or the hikers. At best, it's unfair to pass judgment on whether or not they "truly deserve" help. They've been detained for more than 88 days?They've been denied communication with anyone they know & love for making a simple mistake?for hiking too far in the wrong direction while on vacation.

Hiking & camping anywhere can be risky. I learned that last summer when a friend got pulled under by the current at Kern River while camping. He'd safely camped there hundreds of times, over the course of many years. But familiar places can be dangerous too?Even those who know what they're doing can fall victim to fate & missteps, despite their experience & innate skills. The best we can do is navigate the perils of our daily life with care...whether we're hiking, driving to work or swimming?Doesn't mean something bad won't happen anyway. Perhaps we should all stay at home. But then, if Americans were the type to stay home where it's safe, the only ones occupying N. America would be Native Americans.

Perhaps those of you disparaging these three individuals might stop for a second & pray for their safety. That's what I'm doing?It's what I'd be doing, even if I didn't know & love them.

[tibu987]

With all the places in the world to hike it seems to me to be rather stupid to do it in that part of the world.

It may just be that these two people are not the brightest pair from Berkely.

[jd2408]

They went to school at Berkeley. They lived in Syria. They were only on vacation. OK.

[DawnBroderick40]

It's easy for these armchair critics to drone on about the hiker's "stupidity". Were they naive? Yes. Undereducated about issues? Yes. But please, do they need to be tortured or just executed for it to be enough punishment? C'mon you sound ridiculous. People should be able to roam this earth without interference from these barbaric, archaic and backwards nations. The whole axis of evil there and in neighboring lands should be ashamed of themselves. The only news that comes out of these horrible places is who was killed, blown up, maimed, executed or tortured. Religious fanatics living under the umbrella of terror. It's sad because their countries hold such visual beauty, wasted on their barbarianism.

[thgdriver]

I believe they got what they asked for. I am sick and tired of my tax dollar being used to save the halfwits of this country. Let them serve as examples to others to use the good common sense god gave us.

[averjane]

You're American, you go vacationing in war torn countries and you get detained. What were you thinking would happen? Americans can be so naive and think that they should be able to go anywhere they want and no one will bother them. They will bother you especially because you are American. If you're European it's different. You're no threat and you don't believe in anything they care about anyway. Wake up and realize that even though it "should" be a fair and loving world, it really is not and multiculturalism is not embraced in many nations.

[jd2408]

I saw a video interview of one of their relatives. The couple lived in Syria. They moved there because they liked the culture she said. As far as I am concerned they should be going to the Syrian government on this and should not cost the American tax payers a dime. They are not our problem.

[offtheback]

Our government is sending young Americans to fight and die in this unstable, stoneage rectum of the world and these gems thought it would be a good idea to frolic amongst the devistation? I would love to hear the logic behind that one.
Ever hear of the National Parks right here in the USA. Comparatively safe I would think.
None of my tax dollars need be spent here.