Video shows held hikers 'harmless,’ says mom of one

It shows them "having a good time and hanging out," said the mother of Minnesota native Bauer.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: October 28, 2009 - 12:05 AM

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Video clips released Tuesday of a Minnesota native and two other Americans shortly before they were captured in Iran nearly three months ago "will prove to Iran" that the three errantly crossed into Iran as mere hikers and did not have political motives in their travels, said one of the captives' mothers.

The video was shot by Shon Meckfessel, a fourth person in the party who stayed behind nursing a cold at their hotel in the Iraqi city of Sulaimania. The others went hiking near Iran's border with Iraq's northern Kurdish region on July 31.

Each of the short clips "basically shows them having a good time and hanging out," said Cindy Hickey, the mother of captured Minnesotan Shane Bauer, 27.

"This expresses their mood," Hickey, of Pine City, Minn., added. "When you see these videos, this will prove to Iran that these kids are harmless."

Since the arrests of Bauer, Joshua Fattal and Sarah Shourd, their families have had no contact with them and no information other than the fact of their detention.

Bauer, who grew up in east-central Minnesota, his girlfriend, Shourd, 31, and Fattal, 27, were arrested during a hike that started in a picturesque area near the Iranian border. An Iranian lawmaker has said the three were being investigated for possible spying. U.S. and Iraqi officials have rejected the allegation.

The video was taken in the Kurdish city of Irbil on July 29. One 45-second clip shows Bauer, Shourd and Fattal dancing and laughing in an unfinished cinder-block building. The other 21-second clip shows Fattal singing an improvised "Iraq rap" with Irbil in the background.

Bauer and Shourd are freelance journalists based in Syria. Fattal works for an environmental group in Oregon. All graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

"If ever there was even the slightest doubt that we were in Iraqi Kurdistan to relax and have fun, this should surely remove it," Meckfessel said in a statement released with the video clips.

"Shane, Sarah and Josh shouldn't still be in jail in Iran 12 weeks later. I hope the Iranian authorities see these clips, realize my friends are harmless young people who may have made a simple mistake and let them come home."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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