American Journalists Missing in Lebanon

Two American freelance journalists on vacation in Lebanon went missing earlier this month, and Lebanon being Lebanon, we're all worried.

Taylor Luck, 23, and Holli Chmela, 27, arrived in Lebanon on September 29th from Amman, where they both work for the Jordan Times, an English-language Daily. (Ms. Chmela is reportedly on leave from the Washington Desk at the New York Times where she worked as a news assistant). According to the US Embassy -- which today sent out a press release seeking information about their whereabouts -- the two were last heard from on October 1st when they told a friend by phone that they were traveling from Beirut to the northern city of Tripoli, and then planning to cross by land to Syria. Taylor's mother told the Associated Press that her son hasn't used his credit card since that same day.

One of the reasons we're worried is that Tripoli has been a scene of fighting between Sunni Muslim extremist groups (possibly funded by Saudi Arabia) and Alawite Muslim groups (possibly supported by Syria.) A bomb targeting a Lebanese army bus exploded in Tripoli on Sep 29th. Did Taylor and Holli get dragged into this feud somehow? So far, no one has claimed any credit for their disappearance.

In the back of our minds, though, there's another reason to be worried. Between 1982 and 1992, 96 foreigners were taken hostage in Lebanon, including 25 Americans, possibly by groups related to Hizballah, and were used as pawns in regional political games. And though though there is no reason to suspect Hizballah this time -- north Lebanon is well outside their territory -- even the thought that some group out there may be reading from that old playbook is enough to make every foreigner in Lebanon shiver.

For now though, we just hope that Holli and Taylor are safe.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut