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May 24, 2010

Mothers of Detained American Hikers Return to US
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The mothers of the three American hikers jailed in Tehran returned to
the United States Saturday after seeing their imprisoned children for
the first time in nine months. Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal
were detained in July after straying across Iran’s border during a
hiking trip in northern Iraq. Their mothers arrived in Tehran last week
after the Iranian government OKed their visas. Cindy Hickey, the mother
of Shane Bauer, said they were hoping to return home with their
children.

Cindy Hickey: "We will forever savor the precious moments we were able
to spend with our children after such a long and anxious months, many
months, of separation. But we are also very disappointed that when we
went to the airport to return from Iran, Shane, Sarah and Josh had to go
back to Evin Prison. The pain we felt at having to leave Tehran without
our children is almost more than we can bear. Our greatest hope was to
bring our children home with us where they belong."

Nora Shourd, the mother of Sarah, repeated her call for the Iranian
government to release the three hikers.

Nora Shourd: "Shane, Sarah and Josh have done nothing to deserve their
continued detention, and the lack of movement in their case troubles us
greatly. Our children, our families are suffering. The consequences of
tensions and political considerations is beyond any of our control. We
hope that this will soon change, now that the Iranian authorities know
us for who we are—loving mothers who know the pain and share the
heartache of any mother anywhere who is separated from her child in a
prison in a foreign land."



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