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Iranian Prosecutor Calls for Trial of US Hikers

   VOA News 15 September 2010
   American  hikers  Shane  Bauer,  left,  Sarah Shourd, center, and Josh
   Fattal, sit at the Esteghlal Hotel in Tehran, Iran, 20 May 2010

Photo: AP

   American  hikers  Shane  Bauer,  left,  Sarah Shourd, center, and Josh
   Fattal,  sit  at  the Esteghlal Hotel in Tehran, Iran (file photo â 20
   May 2010)

   Iranian state media say an Iranian prosecutor has called for the trial
   of  the  three  American  hikers  accused of spying in Iran to be held
   soon.
   The  state  news  agency IRNA says prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi
   said  the  case  files  and  indictments were sent on Wednesday to the
   court in charge of investigating the case against the Americans.
   Sarah Shourd, 32, of the U.S., right, embraces her mother Nora Shourd,
   left,  as an unidentified man stands behind, on Sarah Shourd's arrival
   at  the  royal  airport  in  Muscat,  Oman, 14 Sep 2010, after leaving
   Tehran, Iran

AP

   Sarah Shourd, 32, of the U.S., right, embraces her mother Nora Shourd,
   left,  as an unidentified man stands behind, on Sarah Shourd's arrival
   at the royal airport in Muscat, Oman, 14 Sep 2010

   Dowlatabadi's  remarks  come  a  day  after  one  of the three hikers,
   American  Sarah  Shourd,  was  freed on a $500,000 bail and allowed to
   leave Iran after more than a year in prison.
   Shourd  left  behind  fellow  hikers  Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who
   remain  in Iranian custody. Authorities arrested the trio in July 2009
   after  they  crossed  into  Iran  from northern Iraq, accusing them of
   spying  and  entering  the  country illegally. Family members say they
   crossed the border by accident.
   The  32-year-old  Shourd  has  remained  out  of  the public eye since
   arriving in Oman and reuniting with her mother late Tuesday.
   Dowlatabadi  says  Shourd's  bail  was  paid  to  Iran's Bank Melli in
   Muscat, Oman's capital.
   U.S.  State  Department  spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States
   did  not  pay  for  Shourd's  release,  but  that an unnamed entity or
   individual  "provided  sufficient  assurances"  to  Iran to secure her
   freedom.
   In a statement to Press TV before leaving Iran, Shourd thanked Iranian
   President  Ahmadinejad  and  other Iranian leaders for what she called
   "this  humanitarian gesture." Shourd said she was "grateful" and "very
   humbled by this moment."
   U.S.  President Barack Obama welcomed the news of Shourd's release. In
   a  statement  Tuesday,  Mr.  Obama  said  he  is  hopeful  the Iranian
   government will also ensure the return of the remaining two hikers and
   other  Americans  missing or detained in Iran. Iranian authorities say
   Bauer and Fattal's detention will be extended for two more months.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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