2 American journalists missing in Lebanon

BEIRUT - Two American journalists vacationing in Lebanon have not been heard from since Oct. 1 and are
believed missing, the US Embassy said yesterday, appealing for information on their possible whereabouts.

The two, Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, have been working for the Jordan Times, an English-language daily, and had been expected back in Amman on Saturday, according to the chief editor of the Amman-based paper.

The embassy said the two reportedly left Beirut for the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city where militants and Islamic fundamentalists are known to be active. There have been sectarian fighting and bombings in recent months.

Earlier this week, the embassy issued a statement warning its citizens about potential violent actions targeting Americans in Lebanon and calling on them to be more watchful.

Chmela and Luck arrived in Lebanon on Sept. 29 from the Jordanian capital of Amman on vacation and told a friend on Oct. 1 that they were traveling from Beirut to Tripoli through the coastal town of Byblos that day, an embassy statement said.

They then planned to cross by land into Syria before returning to Jordan on Saturday, the embassy said.

Lebanese security officials said they are searching for Chmela and Luck and are trying to ascertain whether they had left the country.

A Jordanian security official said US authorities in Beirut were investigating and that Jordanian authorities are not involved. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of regulations and the sensitivity of the issue.

Luck, who is from the Chicago area, has been a reporter at the Jordan Times for the past 18 months.

Chmela, whose last US home was in Washington, D.C., worked as an intern at the English-language daily for three months before leaving the job several weeks ago, the paper's chief editor, Samir Barhoumeh, said. She was a clerk for The New York Times in Washington before leaving earlier this year.

Luck, who speaks Arabic, planned to go to visit the Syrian city of Aleppo after passing through Lebanon, Barhoumeh said, adding that as far as he knows Luck did not enter Syria.

Luck's mother called Barhoumeh on Saturday expressing concern, saying her son did not use his credit card since Oct. 1, he said.

Chmela and Luck left their Beirut hotel Sept. 30 after a one-night stay, the hotel manager Nimr Shalala said. "They checked out, took all their belongings, and didn't say anything," he said.