2 journalists missing in Lebanon

Two American journalists vacationing in Lebanon have not been heard from since Oct. 1 and are believed to be missing, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday, appealing for information on the journalists’ possible whereabouts.

An embassy statement said Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, reportedly left Beirut en route to the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

The city is a predominantly Sunni Muslim city where militants and Islamic fundamentalists are known to be active. It has witnessed sectarian fighting in the past few months as well as two car bombs targeting Lebanese troops that killed 25 people and left dozens others wounded.

Earlier this week, the embassy had issued a statement to its citizens about potential violent actions targeting Americans in Lebanon and called on its nationals to increase their security awareness. It said the threats were particularly high in the first half of October.

The embassy says the pair had arrived in Lebanon on Sept. 29 from Amman, Jordan for a vacation and told a friend on Oct. 1 that they were traveling from Beirut to Tripoli through the coastal town of Byblos in the north that day. They were then to cross by land to Syria before returning to Jordan and report to work last Saturday.