US hikers' mothers urge Iran to bring sons home

WASHINGTON: The mothers of two US hikers held in Tehran urged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday to bring the men with him to New York when he attends a UN meeting next week but the Iranian leader vowed not to intervene.

The US government also stepped up calls for the release of the two 28-year-old men, who remained in custody after Tehran freed Sarah Shourd, arrested with them when they hiked near the Iran border over a year ago.

"There are still two remaining hikers, that have committed no crime, in custody and detained in Iran," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

"There is absolutely no reason that those two shouldn’t be immediately released by the Iranian government."

However Ahmadinejad remained defiant, telling NBC television in an interview that the case would be left up to the judicial system.

"I think we should not keep ourselves in the position to interfere in the work of a judge," Ahmadinejad said in the interview that aired late Wednesday. "I think we should let the judge and the courts decide about the case."

Ahmadinejad added the two men will need to "prove that they didn’t want to commit any offense."

Earlier Wednesday, the mothers of Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer said the Iranian president should make a gesture when he attends the United Nations General Assembly next week by bringing with him the men, who have been remanded in custody for two months.

"We welcome him to the United States… We say, please, please bring Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer home to the United States and to us, their mothers," said Laura Fattal, a day after the Iranian government freed Shourd.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley expressed hope that Ahmadinejad would make such a gesture, which he said would be a "significant statement to the American people."

Laura Fattal and Cindy Hickey, Shane Bauer’s mother, told NBC television that they were encouraged by Shourd’s release, which renewed their hope that their sons might also be freed soon.

"We have always been very optimistic, but this increases the optimism," Hickey said.

The women said it was with mixed emotions that they watched television coverage of the emotional reunion of Shourd, 32, with her mother Nora in Oman.

"We are so happy that Sarah is with Nora, but I want Josh home and I know Cindy wants Shane home," Fattal told NBC.

Hickey added: "I am so very happy that Nora and Sara are together… can’t wait until that opportunity is given to me."

Iranian authorities arrested the trio of hikers on July 31, 2009 after they strayed into Iran from Iraq, accusing them of "spying and illegally entering the country."

The three said they mistakenly entered Iran after getting lost while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Gibbs also reiterated that the US government had no role in paying the 500,000 dollars bail the Iranian judicial system demanded as a condition of Shourd’s release.

The US government "does not post bail for detained citizens and did not do so in this case," he added.

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