seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008265571_webafghanstudents14m.html


Five Afghan scholars visiting the University of Washington to work on their master's theses were reported missing after failing to show up for a week of training sessions, university officials said today.

The five were among 38 mid-career government and nonprofit officials in Seattle for a three-month research and training program. They are working toward a master's degree in public policy and administration at Kabul University.

The program is in its second year through the Evans School of Public Affairs. It's also the second time Afghan scholars have gone missing.

"Afghanistan is a country in turmoil and parts of it are quite dangerous. I could speculate that they might have viewed this as an opportunity to disappear into the American fabric and become illegal immigrants," said university spokesman Norm Arkans.

The five men, who are all 30 or younger, attended the first week of training workshops after arriving in late September but failed to show up for the second week of the program and have been missing since Oct. 6, Arkans said.

"They're not violating any laws; they're violating a condition of their visa," Arkans said. The scholars are in the United States on a J-1 visa, which allows extended stays for education or cultural exchange, according to the U.S. State Department.

The university has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, Arkans said, adding that there has been no indication that the men are a security risk.

Two other scholars who participated in the program in 2007 did not return to Kabul, he said.

"They didn't go missing early in the program. They stuck out the program and in the end did not return to Kabul," Arkans said. "We don't want this to happen. It's not around for people to come and use it as an opportunity to immigrate illegally into this country."

University officials are concerned about the integrity of the program, as are the 33 scholars who continue to spend their days in University of Washington libraries.

Arkans said these scholars are essential to the future of Afghanistan, where people like them will build the infrastructure for the country's future. University officials are hoping the five men will return to the program.

The university has hosted international scholars and fellows for more than 20 years. Arkans said disappearances are highly unusual.

"I think people can understand the temptation to want to try to stay in the United States of America. But it's not the way to do it," he said.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

Are they getting flight lessons too?  Take off only?

Coming soon to an area near you, Afghan Suicide Bombers on Parade!  

NOT TERRORISM.

"Afghanistan is a country in turmoil and parts of it are quite dangerous. I could speculate that they might have viewed this as an opportunity to disappear into the American fabric and become illegal immigrants," said university spokesman Norm Arkans.

Wishful thinking.

WA HTF consensus is that they discovered University Ave., Bacon Cheeseburgers and / or porn.

There was one like this in local news too...

www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=804535

Two American journalists whose disappearance prompted a U.S. Embassy alert and a wide search turned up in Syrian custody Thursday after being detained while trying to sneak into the country with smugglers, Syrian officials said. Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, were released later in the day in good condition, the U.S. State Department said. Luck, of Oak Park, Ill., is a 2007 graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin as an international relations major. “They are at our embassy in Damascus, they are in good shape and they are getting in touch with their families,” said deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut launched a search Wednesday with Lebanese authorities after the two failed to return to Amman, Jordan, last weekend from a vacation in Lebanon. They worked for an English-language daily newspaper, the Jordan Times. The two had last been heard from Oct. 1, when they checked out of a Beirut hotel, reportedly headed to the northern port city of Tripoli, site of sectarian clashes and attacks by Islamic militants in recent months. It was not known why they tried to sneak across the border into Syria. They were on vacation but might have sought to report on the widespread smuggling between Lebanon and Syria, particularly through back roads in remote parts of the north. They appeared to have walked into a Syrian troop buildup deployed on the border to crack down on smuggling and Islamic militants that Damascus says infiltrate Syria from the area. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Chmela and Luck were detained Thursday for illegally crossing from northern Lebanon with smugglers. Smugglers are known to be active on the border, bringing goods back and forth along its unpaved mountain roads, and smuggling in people, mainly workers looking for jobs in Lebanon. Last month, President Bashar Assad warned that “extremist forces” operating in northern Lebanon were trying to destabilize Syria. Syrian authorities said the car used in a Sept. 27 suicide attack that killed 17 people in Damascus was brought in from a neighboring Arab country, although they didn’t say which one. Luck has been a reporter at the Jordan Times for 18 months. His interest in Middle Eastern affairs developed during his time at Beloit, and his Arabic skills improved there, college spokesman Ron Nief said. Luck studied in Jordan for a semester during his junior year. “We look forward to reuniting Taylor with the Beloit College campus community in the future and to sharing in his experiences in the Middle East. It will provide an extraordinary learning opportunity for all our students,” Beloit College Interim President Dick Niemiec said in a statement. Chmela worked as a clerk for The New York Times in Washington before going to Jordan this year to study Arabic. She worked as an intern at the Jordan Times for three months before leaving the job several weeks ago, said chief editor Samir Barhoumeh.

-JTP

They're probably just out finding hookers & blow.




They're doing it on the DL so that Allah won't find out.

They ought to put tracking collars on these "students" as soon as they enter our country.

Didn't they already find them in Canada? Yesterday?

This has happened before. As I recall they found all of the people who were missing and all of them had valid reasons for not being at class.

I'm not worried. They'll find 'em and if they don't have a good excuse for disappearing then they'll get sent home.

They found out that you don't get killed in the us for being a homo and are "exploring" the culture.

I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah.

Quoted: I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah.

You actually hope for an opportunity to kill someone?

Quoted: I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah.

having a bad day at the office?

Quoted: Quoted: I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah. You actually hope for an opportunity to kill someone?

You gotta stay alert.

i dont think theyll have as easy of a time blending in. remember in the first men in black movie where the one alien hiding with the mexicans doesnt speak spanish?

Quoted: Quoted: I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah. You actually hope for an opportunity to kill someone?

Were I lucky enough to catch a terrorist in the act? YOU BETCHYA!

They found 'em.


Link

Missing Afghan Scholars Found In Canada, Feds Say POSTED: 1:03 pm PDT October 15, 2008 UPDATED: 6:00 pm PDT October 15, 2008 SEATTLE -- Five scholars from Afghanistan who went missing from the University of Washington have been found in Canada. Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Wednesday that her agency worked with the Canadian Border Services Agency to confirm their whereabouts. Dankers told KIRO that the U.S. part of the investigation is over and that the Afghans violated no U.S. laws. Canada authorities will now handle the issue, she said. Dankers refused to say where in Canada the individuals were located and referred KIRO to Faith St. John of the Canadian Border Services. St. John said a privacy act in Canada prevents her from confirming the report or giving out any other information. Canadian border authorities told KIRO 7 that Afghanis are supposed to be documented to be in Canada. “You do need a visa to come into Canada if you are a citizen of Afghanistan," St. John said. The scholars were visiting the University of Washington to work on their master's theses, and university officials announced Tuesday that the group had failed to show up for a week of training sessions. Two of the remaining 33 students taking part in the same program said they fear their colleagues' disappearance will reflect badly on Afghanistan. "These young men obviously made a choice. I think they knew what they were doing,” said Norm Arkans, a UW spokesman. It’s unknown how the scholars traveled to Canada or how they entered the country. "Canada will obviously have the choice of either allowing them to stay there or sending them back to Afghanistan,” Arkans said.

Quoted: Are they getting flight lessons too?  Take off only?

Nah. It's something different, and something bigger.

"Afghanistan is a country in turmoil and parts of it are quite dangerous. I could speculate that they might have viewed this as an opportunity to disappear into the American fabric and eventually blow some shit up.

fixt

THey're in Hawaii, getting their "Certificates of Live Birth".

Found in Canada....

Probably trying to illegally immigrate - A-stan isn't exactly the best place for someone capable of graduate-level studdies....

If you were an Afghani, wouldn't you do it?

[kazoo]IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN[\KAZOO]

Shit they went the wrong way.

They discovered strip clubs in Vancouver.

They're probably at some strip joint or hookah bar enjoying life's simple pleasures...

Quoted: They discovered strip clubs in Vancouver.

And hookers.
World-class hookers.

height=8

Quoted: height=8 Quoted: I live on the other side of the mountains from Seattle, I can only pray they come to my Area Of Operation and try something stupid. I have more then enough 7.62 waiting to send them to see Allah. You actually hope for an opportunity to kill someone? Sometimes. Why? Is that always a bad thing?

Nice.  

Quoted: They discovered strip clubs in Vancouver.

so history really does repeat itself......

Quoted: NOT TERRORISM.

Not bush's fault.