In the early 1980s a wave of kidnapping swept through Lebanon as scores of Western journalists, diplomats and academics were abducted at gunpoint across the Muslim controlled sectors of the country.

It was widely believed that the Western hostages were kidnapped by Shiite Lebanese militias working on behalf of Iran. Many of the hostages became bargaining chips used by Iran to pressure the United States, France and Britain to accept a number of demands.

The wave of abductions frightened away Beirut's large expatriate community. The hostage crisis led to the scandal in which the U.S. Ronald Reagan administration tried to exchange arms from Central America for the Beirut hostages.

The announcement of the disappearance of Taylor Luck, 23, and Holly Chmela, 27, was made by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut Wednesday. The two American journalists went missing after leaving their Beirut hotel on Oct. 1. The couple said they were headed for the northern part of Lebanon past Byblos and to Tripoli, and then planned on traveling on to Syria before returning to Jordan.

The two journalists were on vacation in Lebanon and had arrived in the Lebanese capital from Amman on Sept. 29, where they intended to return on Oct. 4 after traveling through Syria. Luck is a journalist at the Jordan Times and Chmela had recently completed an internship at the New York Times and was in the region to learn Arabic.

The Lebanese government must act immediately to secure the safe return of the two journalists. Lebanon cannot afford to allow a repetition of the 1980s. It would be disastrous for the financial wellbeing of the country. The onus is on President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to do everything in their power to put an immediate stop to such barbaric acts and prevent Lebanon from reverting to devastating habits of the past.

Missing Americans Being Held by Syria

THE SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY has said that the two U.S. journalists are being detained in Syria for entering the country illegally.

"The Syrian authorities arrested two American nationals – Holly Chmela and Taylor Luck – because they illegally entered Syrian territory this morning with the help of a smuggler," the ministry said in a statement.

"The security services are now interrogating them to find out how they entered without the necessary visas. The two American nationals will be turned over to the United States embassy in Damascus after the necessary procedures are completed," the statement said.