On arriving back in Amman in the early hours, Taylor Luck and Holli Chmela told their employer the Jordan Times they had been abducted by a taxi driver and accomplice who were supposed to take them legally across the border.

They were arrested by the Syrian authorities for illegally entering the country and held for eight days while they were being interrogated.

They were turned over to the US embassy in Damascus early Friday before travelling on to Jordan.

Luck, 23, said "we had planned to take a bus from Tripoli (Lebanon) to Homs (Syria), but the bus station was closed and a taxi driver offered to take us across the border, saying he was licensed to make such trips.

"He took us with another driver and on the way went off the main road," Luck said. "I asked him where the border was but he did not answer.

"As he continued driving, he locked the car doors and asked us to hand over our money, but we refused to give him anything. At that moment, a military car showed up and pulled him over and without a word took our bags, passports and cellphones and took us into their vehicle."

Luck and Chmela, 27, had arrived in Beirut on holiday on September 29.

The pair said they had intended to obtain visas at the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing and to complete their holiday in Syria before returning to Jordan by land.

Speaking of the ordeal after their detention, Luck said "we did not know whether we were in Syria or Lebanon until we saw a sign for Al-Hosn Castle after 20 minutes of driving. Then we knew we were in Syria."

Luck said they did not reveal their profession to authorities and said they were just tourists. The Syrian police told them they would take them to a bus station in Homs but their destination was in fact a prison, where they both were held for eight days.

"I found myself behind bars with more than 30 people, while Holli was locked up in another room. I refused to be separated from her and they finally put us in one room for one night before we were separated again," said Luck.

He said interrogators accused them of smuggling themselves into Syria to cause problems.

"They were filing papers to transfer us to a military prison in Damascus and, by coincidence, an officer saw Holli and recognised her from media footage."

"He asked us: Are you Americans? Are you journalists? Are you the two journalists?'"

He said the prison authorities cancelled the transfer and reported the case to their superiors before they were finally transferred to the US embassy.

"We may have exercised poor judgement, but at the end of the day, we were victims," Luck said.

"Most treated us well and some policemen even allowed me and Holli to meet late at night and talk. A lot of officers were more than understanding of our situation and showed several acts of random kindness."

© 2008 Agence France-Presse