Iran charges US journalist with spying ("deeply concerned" Hillary up to her armpits with hostages)

Yahoo ^ | 4/09/09

[Libloather]

Iran charges US journalist with spying
April 9, 2009, 9:42 am

An American journalist jailed for more than two months in Iran has been charged with spying for the US, a judge said on Wednesday, dashing hopes of a quick release days after her parents arrived in the country seeking her freedom.

The espionage charge is far more serious than earlier statements by Iranian officials that the woman had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials and her own assertion in a phone call to her father that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine.

**SNIP**

"We are deeply concerned by the news that we're hearing," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters at the State Department, adding that the administration has asked Swiss diplomats in Iran for the "most accurate, up-to-date information" on Saberi. Though the US has no diplomatic relations with Iran , it has an interests section at the Swiss Embassy.

Officials in the woman's home state who have been pressing for action also expressed concern about the direction her case is taking.

"This is disturbing news and is certainly hard to believe," said Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, noting that at first the government had accused her of working without accreditation. "Now the story is Roxana is a spy? I find this all very hard to believe."

The 31-year-old freelance reporter was arrested in late January. Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, said Saberi has been informed of the espionage charge against her and that he plans to request that she be released on bail until the trial.

[odds]

Thanks.

[odds]

P.S. - perhaps Japan, on her mother part, could get involved to secure her release should US congressmen fail.