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Mom: Video shows hikers in Iraq relaxing

Josh Fattal, 27, seen in an undated handout image from his family, has been detained along with Sarah Shourd, 31, and Shane Bauer, 27, since July 31, 2009 after they crossed into Iran by accident while hiking in a scenic area in northern Iraq. UPI/Courtesy of the Shourd, Bauer and Fattal Families
1 of 5 | Josh Fattal, 27, seen in an undated handout image from his family, has been detained along with Sarah Shourd, 31, and Shane Bauer, 27, since July 31, 2009 after they crossed into Iran by accident while hiking in a scenic area in northern Iraq. UPI/Courtesy of the Shourd, Bauer and Fattal Families

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Video of three U.S. hikers shortly before they were captured by Iran shows they were in Iraqi Kurdistan to relax, one of their mothers says.

Cindy Hickey of Pine City, Minn., mother of Shane Bauer, 27, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the clips should convince the Iranian government the three were not U.S. spies.

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The clips were taken by Shon Meckfessel, who remained at their hotel in Sulaimania because he felt sick while Bauer, Joshua Fattal and Sarah Shourd went for a hike. The three were arrested after they strayed across the border.

"This expresses their mood," Hickey said. "When you see these videos, this will prove to Iran that these kids are harmless."

One clip shows the three dancing and the other Fattal doing an "Iraq rap" with the Kurdish city of Irbil in the background.

Bauer and Shourd, who are boyfriend and girlfriend, were working in Syria as free-lance reporters. Fattal works for an environmental group.

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