Two American journalists who went missing in Lebanon say they were taken by force into Syria.

Holli Chmela and Taylor Luck told their employer, the English-language "Jordan Times" newspaper, that they hired a taxi in Lebanon to take them to an official border crossing with Syria.  But they say the driver locked the doors, took them off the main road, and crossed the border illegally.

The two Americans were detained by Syrian authorities for a week before being turned over to the U.S. Embassy in Damascus.  

They later returned to Amman, Jordan where their newspaper is based.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.