Amidst their ongoing coverage Wednesday night of the terror attacks in Paris, the major broadcast networks failed to report on news that five Syrians had been arrested in the Central American country of Honduras with stolen Greek passports and intended to travel to the U.S.
As they do on a near daily basis, the Fox News Channel program Special Report provided a marked contrast as host Bret Baier carved out a 20-second news brief for this development following correspondent Rick Leventhal’s live shot from Paris.
Baier explained that, while there’s still more to be learned about the arrests, it’s nonetheless worth reporting:
Authorities in Honduras say they have detained five Syrian nationals who were trying to reach the U.S. on stolen Greek passports. Police say there's no indication yet the five have any links to the Paris attacks and whether these five men are somehow tied to ISIS is still a question tonight. Authorities are only saying they were carrying stolen documents.
Here’s more from the AFP:
Honduran authorities have arrested five Syrians intending to make it to the United States with stolen Greek passports, triggering alarm Wednesday in the wake of the Paris attacks launched by Syria-linked jihadists.
The Syrians were arrested on Tuesday as they flew into Toncontin airport serving the Honduran capital and failed to make it past airport security checks, a police spokesman, Anibal Baca, told reporters.
"Five Syrian citizens have been detained and will be taken to our offices to be investigated because it is suspected they are carrying false documents, passports stolen in Greece," Baca said.
They had traveled by air from Syria to Lebanon, then to Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and on to Honduras.
From there they were to make their way to Honduras' second city of San Pedro Sula with the aim of going overland through Guatemala, then Mexico and on to the United States, Baca told AFP.
The relevant portion of the transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on November 18 can be found below.
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
November 18, 2015
6:04 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: 5 US-Bound Syrians Detained in Honduras]
BRET BAIER: Authorities in Honduras say they have detained five Syrian nationals who were trying to reach the U.S. on stolen Greek passports. Police say there's no indication yet the five have any links to the Paris attacks and whether these five men are somehow tied to ISIS is still a question tonight. Authorities are only saying they were carrying stolen documents.
