Md. woman missing in Aruba; travel partner held

FREDERICK, Md. — An American man detained in Aruba denies he had anything to do with the disappearance of a woman vacationing with him on the Caribbean island, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Attorney Michael Lopez said his client is being unjustly held in the disappearance of 35-year-old Robyn Gardner of Frederick, Md.

In Frederick, Gardner's boyfriend of two years, Richard Forester, said he just wants her back. The two fought but made up before she left for the trip, Forester claimed.

Lopez said in a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press that Gary V. Giordano has told Aruban police that the woman disappeared in strong ocean currents while they were snorkeling.

Aruban authorities reported that Gardner was last seen Aug. 2 at the Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino in Oranjestad. The Aruba Prosecutor's Office said Giordano told authorities he was going snorkeling with Gardner behind Nanki Country Club when he signaled her to return to the beach, but she didn't show up.

She has not turned up despite days of air, land and sea searches by Aruban police, coast guard and divers, officials said in a statement obtained by NBC News.

Giordano "emphatically denies" any wrongdoing, his lawyer said in a statement. Giordano had sought to leave Aruba on Friday because he was told he wasn't a suspect and didn't have to stay.

Police detained the 50-year-old Giordano as he attempted to leave "for further questioning on the possible drowning of the woman," the prosecutor's office said.

A Facebook page was set up to discuss the disappearance.

According to an Aruban newspaper, Giordano and Gardner had met on an online dating site.

For many people, this case is all too familiar, NBC station WHAG in Hagerstown, Md., reported.

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"I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it's another missing United States citizens, female in Aruba and blonde and beautiful," said Forester.

Gardner had been staying in the same resort Natalee Holloway disappeared from back in 2005.

Forester contacted the Natalee Holloway Resource Center in Washington, D.C., which helped spread news of Gardner's disappearance. The organization that provides assistance to the families of missing people.

While the case has not been escalated to a murder investigation, Aruban officials believe Giordano played a role in the disappearance.

"They said they have her computer, her iPad and I asked them a couple of hours ago when I was talking to them, have you gotten into it yet and they told me they're working on it," explained Forester.

Forester, who had fought with Gardner about her trip with Giordano before she departed, says the last words they exchanged were "I love you." Now they're words he hopes to hear once again.

"They told me they were sending the BlackBerry to the Netherlands because they were more capable of getting into it there," explained Forester. "They told me that the FBI is involved, the Interpol is involved and I said you know I want that BlackBerry put in the FBI's hands."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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US warns Pakistan over diplomat travel curbs

WASHINGTON — The United States has warned the Pakistani government that its diplomats in the U.S. could be hit with travel restrictions similar to those recently imposed on American diplomats in Pakistan unless Pakistan lifts its restrictions, U.S. officials said Monday.

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The State Department said the U.S. and Pakistan were working to end the spat, the latest irritant in already strained ties, and it was confident the dispute would be resolved quickly. But the officials said Pakistan had been told the Obama administration would consider reciprocal steps to retaliate for the restrictions set down last month by Pakistan's foreign ministry if they are not rescinded.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to comment on the warning but said "reciprocity is always a consideration" when dealing with such matters.

"We are working cooperatively with the government of Pakistan to resolve the issue," Toner told reporters. "We've met with Pakistani officials on this matter both in Washington and in Islamabad, and we believe it can be resolved. The issue is the right of our diplomats to freely travel."

Pakistan's foreign ministry in June issued rules forcing American diplomats to get special permission five days in advance to leave the capital of Islamabad, including to Pakistani cities in which the U.S. maintains consulates.

This led to an incident in which a carload of U.S. diplomats was refused entry to Peshawar after driving from Islamabad. Toner said travel between the two cities no longer appears to be a problem. Toner also noted that U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter had been briefly delayed from boarding a domestic flight to Karachi at the Islamabad airport because he was not carrying a special pass.

"We obviously raised our concerns," Toner said, adding: "We feel that we're making progress towards resolving the issue."

Latest sign of a breakdown
The imposition of the restrictions was the latest sign of a breakdown in ties between Islamabad and Washington since the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani territory on May 2. Pakistan reacted furiously to the raid because it was carried out with no warning to authorities in Islamabad.

The fallout battered an already frayed relationship seen as key to the fight against al-Qaida, and Washington's hopes of reaching a settlement in Afghanistan and withdrawing troops. Pakistan sent home at least 90 U.S. soldiers training Pakistani troops in counterinsurgency and severely cut back on intelligence cooperation.

The Obama administration, which took office pledging to strengthen ties with Islamabad, then announced it was suspending more than one-third of its military aid to the country.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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