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As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan comes to an end this week, Akbar Ahmed, a prominent Islamic scholar, is asking Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to show "Islamic compassion" by releasing three Americans arrested more than a year ago. They are accused of illegally entering Iran.

Josh Fattal, 28, a 2000 graduate of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania; Shane Bauer, 28, of Minnesota; and Sarah Shourd, 31, of California, were hiking in a mountainous resort area of Iraqi Kurdistan and may have accidentally crossed Iran's unmarked border, their supporters say. They were arrested July 31, 2009, and are imprisoned in Tehran.