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WASHINGTON – Two American hikers held captive in Iran for nearly two years have a big hitter in their corner: boxing champion Muhammad Ali, the self-proclaimed "greatest of all time."

Ali on Tuesday led a prominent group of U.S. Muslims in appealing for the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. The 28-year-old Americans were taken into custody along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 and have been held by Iranian authorities ever since. Bauer's fiancee, Sarah Shourd, was released on bail last year and returned to the United States.