Muhammad Ali pleads with Iran's 'Muslim brothers' to release hikers

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali is seeking the release of two American hikers from Iran by lobbying the country's supreme leader in a way that few American dignitaries can: as a brother in Islam.

Arguably the most prominent US Muslim, Ali made his simple, behind-the scenes appeal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February and released his letter yesterday.

Ali's wife said he would be willing to return to the country, which he has visited twice before, to work on the hikers' release if his health allows.

The letter was the second the boxer has sent to Ayatollah Khamenei asking for the Americans' release. The first was sent last year just before a third captive, Sarah Shourd, was released in September, but it isn't known whether the letter had any effect. Ali hasn't received responses to either letter. In the latest later, he asks Khamenei to release Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, who have been held on espionage charges since July 2009, when they were arrested while hiking in northern Iraq near the Iranian border.

"He was hoping his letter would bear some weight in trying to secure the release of these … two idealistic young people," said his wife, Lonnie Ali.

Ali wrote: "Please show the world the compassion I know you have in your heart." He asked Ayatollah Khamenei as a "dear brother" to show the same mercy and compassion for the two men as he did for Ms Shourd.

Mrs Ali said her husband has visited Iran twice before, including a trip in the early 1990s in which he tried to secure the exchange of prisoners during the Iran-Iraq war.

Parkinson's Disease has limited his speech and physical activity. At a rare public appearance in Glendale, Arizona, last week, Ali raised his fists for photographs but otherwise sat still in a chair.

"If we thought that they would be released and if Muhammad's presence would have some impact on that release, then, yes, we would try very hard to make sure Muhammad was able to go," Mrs Ali said. The former boxer is the founder of a center for world peace in Louisville, where he grew up and launched a boxing career that included three world heavyweight titles.

Mrs Ali said Alex Fattal, Josh Fattal's brother, had visited the Alis in Arizona on Tuesday.It was their first meeting.

"We are deeply grateful to Mr Ali and the many other people around the world who know that Shane and Josh absolutely do not deserve to be in prison," the families said in a statement.

The trial for the three Americans began in February, when they pleaded not guilty to the espionage charges. Shourd pleaded not guilty in absentia. The second session of the trial is scheduled for 11 May in Tehran.

The US government has demanded the hikers' release. Their lengthy detention has added to tensions between the two nations.