thedrifter
04-04-07, 06:18 PM
Iran announces release of 15 British sailors
By Nasser Karimi - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 16:17:57 EDT
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his government would release the 15 detained British sailors and marines on Wednesday as an Easter season gift to the British people.
The state news agency IRNA said the crew would leave Iran by plane on Thursday at 8 a.m. (0430 GMT). It cited an unidentified official saying “the formal procedure for the [sailors’] departure is now underway,” but did not elaborate.
After making the announcement, Ahmadinejad shook hands with some of the crew on the steps of the presidential palace. Dressed in new suits, the crew were smiling and thanked him for their release. One crewmember stood politely in front of the president, leaning forward with his hands clasped behind his back as they spoke.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he is happy the service personnel have been released and that Britain took a measured response to the crisis. He said Britain bore “no ill will” toward the Iranian people and expressed hopes future disputes will be resolved through dialogue.
“I’m glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their families that have endured such stress and anxiety,” Blair said. “Throughout we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting, either.”
President Bush, who had condemned the seizure of the Britons and referred to them as “hostages,” also welcomed the news, said his national security spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.
The British sailors’ release would end a 13-day standoff between London and Tehran that was sparked when the crew was seized as it searched for smugglers off the Iraqi coast. Britain denied Iranian claims the crew had entered Iranian waters.
Recent days saw talk of direct negotiations between Britain and Iran, and a decrease in tensions that had risen after Iran broadcast videos in which female British sailor Faye Turney and others “confessed” to violating Iranian territorial waters. Britain expressed outrage over the videos.
Ahmadinejad said the British government had sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry pledging that entering Iranian waters “will not happen again.”
The British Foreign Office responded: “We haven’t gone into detail of what was in the note. But we have said all along we made our position clear” that the crew was in Iraqi waters.
Ahmadinejad’s surprise announcement came shortly after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.
“On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet [Muhammad] ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15,” he said, referring to the Muslim prophet’s birthday on March 30 and the Easter holiday.
“This pardon is a gift to the British people,” he said.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Blair’s office was “establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release.” A Foreign Office spokesman said wanted to “make sure we’ve actually got them in hand, and that they’re safe and well,” before making plans on the route for flying them back to Britain.
An Iranian official in London said the crew members would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran and that it would then be up to the Foreign Office to decide how they would return home.
“They will go through some brief formalities and then they will go to the embassy,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. “They can go on a British Airways flight to Heathrow, they can go through the UAE [United Arab Emirates], it is up to the British Embassy in Tehran in coordination with the Foreign Office here.”
After the news conference, state-run TV showed Ahmadinejad meeting the British crew on the steps of the presidential palace. The men were wearing suits, and Turney wore a blue jacket and floral-patterned blue and white headscarf.
The hard-line president chatted with them, including Turney, through a translator, and a caption to the video said the meeting was taking place as part of the “process of release.”
“We appreciate it. Your people have been really kind to us, and we appreciate it very much,” one of the male crew could be heard telling Ahmadinejad in English.
Another male service member said: “We are grateful for your forgiveness.”
Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi, “You are welcome.”
A group of British service members who were seized by Iran in 2004 were sent back to the British sector of southern Iraq aboard an Iranian commercial flight, after stops in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Ahmadinejad said Iran will never accept trespassing in its territorial waters.
“On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian coast guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters,” he said.
“We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran,” Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad asked Blair not to “punish” the crew for confessing that they had been in Iranian waters when they were seized by Iranian coast guard. Iran broadcast video of some of the crew giving confessions, angering Britain.
He also criticized Britain for deploying Turney in the Gulf, pointing out that she is a woman with a child.
“How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don’t they respect family values in the West?” he asked of the British government.
Ahmadinejad’s announcement came after Iran’s state media reported that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq in January. Another Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, separately seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen in Iraq, was released and returned Tuesday to Tehran.
But the president denied there was any connection, saying, “If we had wanted to exchange Jalal Sharafi with the rest [the Britons] we would have exchanged him for 100,000. But we pardoned them.” He said the decision was “based on humanitarian considerations.”
Iran has denied it seized the Britons to force the release of Iranians held in Iraq, and Britain has steadfastly insisted it would not negotiate for the sailors’ freedom.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said earlier Wednesday that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet with the five detained Iranians in Iraq but gave no further details.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said, however, that American authorities were still considering the request. The spokesman, Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell, said an international Red Cross team, including one Iranian, had visited the prisoners but he did not say when.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that the case of the five Iranians detained in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region in northern Iraq, had no connection with the British captives.
Zebari, a Kurd, said his government had been relaying Iranian requests for a meeting with the five detainees, but could not confirm the request had been approved.
Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.
Ellie
By Nasser Karimi - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 16:17:57 EDT
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his government would release the 15 detained British sailors and marines on Wednesday as an Easter season gift to the British people.
The state news agency IRNA said the crew would leave Iran by plane on Thursday at 8 a.m. (0430 GMT). It cited an unidentified official saying “the formal procedure for the [sailors’] departure is now underway,” but did not elaborate.
After making the announcement, Ahmadinejad shook hands with some of the crew on the steps of the presidential palace. Dressed in new suits, the crew were smiling and thanked him for their release. One crewmember stood politely in front of the president, leaning forward with his hands clasped behind his back as they spoke.
In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he is happy the service personnel have been released and that Britain took a measured response to the crisis. He said Britain bore “no ill will” toward the Iranian people and expressed hopes future disputes will be resolved through dialogue.
“I’m glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their families that have endured such stress and anxiety,” Blair said. “Throughout we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting, either.”
President Bush, who had condemned the seizure of the Britons and referred to them as “hostages,” also welcomed the news, said his national security spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.
The British sailors’ release would end a 13-day standoff between London and Tehran that was sparked when the crew was seized as it searched for smugglers off the Iraqi coast. Britain denied Iranian claims the crew had entered Iranian waters.
Recent days saw talk of direct negotiations between Britain and Iran, and a decrease in tensions that had risen after Iran broadcast videos in which female British sailor Faye Turney and others “confessed” to violating Iranian territorial waters. Britain expressed outrage over the videos.
Ahmadinejad said the British government had sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry pledging that entering Iranian waters “will not happen again.”
The British Foreign Office responded: “We haven’t gone into detail of what was in the note. But we have said all along we made our position clear” that the crew was in Iraqi waters.
Ahmadinejad’s surprise announcement came shortly after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.
“On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet [Muhammad] ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15,” he said, referring to the Muslim prophet’s birthday on March 30 and the Easter holiday.
“This pardon is a gift to the British people,” he said.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Blair’s office was “establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release.” A Foreign Office spokesman said wanted to “make sure we’ve actually got them in hand, and that they’re safe and well,” before making plans on the route for flying them back to Britain.
An Iranian official in London said the crew members would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran and that it would then be up to the Foreign Office to decide how they would return home.
“They will go through some brief formalities and then they will go to the embassy,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. “They can go on a British Airways flight to Heathrow, they can go through the UAE [United Arab Emirates], it is up to the British Embassy in Tehran in coordination with the Foreign Office here.”
After the news conference, state-run TV showed Ahmadinejad meeting the British crew on the steps of the presidential palace. The men were wearing suits, and Turney wore a blue jacket and floral-patterned blue and white headscarf.
The hard-line president chatted with them, including Turney, through a translator, and a caption to the video said the meeting was taking place as part of the “process of release.”
“We appreciate it. Your people have been really kind to us, and we appreciate it very much,” one of the male crew could be heard telling Ahmadinejad in English.
Another male service member said: “We are grateful for your forgiveness.”
Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi, “You are welcome.”
A group of British service members who were seized by Iran in 2004 were sent back to the British sector of southern Iraq aboard an Iranian commercial flight, after stops in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Ahmadinejad said Iran will never accept trespassing in its territorial waters.
“On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian coast guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters,” he said.
“We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran,” Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad asked Blair not to “punish” the crew for confessing that they had been in Iranian waters when they were seized by Iranian coast guard. Iran broadcast video of some of the crew giving confessions, angering Britain.
He also criticized Britain for deploying Turney in the Gulf, pointing out that she is a woman with a child.
“How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don’t they respect family values in the West?” he asked of the British government.
Ahmadinejad’s announcement came after Iran’s state media reported that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq in January. Another Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, separately seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen in Iraq, was released and returned Tuesday to Tehran.
But the president denied there was any connection, saying, “If we had wanted to exchange Jalal Sharafi with the rest [the Britons] we would have exchanged him for 100,000. But we pardoned them.” He said the decision was “based on humanitarian considerations.”
Iran has denied it seized the Britons to force the release of Iranians held in Iraq, and Britain has steadfastly insisted it would not negotiate for the sailors’ freedom.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency said earlier Wednesday that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet with the five detained Iranians in Iraq but gave no further details.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said, however, that American authorities were still considering the request. The spokesman, Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell, said an international Red Cross team, including one Iranian, had visited the prisoners but he did not say when.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that the case of the five Iranians detained in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region in northern Iraq, had no connection with the British captives.
Zebari, a Kurd, said his government had been relaying Iranian requests for a meeting with the five detainees, but could not confirm the request had been approved.
Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.
Ellie