Prayers for these fine men.
Posted on 06/23/2004 10:52:48 AM PDT by knak
Iran Postpones Talks on Releasing British Sailors, Contradicting Reports That They Were Freed
The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran June 23, 2004 — The release of eight British sailors has been postponed at least until Thursday, Iranian state television reported Wednesday, contradicting reports that the men were already freed. There was no immediate clarification. Hours earlier, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told The Associated Press the eight Britons had been released.
The sailors were detained Monday for illegally entering Iranian waters as they traveled in three boats on a waterway that runs along the Iran-Iraq border.
Iran's Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam broadcast an urgent evening report that said: "The second round of talks on the British detainees is postponed until tomorrow, Thursday."
There was no previous indication, however, that any talks had been under way. The station had earlier reported that the sailors' release could be delayed to Thursday.
Wouldn't the Brits know if they had been released?
I have full confidence that President Carter will resolve the situation.
(sarcasm tag not necessary I hope)
Any news from your side of the pond?
Tomcat man was correct.!!!!!
UK Govt Cannot Confirm Iran Has Released Crewmen
Reuters
Wed Jun 23, 2004 07:19 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said on Wednesday it was unable to confirm media reports that Tehran had released eight British naval crewmen who were arrested on Monday after straying into Iranian territorial waters.
"I cannot confirm that," a foreign office spokesman said. "We have not been told that they have been released, however we have been told that they will be released."
One would think this spokeswoman would know what she was talking about. Afterall, that IS her job.
Typical BS. NEVER trust the word of these Islamofascists.
It's all over the other news sites that they have not been released.
Let em go, dammit.
The Iranians are good at psychological games, probably as good as anyone in the world. They're just not as good as we are at making things go boom. We really need to keep this struggle with the Iranians on terms where we have the adavantage. Time for some boom boom.
The Brits are having their faces rubbed in excrement by the Mullahs, IMO -- the price of doing business in Iran.
Seriously. I hope the next news I hear is that a crack team of SAS BMF's have freed the hostages, and a boatload of Iranians are left dead in their wake.
You don't think they would have been stupid enough to have actually let something untoward happen to one of these guys?
BUMP!
A Thatcheresque response is called for.
Prayers for these fine men.
Iran said it would to free eight Royal Navy personnel arrested for straying into its territorial waters on the border with British-occupied southern Iraq, as state television showed them being marched blindfold and apologising for their "mistake".
Although Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi declared that the six Marines and two sailors would be released Wednesday, talks between the hardline Revolutionary Guards and British diplomats on the modalities of the handover dragged on late into the evening.
"Negotiations are continuing," said a British Foreign Office spokesman with the delegation in the sweltering far southwest of Iran where the troops were captured on Monday.
Sources close to the sensitive talks said negotiations were centered on whether the team should return to Iraq -- along with their three patrol boats and confiscated equipment -- or be handed over to British embassy staff.
However, as night fell on Iran, it was uncertain if the eight would still be able to make the journey back by boat Wednesday. There were also conflicting messages from Iran over whether their equipment would be given back.
Iranian television meanwhile showed new footage of them being marched around in circles under the hot sun on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab, the strategic waterway that demarcates the southernmost border between Iran and Iraq. They were blindfolded with grubby white rags.
The men were also shown apologising on Al-Alam, the Arabic-language satellite news channel run by Iran's state television network.
"I present my apology to my family, the British government and the Iranian nation for committing this mistake. This will not be repeated, and the lesson we learned was very beneficial," said one, whose comments were dubbed into Arabic.
"When we were arrested, I was very frightened. I did not know what is going to happen to us, but I know now that I have committed this mistake," said the soldier, identified only as Sergeant Harkins.
In the various images broadcast by Al-Alam, the Britons appeared sombre but physically unharmed.
The televised blindfolding and confessions have drawn the ire of Britain.
"We will continue to underline to the Iranian government that we expect the people involved to be treated under the relevant international criteria," a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London.
Britain's top-selling tabloid Sun newspaper simply headlined the word "Sickening".
A member of Iran's armed forces general staff, Ali Reza Afshar, said the decision to free them had been taken in the light of the British troops' insistance during interrogation that their infringement of Iran's territorial waters had been accidental.
Afshar insisted they had been well treated, going as far as to say the Britons had "thanked Iran for its kind hospitality".
The border incident has come amid a fresh downturn in relations between Tehran and London.
Britain was the co-sponsor of a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency last Friday that heavily criticised Iran for failing to cooperate fully with an investigation into its nuclear programme.
Although Britain has refused to speculate on a connection between the nuclear issue and the arrests, Iran has certainly sent a signal of its determination to protect its territory as well as demonstrating its clout in the region.
Al-Alam also showed images of captured equipment, including an array of weapons, communications equipment, GPS navigational devices, night-vision goggles, cameras, the Union Jack and the flag of the Royal Marines Commando Brigade.
Britain says the combined team of Royal Marines and Royal Navy personnel -- involved in training Iraqis to patrol the Shatt al-Arab -- had merely been bringing a repaired boat from Umm Qasr to Basra when they were detained.
British armed forces control the Basra region.
They patrol, in conjunction with Iraqi security forces, parts of the Shatt al-Arab, mostly to combat smugglers and militants seeking to infiltrate Iraq and fight against the US-led coalition.
Britain on Tuesday summoned Tehran's ambassador to London, Morteza Sarmadi, over the incident.
The Iranians are taking a page from John Kerry. They released the sailors before they didn't release them.
LOL
Replace those British patrol boats with some flying our flag. That'll put an end to any of this piracy.
Go ahead, mullah, make our day.
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