Mystery surrounds navy crew

2004-06-22 19:18

Baghdad - British forces in Iraq remain completely in the dark as to why three craft carrying eight British crew were detained by the Iranian authorities, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The eight, who have been training Iraqis to patrol the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms the country's southern boundary with Iran, were bringing a repaired boat from Umm Qasr port to Basra when they were detained, he said.

"We have no idea why they were taken at this particular point in time," said Squadron Leader Spike Wilson, a spokesperson for the British forces who control southern Iraq from their headquarters in Basra.

He said the two patrol boats and a light combat support boat were unarmed, although the crew were carrying "personal weapons", as they negotiated the waterway strewn with fishing nets and detritus from the Iraq-Iran war.

"The Iranians are claiming that we went over their international boundary. That's not something that's unusual, to be perfectly honest."

He said he did not know the exact location of the team in the 33-48km stretch of waterway when they were taken, or at what time.

"The first we heard was on one of the Arabic news channels which was about midday (on Monday)," he said.

"But at that time the patrol wasn't overdue and we weren't worried, and we didn't immediately put the two together."

Officials in Tehran have said they will charge the eight, who have been shown on television unharmed, with violating Iran's border. Iranian officials have described the crew as heavily armed commandoes.

Contacts with Iranian troops along the border area have generally been described by British sources as cordial, and the incident is the most serious in the sensitive area since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in April last year.

- SAPA