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Iran refuses to release sailor
29/03/2007 14:56 - (SA)
Tehran - A defiant Iran said on Thursday it would not release as promised a British woman sailor captured along with 14 male colleagues because of Britain's "incorrect" attitude in the escalating crisis.
The announcement by the head of Iran's supreme national security council Ali Larijani came a day after London said it was freezing ties with Tehran and despite the intervention of UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.
"It was announced that a woman in the group would be freed, but (this development) was met with an incorrect attitude. Naturally, (the release) will be suspended and it will not take place," he said on state television.
In London, the foreign office gave no immediate reaction, with a spokesperson simply reiterating: "We continue to press for their release."
Iran has resisted mounting international pressure to free the 15 who were captured by Tehran in northern Gulf waters on Friday, although it had said on Wednesday that woman sailor Faye Turney would be released within a day or two.
Iranian state television ran footage of Turney and her 14 male colleagues on Wednesday, in which she said they had strayed into Iranian waters - triggering a furious reaction in London which suspects she spoke under duress.
Pressing for release
The foreign office reiterated its assertion that the British personnel were within Iraqi waters when seized, after Iran reportedly demanded an admission from London that it had made a mistake.
"We continue to press strongly for their immediate release," a spokesperson said, recalling that Prime Minister Tony Blair had said the Iranian actions were "completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal".
In Riyadh, the UN secretary general discussed the standoff with Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki, although there was although there was no immediate sign of progress.
"The issue of the British soldiers was addressed by the secretary general" during a meeting which lasted over one hour, said a UN source.
The British embassy in Tehran also said it still had no news on their fate.
"We have no information for the moment about a consular visit with the 15 sailors and the release of Faye Turney," said a British diplomat.
"Ambassador Geoffrey Adams has asked for another visit with foreign ministry officials. We are awaiting a response."
'Obviously we trespassed'
Iran's Arabic language Al-Alam television showed the Britons having a meal and featured Turney, 26, wearing a black headscarf and saying: "Obviously we trespassed in the waters."
"They were friendly, very hospitable, very thoughtful. Nice people," she said of her captors, who have kept them at a secret location and not allowed them any contact with British diplomats.
Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett said she was "very concerned" about the pictures and "any indication of pressure on or coercion of our personnel" who she said were on a routine operation in accordance with international law.
- AFP
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