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'Iran changed GPS co-ordinates'
29/03/2007 18:52 - (SA)
Geneva - Global Positioning System (GPS) co-ordinates of two British boats seized with 15 sailors were changed by Iran to make it appear they were in Iranian waters, said Britain's UN envoy on Thursday.
"It was only when we pointed out that the detention (of the 15 British sailors and marines) was inappropriate and in our view unlawful that the co-ordinates were then changed by the Iranian government to be co-ordinates within Iranian waters," said British ambassador Emyr Jones Parry.
He told reporters that he would be pressing the UN security council to adopt later in the day a "press statement which will make clear the support of the council for the release of the people who in the view of British government have been wrongfully detained".
He expressed hope that the 15 Britons would be released "immediately".
Parry said: "Our position has been consistent for six days. We want these guys all released immediately.
"We think the detention was inappropriate and I hope I can get the security council to rally to that simple proposition."
UK nedds to 'admit truth'
The 15 Britons were captured on Friday in the northern Gulf in what Iran insists were its territorial waters but Britain says they were picked up while on a routine patrol in Iraqi waters.
But on Thursday, Iran demanded an apology from London about what it said was the "illegal entry" of British navy personnel into its waters and defended its decision not to release a woman sailor.
"The logical solution to resolving this affair is for the British authorities to accept the reality, present their apologies to the great Iranian people," said general Alireza Afshar, spokesperson for the head of Iran's armed forces.
He said Britain also needed to "admit the truth and make a commitment not to violate our waters again".
- AFP
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