[Peace-discuss] Iran seizes Brit sailors

[Ricky Baldwin]

Oh, no.  Could this be the excuse they've been waiting
for?  I tried to find a better article, but even AFP
had less info.  Presumably there will be a dispute as
to whose waters this was in, possibly reminiscent of
the very adult argument Reagan had with Qaddafi...

Anybody know more?  (about this, I mean)
Ricky

Iran nabs British sailors in Iraq waters

By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago

Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors who
had boarded a ship suspected of smuggling cars in the
Persian Gulf off the Iraqi coast on Friday, officials
said.

The British government demanded "the immediate and
safe return of our people and equipment."

The British Navy personnel were "engaged in routine
boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi
territorial waters," and had completed a ship
inspection when they were accosted by Iranian vessels,
Britain's Defense Ministry said.

"We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian
authorities at the highest level and ... the Iranian
ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office,"
the ministry said.

The seizure comes at a time of rising tensions between
Iran and the West, which accuses the Islamic republic
of violating a U.N. calls for it to halt uranium
enrichment and open its nuclear program for
inspection. It also comes amid U.S. accusations that
Iran is funding and arming Shiite militias in Iraq,
worsening sectarian tensions there.

The United States, Britain's chief ally, has built up
its naval forces in the Gulf in a show of strength
directed at Iran. Two American carriers, including the
USS John C. Stennis — backed by a strike group with
more than 6,500 sailors and Marines and with
additional minesweeping ships — arrived in the region
in recent months, ratcheting up tensions with Iran.

A Pentagon official said the Britons were in two
inflatable boats from the frigate H.M.S. Cornwall
during a routine smuggling investigation, said the
official, who spoke on condition on anonymity because
he was not authorized to speak about the incident.

He said the confrontation happened as the British
contingent was traveling along the boundary of
territorial waters between Iran and Iraq. They were
detained by the Revolutionary Guard's navy after
inspecting a merchant ship believed to be smuggling
cars, he said.

A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis
from the southern city of Basra fishing in Iraqi
waters in the northern area of the Gulf said he saw
the Iranian seizure. The fisherman declined to be
identified because of security concerns.

"Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight
multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian
boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the
northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian
boats came and took the two boats with their crews to
the Iranian waters."

In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were
seized by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab between Iran and
Iraq. They were presented blindfolded on Iranian
television and admitted entering Iranian waters
illegally, then released unharmed after three days.

___

Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek in Washington
and Kim Gamel in Baghdad contributed to this report.


 
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