02/04/2007

British crew 'admit trespass'

All 15 British sailors and marines detained in Iran have admitted that they illegally entered the country's waters, Iranian state radio has reported.

Previous footage of four crew members - three men and one woman - have been broadcast on Iranian television showing the Britons saying that they had entered Iran's waters.

Footage of Faye Turney - the only woman among those captured - and Nathan Summers was broadcast last week.

The latest footage was broadcast at the weekend and showed Royal Marine Captain Chris Air and Lieutenant Felix Carman. Capt Air said that Iranian maps showed that the group were apparently in Iranian waters, while Lt Carman said that he understood why Iranian people were angry.

However, the footage of the alleged confessions of all the Britons has not been shown on Iranian television. According to an Iranian news agency, the footage was not being aired because of recent changes in the British government's "clamorous" policies. However, later on Monday, previously unseen images of the Britons were shown on Iranian teleivsion although their voices could not be heard.

The Foreign Office said that showing the footage on television was unacceptable.

The British personnel were captured by Iranian forces on March 23. The crew from HMS Cornwall were taking part in a routine operation in the Shatt Al Arab waterway when they were detained.

Iran claimed that the Britons had strayed into their waters. However, the British government denied this and last week, the Ministry of Defence released evidence confirming that the personnel were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi territory when they were seized.

The United Nations Security Council issued a statement last week expressing "grave concern" over the crisis and calling for the personnel to be released.

On Sunday, Iranian students pelted the British Embassy in Tehran with stones and firecrackers during a demonstration.

(KMcA/SP)

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