ChristianTroy Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Iran 'to release British sailors' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf will be freed. He repeated allegations that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they would be freed as a "gift" to Britain. He made the announcement at a news conference, in which he also awarded medals to the commanders who captured the British personnel in the Gulf. He said the Britons would be released immediately and taken to an airport. "They are free after this meeting and can go back to their families," Mr Ahmadinejad said. "I'm asking Mr Blair to not put these 15 personnel on trial because they admitted they came to Iranian territorial water," he said, referring to taped "confessions" made by the British sailors and marines. "I ask Mr Blair: Instead of occupying the other countries, I ask Mr Blair to think about the justice, to think about the truth and work for the British people not for himself." Britain says the 15 were in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate when they were captured nearly two weeks ago. It says the confessions were extracted under duress. "Unfortunately the British government was not even brave enough to tell their people the truth, that it made a mistake," Mr Ahmadinejad said. "We have every right to put these people on trial," he asserted. "But I want to give them as a present to the British people to say they are all free." A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "We welcome what the president has said about the release of our 15 personnel. We are now establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release." 'Causing misery' Mr Ahmadinejad also criticised the US-led invasion of Iraq and Israel's war in Lebanon. He used a news conference marking the Persian New Year to condemn the countries he said were behind "misery" and "destruction" in the world. He said there did not appear to be anyone "to stand up and defend the rights of those oppressed". He opened the news conference with references to the Islamic holy book, the Koran, then made a wide-ranging speech about the modern history of the Middle East, while attacking the West. The invasion of Iraq was based on the false premise that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, he said, but even now "the occupation forces continue to stay there and people are still being killed". SOURCE BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6525905.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 .....He repeated allegations that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they would be freed as a "gift" to Britain. Released! They should never have been captured in the first place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 "Unfortunately the British government was not even brave enough to tell their people the truth, that it made a mistake," Mr Ahmadinejad said. Wonder what he actually meant by that. Was getting caught a mistake or entering Iranian waters a mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted April 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 I don't know if they have really been in Iranian territory then it is okay to capture them when you consider what is at stake right now! ...I simply don't know where it happened, if it wasn't on Iranian waters then it was on Iraqi waters, Blair and Ahmadinejad are both not very trustworthy! The whole thing was a joke and the Iran took their chance to use it for a lot of propaganda and the Brits responded with a lot of pussy-idiotic bla bla bla! The one good thing is that the brits finally initiated bilateral talks with the Iran and I hope they will continue that and not only when they want something from them. That could play a key role in the whole war process that is going on right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 >...I ask Mr Blair to think about the justice, to think about the truth... This piece of lying shit talks about truth??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 It's a Easter gift! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkkbound04 Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 The recriminations are yet to be seen,as I said in another thread, having one lot of sailors abducted was unfortunate, two is careless, I very much doubt there'll be a third. Rules of engagement will have changed. JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Don't feel bad. There are plenty of ways to get wars going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCgringo Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 I like that they were given business suits when they were released, do they have Indian tailors there too And who do they send the invoice too ? Thats probably why it took so long to release them , the suits were not ready OC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Crude but effective. The Iranians have really milked this. And we still don't know what kind of deals were made in secret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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