A photographed copy of a third letter
issued by the Iranian Embassy in London purporting to be from British
sailor Faye Turney March 30, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
LONDON,
March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian embassy in London released Friday a third
letter allegedly written by detained British sailor Faye Turney, saying she was
"sacrificed" for the policies of the British and U.S. governments.
"I'm writing to you as a British serviceperson who
has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed due to the intervening policies of the Bush
and Blair governments," the letter said.
The letter, addressed to the British people, said she
had been treated well, unlike the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"Whereas we hear and see on the news the way that
prisoners were treated in Abu Ghraib and other Iraqi jails by the British and
American personnel, I have received total respect and faced no harm," said the
letter.
"It is now our time to ask our government to make a
change to its oppressive behavior towards other people," it said.
The letter was alleged to have been signed by Turney,
dated March 27.
According to Sky News, this letter was released a day
after the second letter purportedly written by Turney, in which the woman sailor
asked the representatives of the House of Commons to withdraw troops from Iraq.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett condemned
Iran Thursday for releasing the second letter, saying it was "outrageous and
cruel."
Downing Street also denounced the move as "cruel and
callous."
Meanwhile, Iran state television released new footage
of a British naval serviceman confessing to entering the Central Asian state's
territory "without permission."
The footage showed Nathan Thomas Summers as saying,
"I deeply apologize for entering your waters ... We trespassed without
permission."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned Iran for
releasing such footage, saying the "parading and manipulation" of British
service personnel would "fool no one."
Blair stressed that Iran would become increasingly
isolated in the international community and had nothing to gain from continuing
the situation.
A total of 15 British naval personnel were seized
last Friday when they were patrolling the waters between Iraq and Iran. Iran
insisted that the British boats illegally entered its territorial waters, but
Britain said its soldiers were in Iraqi waters when they were seized.
The United Nations Security Council has called for an
early resolution of the issue.
A television grab of Nathan Thomas
Summers speaking on Iranian television March 30, 2007. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's state television
showed on Friday a footage of a male British naval serviceman confessing to
entering Iran "without permission."
"I deeply apologize for entering your waters," the
British sailor, identified as Nathan Thomas Summers, said in an interview with
the Al-Alam, Iran's state-run Arabic-language television. Full story>>
TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Another sailor among the
15 British naval personnel seized by Iranian forces last week has confessed to
"illegal entry" into Iranian waters, the official IRNA news agency reported on
Friday.
"We entered Iranian waters illegally and were
detained by Iranian guards," the male sailor was quoted by IRNA as saying.
"I would like to apologize to the Iranian people for
this," he added. Full story
LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Tony
Blair Thursday called for "unconditional release" of 15 British Navy personnel
detained by Iran last week.
In an interview with ITV television, Blair said that
"the important thing is we just keep making it very, very clear to the Iranian
government it is not a situation that will be relieved by anything but the
unconditional release of all our people."
"There's no alternative but to release them and the
longer it goes on, the more the pressure will be stepped up," Blair said.
"The next step is the UN statement. There's a whole
series of measures we can take." Full story
BERLIN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- European Union foreign
ministers will jointly urge Iran on Friday to immediately release the 15 British
sailors captured last week.
At a two-day informal meeting in Bremen, Germany, the
ministers from the 27 EU member states are to warn Iran to end its standoff with
Britain over the sailors as soon as it can, German news agency DPA reported,
citing the diplomats. Full story
TEHRAN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that his country will "positively" examine Turkey's
request to release the female British sailor, state television reported.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged
Iran to allow a Turkish envoy to meet the detained British sailors and also
asked Ahmadinejad to release the only British woman sailor, the report
said. Full story
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