Iran frees British troops

TEHRAN, April 4 (MNA) -- In a humanitarian move which won international praise, Iran decided to release the 15 detained British military personnel as “a gift to the British people” on Wednesday.

“Although Iran has the authority to put the military personnel on trial, they are pardoned and their freedom is the Iranian nation’s gift to the British people,” President Mahmud Ahmadinejad announced at a press conference.

The president granted the amnesty ahead of the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (S) and the Christian Easter holiday, which both occur this weekend.

Britain and the United States welcomed the release.

"We welcome what the president has said about the release of our 15 personnel," a Downing Street spokesman told AFP.

However, Ahmadinejad lashed out at Britain over its handling of the 13-day crisis and handed out a medal of bravery to the commander of the Iranian forces who arrested the 15 British troops on March 23 in the northern Persian Gulf.

"I'm asking (British Prime Minister) Blair to not put these 15 personnel on trial because they admitted they came to Iranian territorial water," Ahmadinejad said.

He also called on Blair to “think about peace, justice, truth and brotherhood instead of occupying other countries and to work for the British people not for himself.”

"Unfortunately the British government was not even brave enough to tell their people the truth, that it made a mistake."

He said no concessions had been made by the British government to secure the releases, but that Britain had pledged "that the incident would not be repeated.”

The Presidential Office said that the sailors and marines will fly home on Thursday morning.

"Following the amnesty granted by the president, a team at the Presidential Office is making coordination to arrange the flight of the marines to their home country tomorrow morning," an official told IRNA on Wednesday.

The president received the sailors and marines and they exchanged friendly remarks one by one with the president.

They thanked the president for the amnesty and said that Iranians treated them in a friendly and hospitable manner.

Blair hailed the release, insisting there had been "no negotiation" to secure their freedom.

He also reiterated that London was committed to resolving disputes peacefully with Tehran.

France welcomed the "happy ending" to the crisis.

"France hails the announcement of the release of the British sailors," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.

Russia also welcomed the surprise announcement.

"We view this as a goodwill gesture on the part of the Iranian leadership," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani held talks with Blair's chief foreign policy advisor, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, which yielded a statement from Downing Street saying both sides favored an "early resolution".

Before the announcement that the British military personnel would be released, Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel welcomed the change in Britain’s tone over the issue.

London’s decision to change its “propaganda tone” is appropriate, Haddad-Adel said here on Wednesday shortly before leaving for a visit to Pakistan.

“The effective measures taken by the British over the past few days have made their tone more logical,” he said.

There is no doubt that the British military personnel’s incursion into Iranian territorial waters is denounced, he stated.

According to AFP, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem also said on Wednesday Syria was mediating between Iran and Britain over the issue.

"We hope that a satisfactory solution will be reached for the 15 British sailors taken prisoner in Iran," Muallem told Kuwait's Al-Anbaa newspaper.

"Such a solution requires quiet diplomacy and Syria is undertaking such diplomacy between the two countries," he said.

RS/MS/HG

END

MNA

News ID 22753