Government pushes Iran on kidnapped UK sailors » Central Government » 24dash.com

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary piled the pressure on Iran today to demand the immediate release of 15 British service personnel held captive for five days.

Diplomatic wrangling intensified with Tony Blair saying he was "utterly confident" they had done nothing wrong while Margaret Beckett demanded their safe return in "very robust" terms.

The group of sailors and marines seized last Friday include married mother-of-one Faye Turney and 21-year-old Paul Barton.

Archive photographs and television footage show Mrs Turney in uniform and travelling in a rigid inflatable boat.

All 15 British personnel were detained at gun-point after they boarded a dhow carrying suspicious cargo off the coast of Iraq.

The Foreign Office has maintained pressure on the Iranian government and Mrs Beckett spoke to her counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki for the second time since the affair began.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The Foreign Secretary phoned the Iranian foreign minister today.

"She spoke in very robust terms, re-iterating the UK's concerns about the continued detention of our personnel.

"She demanded their safe and speedy return and immediate consular access so that we can satisfy ourselves that they are safe and well.

"She indicated that the British Government will continue to pressurise the Iranian government on all these points."

It is understood that Mrs Beckett will make a statement to the House of Commons soon.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman was vehement in his defence of the detained service personnel.

He said: "We are utterly confident that we were in Iraqi waters and not just marginally in Iraqi waters but in Iraqi waters.

"It is a case of tactics if and when we have to prove that."

Asked what proof the British might produce, the spokesman replied "because there is a boat which we inspected" but would not elaborate.

Earlier, Mr Blair warned of a "different phase" if diplomatic efforts failed to secure their release.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said he was referring to "a different way" of handling talks, which may involve making public the reasons why the UK was certain the personnel were in Iraqi waters.

"We so far haven't made explicit why we know that because we don't want to escalate this," he said.

"We may have to get to the stage where we become more explicit about why we know.

"We don't want to do that too soon because we would prefer this to be resolved quietly.

"If this is not possible, we may have to become more explicit."

Mr Blair said he thought the recent capture of five Iranians by US forces had "absolutely no bearing" on the situation because the events were different in nature.

"In the end, it is a question really for the Iranian government as to whether they want to abide by international law or not," he said.

The group of sailors and marines have now been held in an unknown location for five days, but are said to be being treated humanely. Mrs Turney has been given privacy.

But the family of the sailor, who has a three-year-old daughter, described her capture as a "very distressing time".

Mrs Turney, whose maiden name was Boswell, was married in 2002 at a village church in Oxon, Shropshire.

The Rev Sue Caddy, from Shelton and Oxon Christ Church, said her colleague, Mary Fearnside, conducted the ceremony but she also knew the family.

She said she had been in contact with the Turneys, who moved from the area some time ago: "Our prayers are always with the people of the Armed Forces.

"But obviously at this time we are praying regularly for the Navy personnel who have been captured, that they are treated well and for their safe release."

A second captive was named by sources today as Paul Barton, from Southport in Merseyside.

He is believed to live with his mother Melanie and sister Stephanie in the Marshside area of the seaside resort.

Neighbours in the tree-lined drive described Barton as a brave young man, who only completed his training with the Royal Marines last year.

It is understood his father is a serving police officer and Barton was a former pupil at Birkdale High School.

The growing diplomatic row between Iran and the UK has seen regular contact between the two countries.

The British Government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in London to the Foreign Office three times over the past five days to repeat demands for the captives to be released.

Although Britain insists its forces were not doing anything wrong, the Iranians have condemned the move as an act of "aggression" and threatened prosecution.

The eight sailors and seven Marines from the Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall were carrying out a routine search of a vessel, which they suspected of smuggling.

They were held at gunpoint by Iranian forces in the mouth of the Shatt al Arab waterway that divides Iran and Iraq.

Shadow foreign minister Keith Simpson said the Ministry of Defence may now need to review the rules of engagement for British forces operating in the area as well as the support available to them.

"The Iranians might have thought twice about using their fast patrol boats if they thought there was an immediate response - probably air power - in the immediate area," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

"There is a very fine balance on this, but I would assume the Government is going to be looking at this very seriously."

Copyright Press Association 2007

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