Posted on 06/22/2004 10:48:45 AM PDT by Destro
Iranian TV Shows Two British Sailors Apologizing
A frame grab taken from Iranian television shows what are believed to be four of the eight British crew members detained by Iran after their boats were seized on a waterway between Iran and Iraq. Iranian state television said on June 22, 2004 that Iran would prosecute the sailors, a move likely to fan a minor border incident into a diplomatic crisis. The British government immediately demanded an explanation from Tehran of the report. Photo by Al Alam/Reuters
Tue Jun 22, 2004 01:04 PM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian television broadcast footage Tuesday of two British sailors arrested Monday on the Shatt al-Arab waterway apologizing for entering Iranian territorial waters.
"The team wrongly entered Iranian waters and we apologize for this mistake because it was a big mistake," one of the sailors, identified as Sergeant Thomas Hawkins, said in comments dubbed into Arabic and shown on Al-Alam television.
Hawkins, dressed in military fatigues, said his team of eight sailors had been one mile inside Iranian territorial waters when they were arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Another sailor, chief petty officer Robert Webster, said the team had wrongly entered Iranian waters on a mission accompanying a vessel from Umm Qasr to Basra.
The arrest of the sailors threatened to cause a serious diplomatic rift between Iran and Britain. But an Iranian military official said they could soon be released if investigations show their incursion was not ill-intended.
The Royal Navy personnel appeared in blindfolds on Iranian television Tuesday and the British government summoned Iran's ambassador to London and called for their release.
Some Iranian media reports said the Britons were carrying sophisticated maps and arms and would be prosecuted, but Ali Reza Afshar, deputy head of the armed forces chief of staff, said they could be freed shortly.
So now Iran's "government" is partaking in the latest Al Qaeda tact?
Britannia that is.....
It can be said Iran invented the thing.
Hopefully, the mullahs will soon be overthrown by the Persian people.
Had this been a Royal Navy destroyer, things would have been different, to be sure - this "confession" is a crock, but predictable.
You are such a brave keyboard warrior.
Wow -- how disappointing. Either the sailors whimped out or diplomatic channels whimped out.
Can't blame the IRanians on this one.
British violated the boundaries. And they got caught.
Any nation has the right to nab intruders. Even the Iranians.
You're exactly right. These guys should have committed suicide on Iranian TV.
Just to satisfy you.
Are you kidding me? What kind of wet noodles do you want in your military? APOLOGIZE?? Militaries NEVER apologize.
Give me a break. That's a disgrace to everyone serving in the British armed forces. I guess we can call this COMMON valour...
Hey stuck....you know not of what you speak..
ping
wheres the rest of them? thought there were 8, this sounds fishy to me, are they next to be beheaded by those cowards?
Get them out of the hands of the Mullahs, I suspect a tactic for the seizure of the Brits.
Then we can find out what really happened!!
I wouldn't join the military if I wasn't ready to give my life... that's kind of part of the calling... Instead, the British just got emasculated in front of the world by a bunch of vermin... IRAN??
Come on.
Except the USA!
You , of course realize that confessions made under duress have no meaning and the Brits want their men out alive....
I realize you probably have upfront and personal experience in these matters and have either been captured or negotiated for release of military men captured.
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