Posted on 03/24/2007 5:48:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
BASRA, Iraq, March 24 (Reuters) - An Iraqi fisherman who said he saw Iranian forces detain British sailors and marines on Friday in a waterway between Iraq and Iran said on Saturday the ship British forces were searching was anchored in Iraqi waters.
Iran has condemned what it called the illegal entry of 15 British naval personnel into Iranian waters as a "suspicious act", the official IRNA news agency said on Saturday.
Britain says they were detained in Iraqi waters on a routine search operation and has demanded their immediate return.
The fisherman, the same one who told Reuters he witnessed the sailors being detained several hours before it was confirmed by the British government, said the line between Iranian and Iraqi waters was not marked by buoys but was well known.
"We've been working in this job for many years and because of our experience we can distinguish which is the Iraqi and which is Iranian side," he said, adding that Iraqi boats never venture across because of tight security by Iranian coastguards.
He said the ship the British forces were searching was among several that had been anchored for a week or more, waiting to unload or take on cargo at an Iraqi port.
"The ship was in Iraqi waters," said the fisherman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
Brigadier Hakim Jassam of the Iraqi coastguard said the incident happened at the entrance of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the open waters of the Gulf narrow into a channel that marks the southern border between the two countries.
"We don't know whether it happened in Iraqi or Iranian waters, we don't have exact information," Jassam told Reuters.
The detention has triggered a diplomatic crisis at a time of heightened tension over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Ping
Ahmanutjob has been saying for weeks now that he could kidnap troops,now he has done it.
He should be given 24 hours to return them or the bombing starts.
If the rumors are true that many Iranians do not agree with Nutjob and the Ayotollah Buttahola they better start doing something fast. Time is running out.
Glass parking lot
Folks, the solution is transparent. Dust off the drawings for the neutron bomb, build two dozen of them and use a dozen of them to completely irradicate the Iranian scientists and the Iranian military and hold the other dozen in reserve for Kim Jong mentally Il and his military and deliver them the next day.
Yes, the Frenchies in Frogville and in Foggie Bottom will scream like stuck pigs, but they will look like the consummate fools they are.
I find the fact that Russia pulling all their scientists and technicians out of Iran and back home tells the story.
They ARE about to get bombed.
The Brits are taking too long to respond.
"He should be given 24 hours to return them or the bombing starts."
I'll drink to that!
Sounds good to me
And not a minute longer
Sorry, what is SAS?
Elite British commandos.
If Blair has half the balls that Margaret Thatcher had, Iran is toast.
SAS are considered by most to be the most intensely trained paramilitary group by a NATO country.
Gotta have been under a rock for a lonnnng time to have not heard of them.
More literal translation is: Special Air Service, but in reality, the eqivalent of Delta Force/ Green Berets.
It's what he really wants. It's the same insanse logic that had Hezbollah start a war with Israel, get their butts kicked, and then declare they won.
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