05/04/2007

British naval crew return to the UK

Fifteen British sailors and marines held captive in Iran have returned to Britain.

The group travelled back to Britain from Iran on a British Airways flight which touched down at Heathrow shortly after midday on Thursday.

They are now being transported to a Royal Marines base in Chivenor where they will have medicals and be debriefed before being reunited with their families.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that the Britons would be released as a "gift" to Britain.

The crew were seized by Iranian forces on March 23 as they took part in a routine operation in the Shatt Al Arab waterway.

Iran claimed that the Britons had strayed into their waters, a claim that has been persistently denied by Britain.

The news of the crew's release was welcomed by Prime Minister Tony Blair who said that he was glad that the crew had been returned to the UK "safe and unharmed".

However, he contrasted the joy at the return of the crew with the "sober and ugly reality" of the deaths of four British soldiers in Iraq today.

(KMcA)


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