[A-List] Ahmadinejad's Easter Gift: Iran Frees Detained British Sailors

[Leigh Meyers]

No comment from the white house so far, but I KNOW the sabers will
continue to rattle...

lcm

On 4/4/07, Yoshie Furuhashi <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
> <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_britain>
> Iran frees detained British sailors
> By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
>
> Iran on Wednesday freed the 15 detained British sailors and marines in
> what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called an Easter gift to the
> British people. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he bore "no ill will"
> toward the Iranian people.
>
> Iranian state television said the 14 men and one woman, who were
> seized while on patrol in the northern Persian gulf on March 23, would
> leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official in London said they would
> be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.
>
> Ahmadinejad's surprise announcement came at a news conference shortly
> after he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard
> commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.
>
> "I'm glad that our 15 service personnel have been released and I know
> their release will come as a relief not just to them but to their
> families," Blair said outside his No. 10 Downing St. office.
> "Throughout, we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not
> negotiating but not confronting, either."
>
> Blair added, "To the Iranian people I would simply say this: We bear
> you no ill will."
>
> --
> Yoshie
>
>