UK: 15 Marines seized by Iran
POSTED: 8:32 a.m. EDT, March 23, 2007LONDON,
England (CNN) -- Fifteen British Marines on patrol in the Persian Gulf have been "seized" by the Iranian navy, the British Ministry of Defense said.
The Marines were "engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
A U.S. military official who monitors the region told CNN the Marines stopped an Iranian ship suspected of smuggling automobiles, and boarded it for an inspection.
The British ministry's statement said the Marines "completed a successful inspection of a merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters."
The statement added, "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and on the instructions of the Foreign Secretary, the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office. The British Government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."
There was no immediate word from Tehran on the incident.
The British Ministry of Defense said it was aware of an incident and investigating.
The British Foreign Office said Iran's ambassador in London had been summoned and Britain was demanding their immediate safe release, Reuters reported.
An Iraqi fisherman told the news agency said the incident took place early on Friday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that marks the southern stretch of Iraq's border with Iran. His account could not be immediately confirmed.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/23/iran.uk/index.html