Release of single sailor 'not good enough': Britain
London, - Britain said on Wednesday that Iran's pledge to release a British servicewoman it is holding within the next two days was "not good enough", and called once again for the release of all 15 naval personnel being detained by Tehran. "Obviously the release of one person, one of the military personnel and not the others, is not good enough," a British foreign ministry spokesman told AFP. "All personnel were in Iraqi waters carrying out their duties, under a UN Security Council resolution mandate at the request of the government of Iraq, and we expect them all to be released, and for the British government to have immediate consular access as a prelude to their release." Britain insists the 15, including 26-year-old Faye Turney whom Tehran is offering to release, were on a "routine" anti-smuggling operation inside Iraqi waters when they were seized at gunpoint in the northern Gulf. Tehran, which is already at odds with the West over its controversial nuclear programme, says they entered Iranian territorial waters illegally. The crisis prompted British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to announce a freeze to all dealings with Iran apart from contacts to resolve the standoff that began on Friday with Iran's seizure of the 15 naval personnel in the Gulf. Iran drew fresh condemnation from Britain later Tuesday by parading some of the captive service personnel on state television. The sole woman among them, Turney, was shown admitting that she and her comrades had strayed into Iranian waters but the circumstances of the recording of the footage were unclear.
