Governement condemns Iran video of British naval personnel

LONDON (AFP) - The government condemned Iran for airing video footage of captured British naval personnel Wednesday, voicing concern about possible coercion as it ratcheted up the pressure for their release.

"I am very concerned about these pictures and any indication of pressure on or coercion of our personnel," said Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.

Iranian state television broadcast footage of 15 British sailors and marines captured last week in which Faye Turney, the sole woman in the group, was shown saying: "Obviously we trespassed in the waters."

The footage was aired after Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) produced evidence it said proved that its sailors and marines held by Iran were "ambushed" in Iraqi waters.

"As we have made clear repeatedly to the Iranian government, such use of these images is totally unacceptable," Beckett said.

Defence Secretary Des Browne told BBC television: "My whole focus is the immediate release of our people and the support that their families need at this very difficult time for them."

Asked if it was reassuring to see the 15 safe and well, Browne replied: "I'll know if people are safe and well when they're back home with their families where they should be."

British officials say the sailors and marines were carrying out a routine anti-smuggling operation in line with international law and under a United Nations resolution in support of the Iraqi government.

Beckett added: "I am particularly disappointed that a private letter has been used in a way which can only add to the distress of the families."

This was a reference to a letter released by the Iranian authorities, purportedly written by 26-year-old Turney, in which she said she had apologised to the Iranians for trespassing into Iranian waters.

The hand-written letter, also shown on Iranian television, was addressed to her mother and father.

"We have comprehensively demonstrated today that our personnel were operating inside Iraqi territorial waters," said Beckett.

Military chiefs at the MoD used maps and GPS coordinates to argue that the naval personnel were clearly within Iraqi territorial waters at the northern end of the Gulf when they were seized last Friday.

The sailors were 1.7 nautical miles (3.15 kilometres) inside Iraqi territorial waters, Vice-Admiral Charles Style, deputy chief of the defence staff, told reporters.

The MoD said it disputed two sets of coordinates provided by Tehran, one inside Iraqi waters and one inside Iranian waters.

"It is is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," Style said. "In any case we unambiguously contest both the positions provided by the Iranians."

The MoD announcement marked a decisive switch from private to public diplomacy.

Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed Wednesday to intensify pressure on Iran over its seizure of the naval personnel, saying Tehran faced "total isolation" in the increasingly tense stand-off.

"It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure" on Tehran, Blair told parliament, adding that "there was no justification whatever" for the detention of the Britons in the Gulf.