Re: "A British mother paraded on state TV. Forced to wear the hijab, "

[lemnitzer@india.com]

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and read the incisive but brief analysis below:

On Mar 29, 1:52 pm, lemnit...@india.com wrote:
> As if its worse than a mountain of naked people in the Abu Ghraib or
> Guantanamo style or with secret prisons according to the WASHINGTON
> CONVENTIONS !!!! and she suddenly transmogrified from a UK marine to a
> mother ... Brits are truly hilarious !!!
>
> http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=43780
>
> Tensions rise between Iran, UK, as sailors remain captive
> By: Katie Allison Granju, Producer
>
> LONDON - Britain said Thursday that it would seek United Nations
> condemnation of Iran for taking its 15 Royal Navy crewmembers last
> week, as the dispute over the fate of the crew grew.
> Iran, however, said Britain had mishandled the situation and said it
> would not release Britain's lone female crewmember as it said it would
> because it was increasing international pressure.
>
> Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, chastised Britain for having
> "an incorrect attitude" and warned that release of any of the captives
> may not be imminent.
>
> Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that the promised release of sailor
> Faye Turney would be suspended. And Larijani, head of Iran's supreme
> national security council, hinted on Iranian state radio that the crew
> could be put on trial, saying, "This case may face a legal path."
>
> Britain insisted that it was not seeking a confrontation over the
> crew, even as the exchange of words and demands between the two
> nations escalated in tit-for-tat fashion.
>
> FIND MORE STORIES IN: Iraq | Iran | Iran | London | Britain | British
> | Tony Blair | Mottaki | Larijani
>
> ON DEADLINE: Iran backs off release
>
> MORE:Iran delays release of female captive
>
> On Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, had told
> BBC television that Turney would be "released very soon." Mottaki also
> said that Iran would allow British diplomats to visit the crew,
> although he didn't say when.
>
> Iran maintains that the British crew was taken into custody after
> trespassing into its territorial waters in a narrow waterway that
> separates Iran from Iraq. Britain, however, says the crew was
> conducting a routine anti-smuggling inspection of a merchant ship 1.7
> miles inside Iraqi waters when the crewmembers were "ambushed" by
> Iranian gunboats.
>
> The mounting crisis has kept oil prices near six-month highs on
> worries that a prolonged confrontation could disrupt Gulf oil
> supplies. It has exacerbated tensions between Iran and the West, which
> already were high over disputes about Iran's uranium enrichment
> program. Iran says its nuclear program is to generate power. The West
> fears that it could be turned into weapon production.
>
> After failing to gain the crew's release through quiet diplomatic
> channels, the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair
> ratcheted up the pressure on Iran on Wednesday. It cut off trade and
> travel contact with Iran, made public the satellite coordinates of the
> crew and vowed to bring international pressure on the Iranian
> government.
>
> Larijani said, "British leaders have miscalculated this issue" and
> were making a "fuss" over the dispute.
>
> British newspapers expressed outrage at having the crew paraded before
> television cameras and in response to a letter that Turney allegedly
> wrote to her parents, in which she wrote that the crew had
> "apparently" entered Iran's territorial waters.
>
> "We were out in the boats when we were arrested by Iranian forces as
> we had apparently gone into Iranian waters," the letter, a copy of
> which was sent to The Associated Press, said. "I wish we hadn't
> because then I'd be home with you all right now."
>
> The Daily Mail of London found the TV footage disgusting. "A British
> mother paraded on state TV. Forced to wear the hijab," it blared on
> Page One.
>
> And most editorial writers warned that Iran was severely damaging its
> credibility in the world at a time when it couldn't afford it by
> continuing to insist that the crew had trespassed.
>
> "All it does is isolate Iran further," The Daily Telegraph of London
> wrote. "Enlightened self-interest, as well as simple justice, demands
> the captives' release immediately."
>
> Although the crisis appeared to be spinning out of control, Middle
> East analyst Rosemary Hollis with London's Chatham House international
> think tank said that it still could be resolved without further
> escalation.
>
> The key, she said, is for Britain to focus on the actual dispute over
> the location of the incident and to ensure that the crew is not
> punished for any perceived disagreement over their precise location.
>
> The worst scenario, Hollis said, is to give Iran any cause to turn the
> incident into a wider fight against the United States and the West
> over its nuclear program or allow the crew to be turned into hostages
> that could be swapped.
>
> U.S. forces in Iraq are holding five Iranian officials who were taken
> into custody in January in northern Iraq in an Iranian liaison office.
> The officials had been suspected of having ties aimed at targeting
> Iraqi and coalition forces.
>
> So far, Iran has said the current incident is not linked to any other
> issue.
>
> Contributing: Wire reports