Newsgroup: italia.firenze.discussioni
Titolo: Londra: ecco le prove dell'agguato ai nostri militari

Londra: ecco le prove dell'agguato ai nostri militari
http://www.ilgiornale.it/a.pic1?ID=167276
Londra - Le immagini riprese dal satellite provano che i marinai
britannici non hanno sconfinato e che si trovavano 1,7 miglia nautiche
all'interno delle acque territoriali irachene nel momento in cui
venerdì scorso sono stati catturati dalle forze iraniane. Lo ha detto
il vice ammiraglio Charles Style che ha mostrato in una conferenza
stampa le prove, basate sulla registrazione del Gps, del fatto che
l'attacco da parte degli iraniani alla Hms Cornwall è stata
«ingiustificata e sbagliata» e che si è trattato di un vero e proprio
«agguato». Non solo, gli iraniani hanno due posizioni diverse della
Cornwall sulle mappe, sostiene l'ammiragliato britannico.
Teheran insiste nel dire che l'imbarcazione britannica si trovava
nelle sue acque territoriali. Intanto, il Foreign Office invita alla
«cautela» di fronte alle notizie, diffuse dalla Cnn turca, della
possibilità che diplomatici turchi possano incontrare il gruppo di
prigionieri britannici. «In questo momento, la cosa principale è che
noi vogliamo poterli incontrare», sottolineando dal ministero degli
Esteri britannico.
E il braccio ferro va avanti. Il ministro degli Esteri britannico
Margaret Beckett ha annunciato oggi ai Comuni il congelamento dei
rapporti bilaterali con Teheran fino a quando i marine non saranno
stati rilasciati. Ma intanto da Riad il ministro degli Esteri iraniano
annuncia, uno degli ostaggi, una donna di 25 anni, potrebbe essere
rilasciata già oggi. «Siamo in una nuova fase. Dobbiamo concentrare
tutti i nostri sforzi per risolvere questa vicenda», ha dichiarato a
Londra il capo del Foreign Office che ha aggiunto: «Imporremo un
congelamento di tutti gli affari ufficiali bilaterali con l'Iran, fino
alla risoluzione di questa situazione». «Nessuno deve dubitare della
serietà con cui consideriamo la questa questione», ha concluso
Beckett. Pochi minuti prima un altro avvertimento era venuto dal
premier Tony Blair. «È giunto il momento - aveva dichiarato durante un
question time ai Comuni - di aumentare la pressione internazionale e
diplomatica» sull'Iran. Londra lavorerà con i suoi partner della Nato
e dell'Onu per raggiungere una soluzione «ragionevole», aveva aggiunto
Blair. Intanto a margine del vertice della Lega Araba a Riad il
ministro degli Esteri iraniano, Manouchehr Mottaki, ha annunciato che
la donna marine, catturata insieme a 14 colleghi maschi, potrebbe
essere rilasciata già entro oggi: «Oggi o domani, la signora sarà
rilasciata». 

Fonte inglese:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2044641,00.html
Britain today released evidence it said proved 15 UK service personnel
seized by Iran last week had been "well inside" Iraqi waters as Tehran
said it would release the sole female captive "today or tomorrow".
Vice Admiral Charles Style, presenting the information at the Ministry
of Defence in London, said the Royal Navy personnel were "ambushed" by
the Iranian navy while 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi territorial
waters.
Speaking soon afterwards, Tony Blair said it was time to "ratchet up
the international and diplomatic pressure" on Iran and demonstrate
Tehran's "total isolation" on the issue.
Article continues
Mr Blair said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, would make a
statement on behalf of the EU later today in which she would make it
clear that the situation was "completely unacceptable".
In a separate statement, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett,
announced the freeze of all other bilateral relations with Iran, with
no visa issued to Iranian officials until the matter is resolved.
"No one should be in any doubt about the seriousness with which we
regard these events," she told the Commons.
Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, took a seemingly
conciliatory line, saying the only woman among the 15 captives,
26-year-old Faye Turney, would be released "today or tomorrow".
Speaking on the sidelines of an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, at
which he is an observer, Mr Mottaki also insisted the UK crew had been
in Iranian waters but said this could have been in error.
"This is a violation that just happened. It could be natural. They did
not resist," he said.
In another development, the Iranian Arabic-language TV station al-Alam
said it would broadcast footage of the captured personnel.
In a newsflash, it said the footage would be aired "later" but gave no
further details, Reuters reported.
At the MoD, Vice Admiral Style, the deputy chief of the defence staff,
said one of the two small British craft intercepted by the Iranian
navy at gunpoint had a GPS (global positioning system) device on
board.
Information from that device, along with further evidence from a
British military helicopter, proved the sailors were operating "well
inside" Iraqi waters when they were seized last Friday, he said.
The GPS relayed information back to HMS Cornwall, the ship the craft
were operating from, meaning it was able to "continuously chart" their
position.
The vice admiral said the Iranians had given two different positions
for where they claimed the Royal Navy boarding party - seized after
they had made a routine boarding of an Indian-flagged dhow suspected
of being used to smuggle cars - had been.
He added that the location given by Iran on Saturday for the British
personnel was inside Iraqi waters. After this was pointed out to
Tehran, Iranian officials provided a second location, around two miles
inside Iranian waters, on Monday.
The Ministry of Defence "unambiguously contested both locations" given
by Iran, the vice admiral said. He told reporters that the detention
of the British personnel was "unjustified and wrong".
The personnel were on patrol in an area in the mouth of the Shatt
al-Arab waterway, which forms part of the border of Iran and Iraq.
Mr Mottaki dismissed the British version of events as "not true",
insisting the UK crew had been in Iranian waters. However, he took a
conciliatory line, saying this could have been in error.
"This is a violation that just happened. It could be natural. They did
not resist," he said.
The situation has been further complicated by the fact that there has
been a dispute over the border between the two countries for decades.
However, Vice Admiral Style said the boarding of the dhow had taken
place 7.5 nautical miles south-east of the al-Faw peninsula in Iran.
On Sunday, a Lynx helicopter operating from HMS Cornwall confirmed the
position after flying over the dhow, whose position had not changed
since Friday's incident, according to its captain.
"The position was 29 degrees 50.36 minutes north, 048 degrees 43.08
minutes east. This places her 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi
territorial waters," Vice Admiral Style said.
After HMS Cornwall lost contact with the British personnel on Friday,
a Lynx was dispatched to the area. By the time it arrived on the
scene, the captured service personnel were already in Iranian waters,
he said.
Today, Mr Blair, told the Commons the seizure of the personnel was
"completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal", saying Britain was in
contact with its allies in the Middle East, Europe and Nato and the
UN.
"Our thoughts are with our servicemen and the servicewoman and their
families, and their safe return is our paramount concern," he said.
David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said there could be "no excuse
for Iran taking our royal naval personnel captive in Iraqi waters".
The foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said Tehran had made it clear
it was not linking the seizure of the personnel with any other
diplomatic issues - the crisis comes as Iran faces increasing UN
pressure over its nuclear programme.
She added that the UK had frozen all other official bilateral
relations with Iran, and the government found it "impossible to
believe, given the seriousness of the incident, that the Iranians
could have made such a mistake with the original co-ordinates".
Government officials have had to calculate the politics of releasing
the details of the British position, with some fearing that doing so
could push Iran into a diplomatic corner.
Mr Blair said he had spoken to the Turkish prime minister, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, who today told Turkish television that Turkish
diplomats could be allowed to meet the British personnel.
British demands to be given consular access to the detained personnel
have so far been denied. Mr Blair's official spokesman said that
although contact by Turkish diplomats was welcome, the UK continued to
seek direct access as a "prelude" to the release of the personnel.
The US state department renewed its calls for the personnel to be
released today. "The sailors need to be released and released
unconditionally," deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
BBC News has reported that they are being held in Tehran, although
this has not been confirmed.