Chinese Online Class - Bush to Iran: 'Give back the hostages'

WORLD / Middle East

Bush to Iran: 'Give back the hostages'

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-01 15:08

US President Bush listens to a question regarding Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales during a joint news conference with Brazil's President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, not pictured, at Camp David, Md., Saturday,
March 31, 2007. [AP]

CAMP DAVID, Md. - US President Bush on Saturday said Iran's capture of 15
British sailors and marines was "inexcusable" and called for Iran to
"give back the hostages" immediately and unconditionally.

Related readings:
Iran airs second British's apology
Iran broadcasts sailors' apology
Britain seeks to raise pressure on Iran over sailors
UN urges resolution of Iran seizure
Female sailor's release may be delayed
UK rejects demand to admit trespassing
Britain urged to admit navy trespassed
Blair warns Iran standoff could escalate
Blair hopes diplomacy gets sailors back
Iran: Brit sailors may face charges
Blair calls capture of sailors 'serious'

Bush said Iran plucked the sailors out of Iraqi waters. Iran's president
said Saturday they were in Iranian waters and called Britain and its
allies "arrogant and selfish" for not apologizing for trespassing.

"It's inexcusable behavior," Bush said at the Camp David presidential
retreat, where he was meeting with the president of Brazil. "Iran must
give back the hostages. They're innocent. They did nothing wrong."

It was the first time that Bush had commented publicly on the captured
Britons. Washington has taken a low-key approach to avoid aggravating
tensions over the incident and shaking international resolve to get Iran
to give up its uranium enrichment program.

Bush did not answer a question about whether the United States would have
reacted militarily if those captured had been Americans. The president
said he supports British Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to find a
diplomatic resolution to the crisis, now in its second week.

Bush would not comment about Britain's options if Iran does not release
the hostages, but he seemed to reject any swapping of the British
captives for Iranians detained in Iraq.

"I support the prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid
pro quos," Bush said.

Like Bush's words, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments were
his most extensive on the crisis. They tracked tough talk from other
Iranian officials, an indication that Tehran's position could be
hardening.

"The British occupier forces did trespass our waters. Our border guards
detained them with skill and bravery," Iran's official news agency quoted
Ahmadinejad as saying. "But arrogant powers, because of their arrogant
and selfish spirit, are claiming otherwise."

Britain, however, appeared to be easing its stance, emphasizing its
desire to talk with Iran about what it termed a regrettable situation.

"I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen," British Foreign
Secretary Margaret Beckett said at a European Union summit in Bremen,
Germany. "What we want is a way out of it."

Iran appeared unreceptive to possible talks with Britain.

"Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world
arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches," Ahmadinejad told
a crowd in southeastern Iran.

The British sailors were detained by Iranian naval units March 23 while
patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway
that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran.
Britain also insists the sailors were in Iraqi waters.

In London on Saturday, the political wing of the Iranian opposition group
Mujahedeen Khalq said the capture was planned in advance and carried out
in retaliation for U.N. sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. The group
is listed as a terrorist group by Britain, the U.S. and the European
Union.

Blair has expressed disgust that the captured service members had been
"paraded and manipulated" in video footage released by Iran. He warned
Tehran that it faced increasing isolation if it did not free them.

Britain has frozen most contacts with Iran. The U.N. Security Council has
expressed "grave concern" about the incident. The EU has demanded the
sailors' unconditional release and warned of unspecified "appropriate
measures" if Tehran does not comply - a position the Iranian Foreign
Ministry called "bias and meddlesome."

Ahmad Bakhshayesh, a professor of politics in Tehran's Allameh
University, said he's convinced that Iran is prepared to stand its ground
and insist that the British violated Iranian territory.

"Iran will seriously continue the case and will put them on trial,"
Bakhshayesh said. "Only an apology by Britain can stop it. Iran thinks
that Britons trespassed to test Iran's reaction, and now London is trying
to isolate Tehran instead of apologizing."

But British officials are hopeful that diplomacy can resolve the crisis.
The Foreign Office confirmed Saturday that Britain had replied to a
letter received earlier in this week from the Iranian embassy. It
declined to reveal the nature of either letter.

"We have been exchanging letters with the Iranian government, and we will
continue to conduct or diplomatic discussions in private," a spokesman
said on the government's customary condition of anonymity.

Top World News 

� Abe meets Bush, renews sympathy for 'comfort women'

� Bombers strike at Iraqi army, civilians

� Putin firm in final union address

� US House OKs Iraq troop pullout bill

� Japanese PM to meet Bush in summit

Today's Top News 

� China to act on pollution, warming gases

� Yang a popular choice as FM

� Hu, Lien stress cross-Straits peace

� US captures senior Al-Qaida operative

� Yang Jiechi named new FM, replacing Li Zhaoxing

Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours

Learn Chinese, Learning Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet