AFP: The EU agreed on Friday to call for the immediate release of the 15 British navy personnel being held in Iran, saying their detention was a breach of international law, EU sources said. BREMEN, Germany, March 30, 2007 (AFP) – The EU agreed on Friday to call for the immediate release of the 15 British navy personnel being held in Iran, saying their detention was a breach of international law, EU sources said.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Germany will express their “unconditional support” for the British government over the week-old crisis,the sources said.
The finalised statement, to be released shortly, will call for the “immediate release” of the 14 sailors and said their seizure was a “breach of international law,” the two sources said.
The text will say that “all the evidence” indicates that the British personnel were in Iraqi waters and had not crossed into Iranian territorial waters when they were detained by Iran last Friday, one of the sources said.
The EU statement is stronger than that of the UN Security Council which on Thursday expressed “grave concern” at the naval personnel’s detention but declined to back Britain with a call for their immediate release.
