DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.K./ IRAN: "AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED, SOMEONE HAD THEIR THROAT CUT"...IRAN WANTS A GOODWILL GESTURE FOR THE RELEASE OF HOSTAGES

Brits: We faced mock execution
By Tariq Panja

ROYAL MARINE BASE CHIVENOR, England -- Lined up against a dank stone wall, the captured British naval troops steeled themselves for the end as masked guards dressed in black cocked their weapons behind their heads.

"Someone said, I quote: 'Lads, lads, I think we're going to get executed,' " Royal Marine Joe Tindell said Friday, recounting events on the second night of what turned into a 13-day ordeal in Iranian custody.

The 21-year-old said the prisoners had believed they were being taken to the British Embassy in Tehran to be released but were instead herded into a cell.

"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall. . . . There were weapons cocking," Tindell told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

One shaken sailor became sick. In his own fright, Tindell mistook the sound from his crewmate. "As far as I was concerned, he had just had his throat cut," Tindell said.

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Iran seeks 'goodwill gesture' from UK

Iran has called on Britain to respond to the release of 15 British military personnel with a goodwill gesture.

Iran's ambassador to Britain suggested that his country would welcome assistance from Britain in securing the release of Iranians held by US forces and over acceptance of its nuclear programme.

Mr Movahedian said: "We played our part and we showed our goodwill. Now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way."

US forces in Iraq have arrested a number of Iranians, including diplomats, in the past and are still holding five. Washington accuses Tehran of aiding militants fighting US forces in Iraq. Iran denies the charge.

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US offered to scare Iran: report

THE US offered to mount aggressive air patrols over Iranian bases during the country's stand-off with Britain, UK media reported today.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, The Guardian newspaper said Pentagon officials offered a series of military options that Britain rejected.

Britain reportedly told the US to keep out of the affair and instead tone down armed forces activity in the Gulf region.

One of the options involved combat aircraft patrolling over Iranian bases to show how serious the incident was, the newspaper said in a front page story.

On March 20, three days before the 15 British marines were seized at gunpoint in the Gulf, a second US aircraft carrier group arrived in the region.

At Britain's request, the two carrier groups, totalling 40 ships plus aircraft, changed their exercises to make them appear less confrontational, the newspaper said.

Britain also asked the US to ensure it kept the rhetoric low-key, The Guardian said.

It reported a consensus was emerging among British, Iraqi and Iranian officials that Iran had not planned to seize the sailors.

"My best guess is that this was a local incident which became an international incident," a British source told the newspaper.

"If this had been between Iranian and American soldiers, it could have been the beginning of an accidental war," said a senior Iranian source.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Brits: We faced mock execution

2) Iran seeks 'goodwill gesture' from UK

3) US offered to scare Iran: report