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Iran releases Iraqi sailors
Eight Iraqi sailors detained by Iran after a weekend clash in a shared waterway have been released, but the body of a ninth sailor has not yet been repatriated. General Ahmed al-Khafaji, the deputy Iraqi interior minister, said the sailors were released early on Friday through the Shalamcha border police station near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and Basra, 550km (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The body of the ninth sailor who was killed in the clash was to be released on Saturday, al-Khafaji added. Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.Al-Khafaji said two Iraqi boats detained by Iran during last Saturday's clash were to be handed over on Saturday, but Muhammad al-Waeli, the governor of Basra, said Iran was going to keep the vessels. Iraqi officials had said the sailors were detained on 14 January following a clash between Iraqi and Iranian coast guard ships near the Shatt al-Arab waterway, or Arvand River, in the Arab Gulf. However, the Iranian authorities have denied claims that an Iranian naval vessel fought a skirmish with an Iraqi coast guard ship, instead saying there was a clash between Iranian patrol boats and a merchant ship headed toward Iranian waters. Posted by: Fred 2006-01-21 |
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