Blair Blasts Seizure of British Patrol

Tony Blair is furious over Iran's capture of 15 sailors and Marines, but so far, diplomatic efforts have not even yielded where they are being held. “I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us,”   Blair sputtered at a European summit, calling the seizure "unjustified and wrong."

An Arabic newspaper in London says the seizure of the patrol, in a waterway between Iran and Iraq,  was ordered so they could be exchanged for a captured leader of the al-Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, being held by the US in Iraq. The unit is believed to be helping insurgents. No exchange has been suggested publicly by Tehran. (More Iraq stories.)