European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pages stars and stripes Friday april 6 2007 in the world freed British troops arrive Home by Tariq Panja the associated press Royal Marine base Chivenor England a Royal Navy Crew released after nearly two weeks in Captivity in Iran burst into applause thursday when their flight from Tehran touched Down at London Heath Row Airport a few hours later in warm Spring Sunshine the 15 sailors and marines were reunited with their families at this Marine base Britain prime minister Tony Blair welcomed their arrival but contrasted the rejoicing at the Crews return with the sober and ugly reality of the deaths of four British soldiers in Iraq the Crew left Iran just after 8 am local time and travelled in business class with staff from the British embassy in Tehran Cham pagne was offered but the 15 sail ors and marines had been reminded by a Royal Navy officer that they were on duty their flight touched Down at London Heathrow Airport six hours later the Crew spent just a few minutes on the Airport Tarmac dressed in Crisp regulation Mili tary uniforms instead of the ill fit Ting civilian clothes iranian officials had provided before boarding sea King helicopters for Alastair Royal Navy sailors Simon Massey second from right and Kaye Turney second from left and two unidentified Royal marines prepare to Board a military helicopter thursday after arriving at London Heathrow Airport from Tehran the journey to the Royal Marine base Chivenor in Devon about 210 Miles Southwest of London they then had lunch with their families and a group dinner was planned for the 15 Crew they were expected to remain in Devon at least until Friday the Crew could be seen hug Ging family members and television cameras caught leading sea Man Faye Turney the Only woman among the 15 wiping tears from her Eye the Crew issued a statement saying they had kept their spirits up by sticking together and that touching Down at Heathrow was a dream come True by staying together As a team we kept our spirits up drawing great Comfort from the knowledge that our loved ones would be awaiting for us on our return to the statement said at a press conference outside his office in Downing Street Blair said that while the country was celebrating their Safe return and praised the diplomacy he said secured their release the Joy was diminished by the deaths of four British soldiers killed in Iraq just As we rejoice at the return of our 15 service personnel so today we Are also grieving and mourning for the loss of our sol Diers in Basra who were killed As the result of a terrorist act Blair said Blair repeated allegations there were elements of the iranian re Gime that were financing Arm ing and supporting terrorism in Iraq Britain always insisted the Crew were on a routine Mission but sky news reported thursday that Royal Marine capt Chris air had said in an interview three weeks ago that the Crew were gathering intelligence on Iran Dur ing their patrols defense ministry officials de Nied the sailors and marines had an intelligence role but said they routinely spoke to commanders of vessels using the persian Gulf and Shatt Alarab waterway to de Termine who was using shipping routes Solomon officials fear disease outbreaks by Seraiah Foley the associated press Gizo Solomon islands villagers buried their dead where they found them including two Young boys discovered thursday in one shattered Community As frustration mounted Over delayed help for survivors of the Solomon islands devastating earthquake and tsunami reports of diarrhoea were becoming More widespread and officials worried about Possi ble malaria and cholera outbreaks because of unsanitary conditions in the More than one dozen makeshift High ground Camps thou Sands who fled mondays magnitude 81 Earth quake and tsunami fled to the Camps and were refusing to come Down the United nations put the death toll from mondays disaster in Western Solomon islands As at least 34 though government officials say they expect More deaths to be confirmed the in said it estimated 50000 people were affected by the disaster and that 30000 of them were children who Are highly Vulner Able to the malaria that is endemic in the re Gion the government says 5600 were left homeless though local officials say it could be Many times that More than three Days after the disaster there has been no official tally of the missing conditions remained unknown at dozens of Vil Lages along the battered coastal Region on the upside the Airport at Gizo the main town in hardhat Western province reopened thursday and More supplies of fresh water Medicine tarpaulins and food arrived in Munda a three hour boat ride away government officials conceded the Aid Effort was going More slowly than they wanted but blamed the remoteness of the affected re Gion and a shortage of Relief supplies in the capital Honiara Aid is very slow in getting to the people who need it the distribution part is very slow said government spokesman Alfred Mae Sulia after a meeting of the National disaster Council in Honiara Rob a Giri gathers clothes from in front of a tsunami flattened House in Gizo Solomon islands on thursday the Council knew that much of the Aid that had reached Gizo and Munda is still not distributed and is doing its Best to ship every thing that needed he said officials Israel fighting us weapons Deal with Gulf nations the associated press Jerusalem Israel has pressed the United states not to offer a major weapons Deal to its Gulf Arab allies for fear it would damage israels military deterrent in the Middle East israeli govern ment officials said thursday israeli defense minister Amir Peretz raised the matter during a meeting March 11 with defense Secretary Robert Gates the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive subject with the Media the new York times citing unnamed senior us officials reported thursday that Washington has delayed offering a major arms Sale package to saudi Ara Bia and other Gulf allies because of objections from Israel the Deal is meant to counter iranian influence in the Region the newspaper said israels defense ministry re fused to comment on the report us officials told the new York times that the israelis Are concerned about the possible Transfer of precision guided weapons that would vastly upgrade the striking ability of saudi warplanes the United states has been sell ing Israel such weapons since the 1990s and Israel used them in its War last summer against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon the paper said the Deal with the Gulf countries is slated to reach Between s5 Bil lion and billion if All the tanks warships and advanced air de sense systems being discussed Are included the times said the us administration Hopes to improve Gulf Milit Aries to counter Iran and to demonstrate that Washington remains commit Ted to the sunni Arab govern ments in the Region regardless of what happens in Iraq according to the report administration officials Are considering a separate arms package to Israel to offset the Gulf Deal the newspaper said somali pirates demand for Indian ship Nairobi Kenya somali pirates Are demanding 520000 for the return of an India flagged merchant ship and its Crew officials said thursday the pirates armed with assault rifles and rocket propelled Gre Nades seized the my Nimatullah and its 14member Crew off the coast of Mogadishu Early Mon Day the pirates had originally demanded but scaled Down their demand based on their valuation of the ships cargo said an Drew my Angara head of the Ken Yan chapter of the seafarers assistance program Kosovo endorses in plan for Independence Pristina Serbia Kosovo parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the in plan thursday that proposes internationally supervised Independence from ser Bia the Resolution was approved 1001 in the 120seat Assembly drawing thunderous applause and a standing ovation Nineteen lawmakers were absent from the vote the in plan needs to be approved by the a psf Security coun cil which is divided Over Koso Vos future to take effect the vote indicates that Kosovo eth Nic albanian leaders will not Bend to serbian demands to re Start the negotiations on the prov inces status German lawyers press for arrest of Cia agents Berlin Munich prosecutors have again pressed the us for the arrest of 13 suspected Cia agents wanted in the alleged my napping three years ago of a Ger Man citizen authorities said thursday arrest warrants were issued at the end of january for the unidentified agents accused of the wrongful imprisonment of Khaled Almasri and causing him serious bodily harm prosecutor August Stern would not comment whether the us had responded to the initial War rants but did confirm a report that his office had recently sent a second request for the arrest of the agents 3 charged in connection with London bombings London prosecutors filed charges thursday against three people who allegedly conspired with suicide bombers in the at tacks that killed 52 subway and bus passengers in London on july 7 2005 for the first time authorities alleged that the plots targets May have included London tourist attractions the three who were arrested last month Are from the same area of West Yorkshire England As three of the four suicide bomb ers those charged were Moham med Shakil 30 of Beeston a sub Urb of Leeds sadder Saleem 26 of Beeston and Waheed Ali 23 who recently lived in London but was formerly from Beeston from the associated press