英水兵回国 与家人温馨团聚

英水兵回国 与家人温馨团聚

Tearful homecoming for Britons freed by Iran

[ 2007-04-06 17:15 ]

Fifteen British military personnel freed by Iran after a two-week stand-off were reunited with their families on Thursday.

The 14 men and one woman hugged and kissed tearful relatives at a military base in southwest England ahead of a debriefing session, after landing in London from Tehran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the surprise of British government, said on Wednesday he had decided to forgive and free the group, who were seized along with their patrol boats in the northern Gulf on March 23. Iran said they had strayed into its waters but Britain said they were in Iraqi waters on a regular U.N. mission. In a statement released several hours after their return, the 15 said their arrival at Heathrow airport had been a "dream come true" and said they would not forget the welcome. "The past two weeks have been very difficult, but by staying together as a team, we kept our spirits up, drawing great comfort from the knowledge that our loved ones would be waiting for us on our return," they said in a statement read out by a Royal Marines spokesman. Prime Minister Tony Blair was somber. He said that while the country celebrated the safe return the joy was diminished by the killing of four British soldiers in Iraq on Thursday. "Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 service personnel, we are also grieving and mourning for the loss of our soldiers in Basra, who were killed as the result of a terrorist act," Blair said outside his office at 10 Downing St. 双语资讯

(AP)

Vocabulary: 

debriefing :询问情况