UK Chief Regrets Sale of Detainee Tales

In this picture issued by Britain's Ministry of Defence, Leading Seaman Faye Turney stands with with daughter Molly and husband Adam after being reunited at the Royal Marines Barracks in Chivenor, Devon, England on Monday, April 5, 2007. Turney one of the British sailors detained by Iran for nearly two weeks believed she was being measured for a coffin, while she was in captivity a newspaper reported Monday, April 9, 2007. The Sun newspaper also reported that Faye Turney, 25, was told by her captors that her 14 male colleagues had been released and she alone was being held. The interviews were the first results of the Ministry of Defense's controversial decision to allow the former captives to sell their stories to the media. The financial arrangements for Turney were not disclosed, but Turney said the offer she accepted was not the largest she had been offered. (AP Photo/MOD) (AP)

LONDON -- Britain's defense secretary said Wednesday he regrets the decision to allow sailors to sell their stories about their detention in Iran to media organizations.

Des Browne said in a television interview that the original decision had been made by Royal Navy officials who were aware that news organizations were already offering large sums to the families of the detainees.

"I was uncomfortable with the decision but I accepted the analysis," said Browne, who reversed the decision Monday.

"So I accept with hindsight _ and I repeat with hindsight __ I could have come to a different view."

The 15 sailors were searching a merchant ship in the Persian Gulf on March 23 when they were intercepted by Iranian vessels. Iran claimed the Britons had strayed into its territorial waters, a charge Britain denied.

The sailors were freed last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Two detainees _ Faye Turney and Arthur Batchelor _ struck deals with newspapers that have published their accounts this week. Turney also appeared in a TV interview.

The decision to open a free market in the detainees' accounts was criticized by opposition politicians and retired military commanders, as well as by relatives of British service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron called for a formal inquiry into the naval operation that ended with the detention of the crew.

"Secondly, we need a full explanation of the calamitous decision ministers made when they encouraged service personnel to sell their stories to the media. This was a dreadful decision and there are still further questions that need to be answered," Cameron said.

Browne explained the decision to allow the sailors to sell their stories.

"While these young people were still in detention in Iran, tens of thousands of pounds were being offered by newspapers and other parts of the media to their families in order to secure these stories," Browne said in the interview, which was broadcast by both Sky News and the British Broadcasting Corp.