LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair's office refused Tuesday to clarify the British leader's involvement in a botched decision to allow sailors recently detained in Iran to be paid for media interviews.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was forced to make a U-turn late Monday and ban any personnel from giving interviews for money, after critics voiced outrage at its weekend decision to allow 15 ex-detainees freed by Iran last week to be paid.
"I'm not going to get into the process of who knew what when. We recognise this was a difficult decision taken by the navy and there was no easy answer here," said a spokesman for Blair's Downing Street office.
The row erupted over the weekend after the MoD made the unusual decision to permit the group to strike deals with newspapers and broadcasters, saying there were "exceptional circumstances."
Defence Secretary Des Browne, who was involved in the decision, admitted Monday that the Royal Navy had "not reached a satisfactory outcome" in its decision, but stressed that it was a "very tough call."
Blair's office backed Browne on Tuesday, but gave no further details.
"I don't think it's helpful to get into who informed who when. The prime minister supports the defence secretary in the decision taken to look at this," he added, when asked if Blair was involved in the decision.
Faye Turney, the only female detainee, reportedly received around 100,000 pounds (147,000 euros, 196,000 dollars) for interviews with The Sun tabloid, and commercial broadcaster ITV, which aired its broadcast Monday evening.
Newspaper reports suggested the group could make up to 250,000 pounds between them.
04/10/2007 14:09 GMT