Crew says Iran singled out woman captive

The Royal Navy boat team held captive by Iran rallied around the only female sailor in the group Friday, praising Leading Seaman Faye Turney for maintaining her dignity while she was singled out for Tehran's propaganda.

Turney, a 26-year-old mother whose television appearances and purported letters were widely aired by Iran, was kept isolated from her crew mates, a colleague said.

"She was under the impression for about four days that she was the only one there," Royal Marine Capt. Chris Air said at a news conference. "She coped admirably and has maintained a lot of dignity."

Turney, who did not appear at the news conference, appeared in videos wearing a black head scarf. Smoking a cigarette, she apologized in the video footage for trespassing into Iranian waters.

Iran also released three letters purportedly written by Turney, including one in which she appealed to Britain to pull its troops from Iraq. A letter also criticized the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the site of severe mistreatment of Iraqi detainees by U.S. Army jailers.

Royal Navy Lt. Felix Carman, commander of the captured boat crew, said the group of eight sailors and seven marines had learned that "special treatment" was inflicted on Turney.

"The fact she is a women has been used as a propaganda tool by Iran," Carman said. "This is deeply regrettable."

After announcing their release at a news conference Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admonished London for sending a mother on such a dangerous mission in the Persian Gulf.