Rapturous airport welcome for freed British Anglicans

Press, 2 March 1981, Page 9

Rapturous airport welcome for freed British Anglicans

NZPA-Reuter London . Hymns, flowers and hu~s from excited relatives greeted three Britons who flew home yesterday after being cleared by Iran of spying charges. Anglican missionary doctors John and Audrey Coleman, both 57, and Miss Jean Waddell, aged 58, the for: 'er secretary to the Anglican Bishop of Iran, were reunited with their families at Heathrow Airport. All three, looking tanned an- fit, said they had not been ‘ortured or ill-treated in Iran, where they spent six months in jail while the spying allegations were investigated. Dr Coleman, who ran a missionary clinic wL his wife, said: “Our great desire Is to eventually return to our work in Iran if the Church needs us and if we are ’lowed to.by. the Iranian authorities.” Their nine grandchildren burst from a special airport lounge and rushed , into their arms. “It’s a wonderful feeling just to hold them in our rrms again,” Dr Coleman said.

Relatives and friends sang hymns and airport workers clapped and cheered when the Britons left their plane. Tne Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Robert Runcie), went tn to the plane to greet them. The spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans emerged carrying two of their bags. Tears ran down Miss Waddell’s face as she embraced two nieces. Dr Coleman later to. I a news conference: “In no way were we tortured and the soldiers were good to us. It was just the isolation — a~d the not knowing. Iran also freed four Iranian members of its tiny Anglic, n community on S. > urday. They were arrested with the Brffons in August. The Iranian ProsecutorGeneral (Ali Qodussi) told Iranian reporters a week ago that documents provided by an Iranian'Anglican pu . porting to show co-operation between the detainees and the United States Central Intelligence Agency had proved to be forgeries. , The Anglican envoy, Mr Terry Waite, who negotiated

the missionaries* release, said up to 70kg of papers were involved. According to the forged documents the three Britons were accused of carrying explosives and (of) subversive activities, he said. He had met the alleged forger and thought it likely he had been blackmailed. “I believe that there are larger forces in the country who want to continue to present I-'” as a country in total disarray,” he said. “There were people who didn’t w. nt this case to be resolved. They wanted it to linger on as long as possible in order to continue to discredit the Iranian people.” A fourth Briton, businessman Andrew Pyke, is still held in Iran and Iran’s prosecutor has said he will be tried on charges of espionage and embezzlement. The British Foreign Office said yesterday it was urgently trying to clarify the position of Mr Pyke, aged .57, who was managing director of a company providing helicopter services in Iran and was detained on August 29 as he was leaving the country.