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Iran holding 5 British yachtsmen

TEHRAN, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Iran is holding five Britons whose racing yacht may have strayed into Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical problems, British officials said Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said British diplomats were in close touch with Iranian officials and hoped the case could be resolved in short order.

"Officials immediately contacted the Iranian authorities in London and Tehran, both to seek clarification and to try to resolve the matter swiftly," Milliband said.

The Daily Telegraph reported the five men being detained were believed to be Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter, Oliver Young and David Bloomer, a Bahrain Radio presenter, though officials had yet to confirm their identities.

Their yacht, the Kingdom of Bahrain, was sailing from Bahrain to the United Arab Emirates to take part in a race when it was commandeered Wednesday by an Iranian patrol vessel. The yacht may have wandered into Iran's territorial waters because of a damaged propeller, the British newspaper said.It's believed the crew members are in Iran where they are thought to be well, the Telegraph said. Their families have been kept up to date, the newspaper said.

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Salahis contacted Pentagon official

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The socialite couple who crashed President Obama's first state dinner in Washington had contacted a Pentagon official seeking an invitation, the official says.

But Michele S. Jones, special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a liaison to the White House, in a statement released by the White House Monday, denied doing anything to help the Michaele and Tareq Salahi gain access to the dinner honoring the prime minister of India, The Washington Post reported.

"I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening's activities," Jones said. "Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come."

Sources told the Post, however, the communications between Jones and the Salahis led the Virginia couple to believe they had gained clearance.

"There was e-mail correspondence confirming they were legitimately supposed to be there," said Casey Margenau, a close friend of the couple. "They understood they were invited."

Meanwhile, Inside Edition reported Monday it has learned the White House dinner wasn't the first time the couple tried to get close to the president. A former friend told the syndicated television news program the Salahis also tried to get into the presidential box at Obama's inauguration last January.

Inside Edition said it obtained a phony parking pass the couple allegedly forged to get into the inauguration.

The White House and Secret Service say the Salahis received no invitation to last Tuesday's state dinner. The Secret Service has apologized for letting the couple through two checkpoints.

There were invitations extended Monday -- from the House Homeland Security Committee to the Salahis and the Secret Service to testify at a Thursday hearing about the security lapse. The Post said neither party had RSVPed.

A publicist for the Salahis denied Monday the couple is seeking to make money from the episode, and their attorney declined comment, saying there is "a possible criminal investigation," the Post reported.

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British pessimism criticized

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- British military commanders in Afghanistan say pessimism permeating the British public about the war effort is not helping their troops.

They warn such reaction at home could be seen by the troops as a lack of appreciation for their efforts in a dangerous situation, The Independent reported Monday.

The commanders told the British newspaper their countrymen's pessimism would also encourage the Taliban to step up its violence against British soldiers so there will be more calls for their pullout from Afghanistan.

"We must be wary of talking ourselves into a defeat back home. We hear people saying the fight isn't worth it. Does that mean all the sacrifices which have been made, the deaths and the injuries have been for nothing?" Lt. Gen. Sir Graeme Lamb, who is in Afghanistan to play a key role in NATO's Afghan strategy, told the newspaper.

The commanders' comments come at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama plans to announce additional U.S. troops along with a plea to NATO to do the same, the report said.

"I know why I am here; my soldiers know why they are here, and we think we are right to be here," Lt. Col. Matt Bazeley, commanding officer of the 28 Engineer Regiment Group in Helmand, told the Independent.

"We do think that the tectonic plates are shifting, but there is a time gap before this becomes apparent. It is always the darkest before daybreak. But give us a bit more time, and we shall begin to see the results by the spring," General Lamb was quoted as saying.

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Hearing under way in Smart kidnap case

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Brian David Mitchell, accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, was ejected from a competency hearing in a Utah courtroom Monday for singing Christmas carols.

More than 20 psychologists, psychiatrists, relatives, law-enforcement officials and at least one college teacher are scheduled to testify whether Mitchell is competent to stand trial for the alleged 2002 kidnapping of Smart, who was 14 at the time, from her Salt Lake City bedroom. If he is found not competent, he will return to Utah State Hospital where he had been sent by Judge Judith Atherton in 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Mitchell was taken to an adjacent room after entering the courtroom singing carols. A psychiatric technician who had worked at Utah State Hospital suspected Mitchell purposely interrupted the proceedings:

"He believed God will be his ultimate judge, and he wasn't going to participate in the process," Talley said. "He believes the whole court system is corrupt, and he wasn't going to play any part of it."

Daniel Peterson, a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at Brigham Young University, began the hearings with two hours of testimony. He began by examining Mitchell's Morman-influenced "Book of Immanuel David Isaiah I" in which Mitchell wrote he would battle the antichrist, was the true and living prophet and has a special relationship with God, the Tribune said.

Peterson called Mitchell's work "an impressive production in many senses." I don't share his belief, but there's a logic to them," Peterson said. "The logic makes sense when you buy into the presuppositions."