Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has welcomed Iran's decision to release 15 British sailors it had held for 13 days for allegedly intruding into Iran's territorial waters.

"The president has welcomed Iranian President Mohamoud Ahmadinejad's statement that by releasing the 15 British sailors, Iran was showing that it does not adopt a confrontative attitude," presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said here on Thursday.

Yufhoyono also called on all sides there to create conducive situations in the Middle East to build comprehensive confidence and to take all problems to the negotiating table, said the spokesman.

Ahmadinejad told a press conference in Tehran on Wednesday that although Iran had the right to punish them -- to follow the Prophet (Muhammad)'s Sunnah-- it had forgiven the 15 sailors and released them as a gift to the British people.

The Iranian decision to release the 15 British detainees was greeted with happiness by Britain and many other governments in the world.

The 15 British sailors were seized by Iranian forces on March 23 when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders.

Iran has insisted that the British boats illegally entered its territorial waters, while Britain said its soldiers were in Iraqi territorial waters.

Source: Xinhua