UK's Thatcher appealed to Iran over US hostages

[December 30, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- Newly disclosed records show Britain's iconic prime minister Margaret Thatcher snubbed aides who questioned Ronald Reagan's credentials as U.S. president.

Files released on Thursday under the country's 30-year disclosure rule also show she made a previously unknown effort to intervene in the U.S. Embassy hostage-taking.

Notes supplied to Thatcher by aides on the U.S. 1980 election campaign show diplomats questioned whether Reagan had the "mental vitality and political vision" to be a successful leader.

Thatcher dismissed the criticism, insisting Reagan would "prove himself to be a man of peace."

Separate files show that Thatcher sent a message to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1980 appealing for the release of U.S. hostages in Iran.

[Associated Press]

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