Seaman Faye Turney and the issue of mothers in the Armed Forces

Leading Seaman Faye Turney, mother of a three-year-old daughter, Molly, was forced to make a 'confession' that had clearly been written for her.

Three letters written in her handwriting, but probably dictated to her, were published with more admissions of British guilt.

Her ordeal ignited debate across Britain on whether women - and in particular mothers - should be put in such a vulnerable position in the Armed Forces, effectively on the front line.

Even the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, made a cynical contribution to the debate yesterday as he announced he was freeing the prisoners.

"How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children?" he demanded of the British government.

"Why don't they respect family values in the West? Why was the difficult task of searching the seas given to a mother thousands of miles from home?

"Why is there no respect for motherhood, for the love of her child?"

His comments raised concerns about women's roles in the Armed Forces but were also a reminder that from the moment she was captured Mrs Turney, 26, was a highly effective tool in Iran's propaganda campaign.

In the notes and television appearances she was made to admit straying into Iran's waters and to praise her captors' compassion.

Particularly humiliating to Tony Blair would have been the letter released late last week, in which she called for British troops to be removed from Iraq.

'It is time for us to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future,' she wrote.

Her comments prompted a response, with the Prime Minister condemning the way she was treated last week, saying: "I just think it's completely wrong, a disgrace, when people are used in that way."

Despite the debate about their role, more women than ever are serving in the Armed Forces.

Last year there were 17,900 women in a variety of roles, making up 9.3 per cent of the Royal Navy, 8.2 per cent of the Army and 12.3 per cent of the RAF.

In Iran and Iraq there are 1,600 female soldiers and many are exposed to the same dangers as their male colleagues, including roadside bombs and mortar attacks by insurgents.

Women in the Army not allowed to join infantry and tank units but can serve as signallers, spotters and medics - roles which often take them into the firing line.

Of the 134 troops who have died in Iraq, three have been service women.

They have been allowed to serve on warships since 1994, although they are barred from submarines and the Royal Marine's infantry role.

Similarly, women in the Royal Air Force can serve as crew on helicopters, fighters and bombers but not in the RAF Regiment, an infantry unit.

Among those who have recently voiced support for women serving in the Forces are Lt Colonel Tim Collins, Commander of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment in Iraq in 2003, and the bestselling author and former SAS man Andy McNab.

Leading feminists such as Dr Roberta Guerrina, of the University of Surrey, have backed their call. But Patrick Mercer, a decorated colonel and until last month a Tory spokesman on security, sounded a note of caution.

"When Faye Turney joined the Royal Navy, she understood that there were going to be bad bits as well as good," he said.

"But a mother with a young child is particularly susceptible to the sort of pressure that the Iranians are bringing to bear."