Sharply differing accounts on ethnic unrest in Iran
Turning the Arabs against the Persians or using the Arabs to take out Iran is a strategy long used by Bush. A case in point is the Persian Gulf Island dispute. #msg-3136614
"The uprising is continuing," Abu Shaker al-Ahwazi, of the Ahvaz Arab People Democratic-Popular Front in London, told Reuters in Dubai. "Demonstrations resumed this morning and confrontations are now underway."
Our Arab ally Dubai is the same country where Bhutto is in forced exile. I believe there is a big chance Bush will attempt to reinstall Bhutto in Pakistan. This could be where we stash our leaders-in-waiting. #msg-6055889
-Am
Sharply differing accounts on ethnic unrest in Iran 17 Apr 2005 14:26:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, April 17 (Reuters) - Iran's government and an exile opposition group gave sharply differing death tolls on Sunday for bloody clashes between groups of Arab-Iranians and security forces in the southwest of the country.
One exile group put the death toll as high as 30. But the Interior Ministry said one person died during the clashes, which started on Friday, and that order was now fully restored in the oil-producing heartland of Khuzestan province bordering Iraq.
Officials have said local Arabs rampaged through the streets, smashing police cars, banks and government buildings after a forged letter was circulated which talked of a government plan to force Arabs to relocate from the area.
"The security situation is under control and is calm," said Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani.
A spokesman for an Arab-Iranian group campaigning for Khuzestan's independence from non-Arab Iran said violence had continued on Sunday and gave the names of 20 people he said had been killed by authorities.
"The uprising is continuing," Abu Shaker al-Ahwazi, of the Ahvaz Arab People Democratic-Popular Front in London, told Reuters in Dubai. "Demonstrations resumed this morning and confrontations are now underway."
He said a total of 30 had been killed. Among the dead were: Ali Sabhani, 22, Naji Abayat, 20, and Alam al-Khazraji, 13 from al-Malashiya.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify his account of the unrest and death toll.
UNUSUAL UNREST
One official at a hospital in the city of Ahvaz contacted by Reuters said she was "hearing that 15 to 20 are dead". She declined to give further details. Local security officials also declined to comment.
Khanjani said it was untrue the protests had continued on Sunday or that some 30 people were killed.
Ahwazi said dozens of people were wounded in the clashes and that more than 300 were arrested in the city of Ahvaz alone.
He also said Iran had sent in troops from other parts of the country after some members of the local force that includes Arabs refused to obey orders.
Iranian media on Saturday had quoted a local security forces commander as saying 137 people were arrested in the protests.
About three percent of Iran's 67 million people are Arabs, most of whom live in Khuzestan. Iran is patchwork of ethnicities with roughly half the population Persians and Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Lors, Baluch and Turkmen making up the other 50 percent.
President Mohammad Khatami has ordered an immediate government investigation into the unusual unrest. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi in Dubai)
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