Over 140 still detained after unrest in Iran

[democratic]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20263550.htm

TEHRAN, April 20 (Reuters) - More than 140 people out of 344 arrested in southwest Iran remain in jail following weekend ethnic unrest in which at least five people died, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The protests, Iran's bloodiest for several years, have been noted in Washington where the State Department said on Tuesday it was "very concerned" and urged the government to exercise restraint.

"Two hundred out of 344 arrested people have been released," Amir Khani, state prosecutor in Khuzetsan's capital Ahvaz, was quoted as saying on the state broadcasting network IRIB's Web site.

During the violence, which began on Friday and continued until Sunday, groups of Iranian-Arabs smashed and set fire to police cars, banks and government offices and clashed with security forces who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Officials say the unrest was sparked by the circulation of a forged letter in which a top government official discussed the idea of watering down Arab influence in Khuzestan by relocating more non-Arabs to this hearland of Iran's oil industry.

Only about three percent of Iran's 67 million population is Arab but in some parts of the southwest they are in a majority.

[greatbubba]

1. That letter has the CIA written all over it..