Posted on 04/25/2005 8:04:45 PM PDT by freedom44
LONDON, April 25 (IranMania) - Iranian security forces have launched a fresh hunt for the alleged ringleaders of deadly violence involving ethnic Arabs from the southwestern province of Khuzestan, an official was quoted as saying Sunday.
"The arrests of the main elements and others involved in the unrest has been underway since the morning," with police working on leads given by those already detained, Ahvaz prosecuter Iraj Amirkhani told ISNA.
He said 205 people were still being held in connection with last week's clashes in Ahvaz, a city where Iran's three percent Arab minority are in the majority.
According to official figures, five people were killed in the clashes.
Amirkhani said five "instigators" of the clashes were arrested in the midst of the unrest, and had "confessed they had been paid 20 mln rials)... to vandalise banks and public places".
The violence, which lasted from April 15-18, appeared to have been sparked by a forged letter, dating back seven years and attributed to then vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, calling for modifications to oil-rich Khuzestan's ethnic composition.
Iran's Islamic regime blamed foreigners and counter-revolutionaries for the ethnic tensions, but admitted the province's development was still hampered by the devastation it suffered during the 1980-88 war with neighbouring Iraq.
Authorities have made clear they have no intention of changing the ethnic balance of the province in favour of non-Arabs.
Bump
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