BAGHDAD, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Iraqi police have arrested 36 Iranian exiles on rioting charges after clashes with Iraqi forces at their camp killed at least seven exiles, but an Iraqi official said on Monday they would not be repatriated to Iran.
Iraqi forces on Tuesday took control of Camp Ashraf on the Iranian border,
Residents said 13 people died in the clashes, many of them shot dead by police, and many others wounded. Iraq’s government said seven died, most of them because they threw themselves under police vehicles.
Abdul Nassir al-Mehdawi, governor of Diyala province, which has jurisdiction over Ashraf, confirmed 36 had been arrested the day after the clashes.
“Their cases are being investigated now. They are being charged with inciting trouble,” Mehdawi said. “We will deal with them according to Iraqi law; we won’t send them back to Iran.”
Iraq formally took charge of Camp Ashraf in January.
Some human rights groups and PMOI sympathisers in the West, who have been highly critical of the way Iraq has handled Ashraf, say closing the camp and driving residents out against their will would violate international human rights law.
“The arrested people didn’t commit any crime against anyone,” Ashraf spokesman Shahriar Kia said from the camp. “They just picked up some random people. It is just an excuse for their measures against Camp Ashraf. It’s a conspiracy.”