ALO leader Faleh Abdullah al Mansouri (60) has lived in exile in Maastricht in the Netherlands since 1989 and is believed to have Dutch nationality. He was arrested along with a colleague from his party, Abdulrasoul Ali Mazraeh (51), who is registered with the UNHCR as a refugee and lives with his six children in Damascus.

Saeed Owdeh Saki, also registered with the The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as a refugee, has also been arrested and BAFS has received reports that he has been deported to Iran where his life is in danger.

Al-Mansouri, Mazraeh and Saki are among eight Ahwazi men known to have been detained by the Syrian authorities. The others five according to Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization ( UNPO) are:

Mousa Sawari - Student at Damascus University, 32 years old, single

Issa Alyassin - Student at Damascus University, 30 years old, married

Gamal Obaidy - Student at Damascus University, 34 years old, single, Chair of Ahwazi Student Union in Syria

Ahmad Abiat - Student at Damascus University, 20 years old, single

Taher Ali Mazraeh - Married, 40 years old and brother of Abdulrasoul Ali Mazraeh

The ALO was formed in 1990 by a number of Ahwazi Arab organisations campaigning for a separate state of Al-Ahwaz. The ALO's Ahwaz Revolutionary Council (ARC) regards itself as the Ahwazi government in exile with Al-Mansouri as its President, although there are many Ahwazi groups that do not accept the ARC's assumed leadership of the Ahwazi movement.

BAFS and its allied groups, including the Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz, do not recognize Al-Mansouri's leadership, but are concerned for his welfare and the welfare of other Ahwazis currently in Syrian custody. BAFS activists are appealing to the Syrian embassy in London to explain the charges against all those detained in the past week and are calling on the Syrian government to respect the Geneva Refugee Convention and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. If Al-Mansouri has EU citizenship, any attempt to deport him to Iran could have a negative impact on Iran-EU relations.

Saki's deportation could pave the way for further deportations of Ahwazi Arabs from Syria, which has for many years been regarded as a sanctuary for Ahwazis fleeing persecution in Iran. Ahwazi refugees in Middle Eastern countries are facing increased insecurity as Iran seeks to stamp out all opposition to its regime, both inside and outside the country. Iranian agents are known to have assassinated an Ahwazi opposition leader Ra'ad De'ayer Al-Bestan Banitorfi in Iraq's Basra province. Refugees in Kuwait and the UAE have also received death threats and are now in the process of being relocated. The Iranian government now appears to be expanding its state terror tactics against opposition activists outside Iran.

Many Ahwazi activists in the UK now fear that Iran may try to carry out assassinations in Europe in an attempt to halt the growing Ahwazi Arab uprising in Iran. Some Austrian politicians have accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of involvement in the assassination of Iranian Kurdish leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and two of his associates in Vienna in 1989 during peace negotiations with the Iranian government. At the time, Ahmadinejad was an engineer serving with a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards specializing in extra-territorial activities; some organizations claim he gave logistical support to the assassination campaign in Austria. Now he is President, many fear he is seeking to step up violence against exiled dissidents.

Deportations from Syria and the assassination in Iraq, along with reports that Ahwazi Arab refugees are being expelled by the Iranian-influenced Iraqi government, indicate that the Iranian regime is prepared to export the kind of terror tactics it has used against Ahwazi Arabs in their homeland in Khuzestan.

BAFS spokesman Nasser Bani Assad said: "The Syrian authorities need to explain why they are suddenly arresting Ahwazi Arabs who have been resident in Syria for many years and are legally recognized as refugees. Due to Saki's deportation, it appears that the Ahwazis are being detained on the request of the Iranian government rather than any allegation that they have broken Syrian law.

"If the Ahwazis are being charged with any crime committed in Syria, then we request the Syrian authorities to ensure the accused are guaranteed a free, fair and transparent trial that meets international standards. If they are not being held in connection with any alleged crime, then they should be released immediately.

"We would like to remind the Syrian and Iraqi governments that any assassination or kidnap of residents and citizens of other countries is illegal and in our view constitutes an act of terrorism. Syria's deportation of Saki, who has not to our knowledge broken any Syrian law, indicates that the Syrian government is a participant in Iran's terror tactics against Ahwazis.

"If this is all about creating a good impression with the Iranian regime, then Syria is playing a dangerous game. Al-Mansouri's detention could prompt interest in the arrests by EU officials as he is a permanent Dutch resident and possibly a EU citizen. If he is not released, then Syria's involvement with Iran's repression of Ahwazi groups will come under scrutiny by the Dutch government and the European Commission.

"It remains to be seen whether Syria is willing to heighten diplomatic tensions with the EU over the Ahwazi issue at a time when President Bashar al-Assad is facing mounting pressure over the assassination of former Lebanon's prime minister Rafik Hariri."

Not a Drop of water to Drink in Ahwaz

According to Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization ( UNPO) "A documentary about the Karoon River has highlighted one of the Middle East's most serious environmental problems, which has developed into a major crisis as a result of neglect by the Iranian government and is threatening the lives of thousands of Ahwazi Arabs".

"The Karoon River runs through the predominantly Arab city of Ahwaz City in the south-west Iranian province of Khuzestan (Al-Ahwaz), providing an important source of irrigation and drinking water. However, the failure to treat raw industrial and human waste being pumped into the has created a hazardous environment".

"Disruptions to water supplies force many Ahwazis to rely on contaminated water from the Karoon, which contains high levels of human sewage and industrial pollutants. Fishermen are reporting outbreaks of disease in fish and a sharp decline in fish numbers, indicating that Iran's mismanagement of water resources has devastated river life."

Ahwazi Arabs

Ahwaz , Ahvaz or Naseriyah ( as known by the Arabs) , is the capital of Khuzestan, one of 30 provinces of Iran. It lies in the southwest of Iran and is its oil Capital. The people of this province are bilingual…they speak both Arabic and Persian.

The Arab people of Ahwaz are referred to as Ahwazi. They are proud Arabs and they agitate for the right to preserve their cultural and linguistic distinction and more provincial autonomy but instead they have been facing discrimination by Iran for a long time. In 1980 , Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein tried to exploit the situation when he invaded Iran, but the Ahwazi Arabs did not support him. They want to be an independent state but not part of Iraq.

Khuzestan area produces about 80 % of Iran's oil.

Arabs call the province of Khuzestan Arabestan or Arabstan. Even though most speak Arabic , the majority cannot write or read Arabic, because the Iranian government refuses to recognize Arabic as another language in Iran, and does not allow the schools to teach the Arabic language.

I recall a very sad incident in Ahwaz. During one of my trips, I met by accident one prominent Arab Ahwazi and found out later that he is a poet. Unfortunately I discovered later that none of his poetry was ever documented , because he could not write or read Arabic. He was so happy when I was able to write down one of his poems as he recited it. The poem was about Gamal Abd el Nasser and only a true Arab could have ever written such an emotional poem about an Arab leader .

During the Iraqi / Iranian war only Syria of all the Arab countries supported Iran. As we see now Syria again is siding with Iran against the Arabs of Ahwaz.

It is about time for the Arab League to step in and support the Arabs of Iran. Arab League Secretary General should immediately call for a summit to chastise Syria for its actions against the Arabs of Ahwaz. The question is : Will he ?

Top Picture: Ahwazi Liberation Organization flag

Map of Iran. Ahwaz is northeast of Abadan

Source: Ya Libnan, UNHCR, BAFS, UNPO