February 6, 2008
DAMASCUS, Syria: Syrian authorities have arrested an Iranian Arab suspected of having links with an Iranian opposition group and there are concerns he might be handed over to Iran, a local human rights group said Wednesday.
The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said that Mohammad Nohairi Bani-Skini, 36, was detained Jan. 22 from the Syrian Department of Passports and Migration in Damascus, where he had gone to stamp his passport before leaving to Sweden as a refugee.
NOHR said Bani-Skini — a registered refugee with the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees — was first held at the department's prison before being taken to an unknown destination. He was accepted as a refugee by Sweden where he had planned to travel on Feb. 4, it added.
The group said his detention violates "all international conventions ... particularly as Bani-Skini enjoys the protection of the UNHCR." It urged Syrian authorities to release him immediately and expressed concerns that he might be handed over to the Iranian government on suspicion of having links with an opposition group in the southern Iranian province of Ahwaz. It did not name the group.
The NOHR report could not be independently confirmed. Syrian officials do not usually comment on arrests or other security matters. Syria and Iran are close allies.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment