Belgian police board occupied plane

BRUSSELS - Belgian police boarded and moved a Lufthansa plane occupied by more than 50 unarmed Iranian monarchist protesters on Friday after they rejected an ultimatum from officials to leave, witnesses said.

About a dozen policemen from two buses entered the aircraft at around 3.30am (3.30pm NZT), more than 13 hours after it had landed on a flight from Frankfurt and 59 passengers had refused to disembark in a protest against Iran's Islamic government.

The plane was towed away from its stand at Brussels National airport to an area of the airfield remote from journalists watching from the terminal. Several riot control vehicles assembled near the Boeing 737, which was flanked by police vans.

Police spokeswoman Els Cleemput told Reuters the police were awaiting reinforcements before moving in to arrest the 56 protesters remaining aboard.

"We are going to arrest them administratively," she said.

Other passengers and crew had disembarked when the plane landed on Thursday and the pilot had disabled the controls.

"We want the European Union to remove the Islamic leaders from Iran," Armin Atshgar, one of the protesters, told Reuters by mobile phone. "We want to remove the mullahs from power. "

Atshgar, who described himself as a member of Anjomane Padeshahi, a group advocating the restoration of Iran's royal family, ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, said Belgian foreign ministry officials had boarded the plane and spoken to the protesters.

A foreign ministry official could be heard over a mobile phone inside the aircraft promising the protesters safe passage if they agreed to disembark, but warning they faced arrest if they refused. Police moved in about 90 minutes later.

Earlier, a foreign ministry spokesman had said: "We are talking to these people. They are non-violent and it's not a hijacking."

Atshgar, who said he held a Belgian passport, said he and his fellow protesters would not leave the aircraft until they had spoken to a member of the European Parliament. Of the 59 original protesters, two pregnant women and four elderly men suffering from diabetes or other ailments left the plane during the evening. One was taken away in an ambulance.

Atshgar said children and pregnant women were among those on board, adding that the mood was calm and safe.

"We want to say to all the world's leaders, especially from the European Union, Belgium, France, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, 'hands off and stop supporting this Islamic rule by removing it from Iran'," Atshgar said.

The EU is negotiating to try to persuade Tehran, in return for trade and security benefits, to curtail sensitive nuclear work which could enable it to produce a bomb.
Police spokeswoman Cleemput said the protesters all had European passports but they were probably all of Iranian origin.

A Lufthansa spokesman said the Boeing 737 landed at 2pm on Thursday (3am Friday NZT) with 103 passengers and crew. The foreign ministry put the protesters in touch with the German and Dutch embassies in Brussels, but the negotiator could be heard telling the passengers that they had no international support. He said Belgium had been in touch with the White House and President George W Bush did not support their action.

- REUTERS