1.
GV PAN FROM Street TO Iraqi demonstrators with banner sitting on pavement outside Tunisian embassy in Teheran
0.11

2.
CU Embassy emblem PAN TO Embassy plaque
0.18

3.
TRACKING SHOT Demonstrators sitting on pavement (2 shots)
0.35

4.
CU Women reading (2 shots)
0.42

5.
SCU Children among demonstrators (2 shots)
0.46

6.
SV PAN Demonstrators (women and children) sitting on pavement
0.58

7.
CU Banner saying more than 33,000 Iraqis have been thrown out of their country
1.02

8.
CU Demonstrator speaking in English
1.39


DEMONSTRATORS: "We like to go back home, we have done no crime. We haven't committed any crime to be thrown out of the country. In fact, lots of us are supporters of the Iraqi regime. Why are we being thrown out of our country? For what crime? For what reason? All our belongings have been confiscated by the iraqi government; we don't knew what will happen to us. What are we going to do in the future? For these reasons we are on strike here."





Initials SW/



TELERECORDING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Teheran, hundreds of people expelled last month (April) from Iraq staged a sit-in at Teheran's Tunisian Embassy on Saturday (17 May) to draw attention to their plight.

SYNOPSIS: The demonstrators chose the Tunisian Embassy because it is Tunisia that provides the headquarters for the Arab League. Protestors say they have sent telegrams to the league asking for a representative to be sent to Teheran to discuss the problem.

Among the demonstrators were people from all walks of life--engineers, doctors, businessmen and workers. They said they want to return to their homes in Iraq.

These people were among the thousands of refugees forced to cross into Iran by the Iraqi authorities. Iran sees the action as a plot to stifle the Shi'ite rebellion in Iraq. Many of the Iraqi refugees said they were Iraqi army veterans. Others had been separated from their families who had no way of knowing their fate. They all have one thing in common--they want to go home.