THE HAGUE, 04/10/06 - Amnesty International plans to hold protest actions at the Iranian embassy in The Hague over the next ten days to obtain access to Abdoullah al-Mansouri. Various MPs and Mayor Gerd Leers of Maastricht are involved in the campaign.

Amnesty International started a campaign at the Iranian embassy on Monday for naturalised Dutchman and human rights activist al-Mansouri, who is of Iranian origin. He was arrested in Syria in May and handed over to Iran. Amnesty International claims he is being held in the city of Ahwaz and risks being executed.

Amnesty Nederland director Eduard Nazarski applied for a visa for Iran at the embassy on Monday in order to visit al-Mansouri. Centre-left D66 MP Fatma Koser Kaya was present. Other protest activities are planned at the embassy over the next ten days.

Amnesty has parked a caravan in front of the embassy covered in newspaper photos and articles about the al-Mansouri case. Several MPs are involved, including Harry van Bommel of the socialists (SP) and Farah Karimi of the left-wing Greens (GroenLinks).

Next Monday, Mayor Gerd Leers of Maastricht plans to visit the embassy to demand access to al-Mansouri, who was a resident of Maastricht. Leers has also started a campaign on the radio.

Prominent lawyer Gerard Spong will visit the embassy on 16 October; he wishes to act as al-Mansouri's legal advisor. Other lawyers have also promised their cooperation.