December 6, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 11, 1424

TEHRAN, Dec 5: Four people were killed on Thursday in clashes with police in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province which broke out after a local driver was shot dead.

The clashes erupted in the city of Saravan, near the Pakistan border, said Jafar Kambouzia, a reformist MP from the provincial capital, Zahedan.

“The police shot and killed a motorist who refused to obey an order to stop. After this incident, people started to protest and there were clashes between residents and the police,” Mr Kambouzia said.

“Unfortunately, despite the appeals to the police by local authorities for moderation in restoring calm, some of (the police) intervened and there were four deaths from gunfire,” he said, adding that no police were killed.

He also said the protesters had destroyed “public property” and that following the clashes security forces had descended on the area in force.

“For now, calm has returned in the city, but local people believe the calm is precarious,” Mr Kambouzia said. —AFP