By John McManus
Source: BBC News
Church of England clergy are to ask the United Nations to help secure the safety of dissident Iranians living in an Iraqi refugee camp.
Residents at Camp Ashraf say that a recent raid by Iraqi security forces left several people dead.
In response, protesters have been on hunger strike outside the United States embassy in London for several weeks.
By John McManus
Source: BBC News
Church of England clergy are to ask the United Nations to help secure the safety of dissident Iranians living in an Iraqi refugee camp.
Residents at Camp Ashraf say that a recent raid by Iraqi security forces left several people dead.
In response, protesters have been on hunger strike outside the United States embassy in London for several weeks.
At a meeting on Thursday, several Anglican priests joined the protesters to voice their support.
Relatives and friends of people living in Camp Ashraf have been demonstrating outside the US Embassy for 60 days.
Several of them are on hunger strike, and some have needed hospital treatment.
More than 3,000 members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahadeen of Iran (PMOI), live in Camp Ashraf, which was under the control of US forces until earlier this year.
US forces then handed over control of the camp to the Iraqi government, which wants to close it.
Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement supporting moves to lobby the US to act to help the residents.
Dr Rowan Williams said he was also in contact with the British government, but urged the hunger strikers to end their protest.
Church of England clergy joined the group outside the US Embassy on Thursday to call for American forces to take back control of Camp Ashraf.
They say the US has a legal obligation to guarantee the safety of the camp's inhabitants.
Reverend Lindsay Meader from St. James' Church in Piccadilly also said the Church would lobby the UN secretary-general directly.
"In order to implement the announcement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, we are going to contact the Anglican Communion Observer at the UN Dr. Hellen Wangusa and the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Canon Keneth Kearon, to ask Ban Ki-moon to intervene".
Rev Meader added that the UN would also be asked "to send monitoring teams to Camp Ashraf to ensure the protection of its residents and to save the lives of 36 detained without charge by the Iraqi police".
'Enough is enough'
The clergy said they were surprised that no international body had yet taken action to guarantee the safety of the Iranian exiles.
One of the organisers of the protest, Laila Jazayei, told BBC news that she was losing confidence in the British foreign secretary.
"We feel enough is enough. It's obvious the British Foreign Office isn't going to do anything.
"Why doesn't David Miliband just mention it to the UN? There are British citizens in Ashraf, and three of the 36 people abducted are recognised political refugees."
A US Embassy spokesman has told the BBC that there are no plans for diplomats to meet the protestors who are camped on their doorstep.
