Iran police beat mourners at protesters' graves

Iranian riot police beat and arrested mourners who staged a defiant gathering at a cemetery on Thursday to commemorate protesters killed in post-election violence last month, witnesses said.

Police used sticks, batons and belts on some of the hundreds of people at the graveyard where protesters are buried and later forced opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to leave and arrested several mourners, they said.

The cemetery became a flashpoint as crowds gathered to mark the 40th day since the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman who came to symbolise the protest movement against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Witnesses said about 150 police and some members of the Islamic Basij militia were in and around the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of Terhan before Mousavi arrived and walked up to Neda's grave.

"Mousavi was however not allowed to recite the Koran verses said on such occasions and he was immediately surrounded by anti-riot police who led him to his car," a witness said as people chanted "Ya Hossein! Mir Hossein!"

"At the same time mourners also surrounded his car and were not allowing him to go. The police then started pushing the mourners after which Mousavi drove off," the witness said, adding that several were detained.

Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have waged a defiant campaign since losing to Ahmadinejad in what they brand a rigged election, had announced they would visit the cemetery after authorities banned another memorial ceremony.