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EU is following the plight of the 'Barnet Two'
By Tom Spender


The European Union is 'closely following' the plight of two borough-based refugees languishing in an Iranian jail, Chris Patten, European Commissioner for External Relations, has said.

In a letter to Theresa Villiers, Conservative MEP for London, Mr Patten said his priority was to ensure Ebrahim Khodabandeh, from Barnet, and Jamil Bassam, from Hendon, are being well treated.

The pair were arrested in Syria last April before being flown back to Iran and imprisoned - a move which broke the Geneva Convention on refugees.

The Iranian government claims the men were caught on the Syrian border with Iraq with US$1million. The men's families say they were in Syria to meet relatives from Iran.

Mr Patten wrote: "The commission continues to follow these specific cases. While the cases are complex and delicate - involving links to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq known as the People's Mojahedin of Iran, a group which opposes the Iranian regime and is on the US and UK's lists of banned terrorist organisations - the wellbeing of these two persons and their right to fair treatment by Iranian authorities obviously remain of interest to us all."
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