Iranian separatists want Netherlands response to leader's Hague murder

The Arabic-Iranian separatist group Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA) is demanding clarity into the murder of their leader Ahmad Mola Nissi. Nissi was shot dead on the street in a central Den Haag neighborhood on Wednesday evening.

Since 1999 ASMLA has been fighting for the independence of the Iranian territory of Khuzistan, which they call Ahwaz. Iran has held the group responsible for violent actions, including bombings of government sites and attacks on oil pipelines.

In a statement on the website ahwazona.net the group is demanding "an urgent investigation on the circumstances of the murder", and later "to provide the security measures needed to all the Ahwazi-refugees in the Dutch territory."

Nissi's cousin Qasem, who also lives in the Netherlands affirmed that Nissi had been threatened before. "The Iranian intelligence called him and told him they know where he lived," he told Dutch media outlets. Nissi fled from Iran in 2006 and, through Syria, arrived in the Netherlands. According to his cousin, Nissi was still busy full time with his the ASMLA fight.

The police have said little about the incident, other than the initial report of the shooting. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Foreign Affairs ministry have made no comment. Neither has the Iranian Embassy in Den Haag.