-- Are you looking at my bird?

["Iain" <iain.campbell@xxxxxxxxxx>]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_860000/860577.stm

The arrest of a shopkeeper accused by a judge of flirting with his wife
triggered riots in the Iranian town of Qir on Sunday.
Newspapers said that violence erupted after a local judge ordered the arrest
of the grocer, accusing him of flirting with his wife while the couple were
shopping at a local bazaar.

Cars were burned in the streets, and a local court-house was set on fire. A
police station was also torched and the local government offices were pelted
with stones.

According to the Iranian Bahar newspaper, the arrested man was cross-eyed,
giving a false impression to the judge's wife that he was leering at her.

When local officials ignored a complaint from the public about the grocer's
arrest, fellow shopkeepers closed down the bazaar in Qir, a small town in
Fars province, in protest.

There were no reports of any injuries during the violence, but the grocer
was allegedly beaten up while in custody.

Over-reaction

Police fired shots into the air to disperse the protesters, who were angry
with what they perceived as over-reaction by the authorities.

"The judge should have filed a case against the grocer and not call the
police to arrest him," said Fars province Judiciary Chief, Hossein Ali
Amiri.

Mr Amiri told reporters that a "misunderstanding" between the judge and the
shopkeeper had led to the tensions.

Like many provincial towns in Iran, Qir, 220 km (140 miles) south of the
provincial capital Shiraz, has a conservative religious environment with
strong family values.

According to the official Iranian Islamic Republic news agency website,
authorities have now restored order to the town



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