SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/11104618.htm Protesting Iranians removed from plane CONSTANT BRAND Associated Press BRUSSELS, Belgium - Police on Friday said they'd removed a group of 56 unarmed passengers of Iranian origin encamped on a Lufthansa jetliner who'd said they wouldn't leave until the United States and other nations signed a pledge not to help Iran's "Islamic regime of mullahs." Police spokeswoman Els Cleemput said some 90 officers were used to remove the 56 protesters from the aircraft, which was moved away from the terminal after negotiations failed to end the protest action. A spokesman for the protesters earlier said they were on a hunger strike and were prepared to die for their cause of overthrowing the Islamic government in Tehran, but police said the Iranians were not on a fast and had eaten on board the plane. "We want the European countries, also the United States and Russia to stop helping the Iranian regime," the group's spokesman, who identified himself only as Ira, told The Associated Press in a call from the aircraft. The standoff began after the Lufthansa jetliner arrived from Frankfurt, Germany, at 3 p.m. Police said 56 of the 103 passengers refused to leave the plane, declaring they were on a protest against "this Islamic regime of mullahs." "We want these leaders to stop supporting terrorist regimes any longer ... to get rid of this Islamic regime or any kind of radical brutal religious movement from Iran," said Ira, who said he was an American national and a psychiatrist from New York. He said the protesters wanted the United States, the European Union and Russia to sign a pledge to stop cooperating with the Iranian government. "We are just sitting here we are not going to move out unless embassy officials from the United States, English and others come to sign our statement and guarantee us that if we go out of here they don't arrest us," he said. Ira, who said he was originally from Iran and was 60 years old, said the protesters were trying to highlight their support for the late shah of Iran and wanted to draw attention to Iran's problems. "We are not terrorists, we are messengers of peace," Ira said, adding that his group, which he called Anjoman-E Padeshahi Iran, wanted the overthrow of Iran's government. --- Associated Press reporter Paul Ames contributed to this report.