Belgian plane sit-in ends, Iranian protesters leave

An overnight sit-in on board a Lufthansa plane by 56 Iranian monarchist protesters ended peacefully at Brussels airport on Friday after Belgian police escorted them all off the aircraft.

The unarmed group of men, women and three children refused to leave the Boeing 737 flight from Frankfurt for 16 hours in a protest against Iran's Islamic government.

One person was forcibly escorted off the plane at the end of the protest and another was treated by doctors after collapsing upon disembarking. Several riot control vehicles had assembled near the aircraft, which was flanked by police vans.

"We want the European Union to remove the Islamic leaders from Iran," Armin Atshgar, one of the protesters, told Reuters by mobile phone during the sit-in. "We want to remove the mullahs from power."

Atshgar described himself as a member of Anjomane Padeshahi, a group advocating the restoration of Iran's royal family, which was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

As he spoke, a Belgian foreign ministry official could be heard over a mobile phone inside the aircraft promising the protesters safe passage if they agreed to disembark, but warning they faced arrest if they refused.

Police spokeswoman Els Cleemput said the protesters had European passports, except two who were carrying U.S. passports, but they were probably all of Iranian origin.