Ebadi urges Iran to prosecute killers of protesters

GENEVA (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday to prosecute perpetrators of shootings of protesters and pay compensation to their families.

The Iranian human rights lawyer called for fresh elections to be held with United Nations observers. The authorities should also release 500 people she said had been arrested since the disputed presidential election a week ago.

Asked what the incumbent Ahmadinejad, declared winner of the poll despite allegations of rigging, should do in the wake of mass protests, Ebadi told a news conference in Geneva:

"He should pay compensation to the wounded and families of those killed. He should identify and pursue the authors of killings, those who fired on demonstrators.

"The fact that people were shooting from the top of a state building and seven people were killed constitutes something totally against our laws," she said through an interpreter.

Iranian state media have reported seven or eight people killed in protests since the June 12 election.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a strong warning on Friday to leaders of mass street protests that they would be responsible for any bloodshed. His words appeared to hint at a future crackdown.

Supporters of defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi had planned another gathering on Saturday, but an ally told Reuters late on Friday after Khamenei's speech that Mousavi had no plans to call a rally over the weekend.

"The number of protesters who turn out will reflect what people think about what Khamenei said," said Ebadi, who is Iran's most famous human rights lawyer but whose influence inside Iran is seen as limited.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Iran to rein in Islamic militia accused of violence against protesters and warned the situation could still deteriorate.

Pillay voiced concern about the number of human rights activists and opposition members arrested since the election and urged authorities to uphold due process of law.

"It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that militia members and regular law enforcement agencies do not resort to illegal acts of violence," she said in a statement.

"If they are perceived to be acting outside the law, it could provoke a serious deterioration in the security situation, which would be a great tragedy and is in nobody's interests."

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis)