More than 4,000 Iranian opposition supporters currently living in Iraq face possible expulsion back to Iran - where they may be tortured and executed - when the new Iraqi government comes into force at the end of the month, a specially formed group of international lawyers warned last week.

London-based human rights lawyers Geoffrey Bindman and Stephen Grosz, partners at Bindman & Partners, and Imran Khan, partner at Imran Khan & Partners, joined forces with former law lord Lord Slynn of Hadley and lawyers from Canada, Denmark and Norway to discuss the issue at a special conference last month.

Masoud Zabeti, an associate at Glovers in London acting for the British families of 100 Iranian dissidents, who are members of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), said: 'We fear the new [Iraqi] government will come under pressure from Iran to expel the PMOI supporters as soon as it gains power - the present interim government had already announced its intention to do so.

Members of our group have gone to Iraq to meet the coalition authorities and provided legal opinions.'

Mr Grosz, who is also acting for British families, said: 'We have made representations to the Foreign Office, and are making efforts to find out what is going on from the coalition, which has said it will deal with the issue in the next few weeks.

If these people are sent back to Iran, they will be in grave danger.

A mass transfer of a civilian population against their will is a war crime.'

Rachel Rothwell