Page 494 – Nejat Society

Is the MKO seeking forceful relocation?

The MKO is not cooperative with the UN and Iraqi government to vacate Camp Ashraf.
Is the MKO seeking forceful relocation?
Following the stall in the relocation process of Ashraf residents to Temporary Transit Location (Camp Liberty], the United Nations mission in Iraq presented a roadmap to the government suggesting series of steps to complete the peaceful relocation of the camp residents.[1]
The MKO’s reluctance to leave Camp Ashraf concerned the UN, the GOI and even the US. Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler said:”our commitment is strictly humanitarian: to facilitate a voluntary temporary relocation of residents to Camp Hurriya as a first step resettlement to countries outside Iraq.”[2]

As Mr. Kobler says, the residents’ relocation is “voluntarily” and “temporary" but the group seems not to be a volunteer to leave the camp and about those who have resettled in TTL, they seem to intend to stay in the new camp for ever or at least not “temporary” for the time being. That’s why they want it to be as equipped as their former ”Ashraf City".

To halt the voluntary evacuation of Camp Ashraf, the MKO uses some repeatedly claimed excuses: they claim that TTL does not meet the residents’ basic humanitarian needs such as water shortage, power generators and air conditioning. However, numerous reports by UNAMI or US State Department confirm that the condition at camp Hurriya (TTL) is not as bad as what the group claims. On July 6th, during a call with reporters, State Department officials spoke on issues related to the MKO. Special Advisor to Secretary Clinton on Camp Ashraf, Ambassador Daniel Fried said that he considered some of the group’s demands legitimate but not all of them. ”Some of the MEK demands are reasonable. For example, given the hot weather in Iraq, they’ve requested more air conditioners”, he said. The Iraqi government has agreed to provide them, that is agreed to allow a special shipment of air conditioners from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty and this is being arranged as we speak,” Fried said, ”but it has been frustrating to deal with constantly shifting demands, many demands. We find that US Embassy and State Department and the UN will work to resolve problems and, a la wack-a-mole, you find that new ones- you’re constantly presented with new ones.”[3]

Once more on July23, Ambassador Martin Kobler stated that conditions at TTL comply with UN living standards. He stressed that the UN monitoring team observed the needed water and electricity of the Camp.[4]

While the MKO propaganda accuses the UN and DOS and GOI of committing “outrage” against Ashraf and Liberty residents, the officials of UN, US and Iraq urge on more cooperation to relocate the residents of Ashraf and to facilitate their further resettlement in third countries.
“Time is running out to find out a sustainable situation,” Mr. Kobler said, “Without prospect for resettlement the ongoing process runs the risk of collapsing.”[5]

Seemingly, the MKO is seeking the “collapse” of the UN-US- Iraqi plan to evacuate Camp Ashraf.
The GoI has made it clear that it wants Camp Ashraf shut down and the MeK which once fought alongside Hussein and is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization – to leave Iraq, according to the UN News Centre. [6]

Iraqi authorities have so far taken strong stance against the group’s defiance to leave Camp Ashraf. Iraqi government is now trying to use other legal ways to totally evacuate Camp Ashraf, reported IRNA. The government of Iraq has issued warnings to the group to get prepared for the camp closure and the transfer to TTL. [7]

Mayor of Al Khalis, the province where camp Ashraf is located also warned of possible expulsion of remaining MKO members at Camp Ashraf, according to Habilian Foundation. [8]
The most recent stance by GOI was declared in a conference held on July 31. "We have reached a dead end (with them) and the extension ends today, they have to move," Falih al-Fayadh, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, told a conference attended by the U.N. mission in Iraq, aid groups and Western and Arab diplomats. [9]

Martin Kobler also said in the conference that the UN is directly involved in the issue and called for finding a peaceful solution for the MKO issue in Iraq. [10]

It’s not a surprise that the MKO denounced the conference. National Council of Resistance, the propaganda arm of the group called the meeting "devoid of any credibility".
Earlier last month, the Unites Nations’ News Centre warned that a slowdown in the relocation process during May and June –and even July – prompted renewed tensions and recriminations. “The situation continues to be fragile”, said Ambassador Kobler.[11]

While the State Department supports the UN roadmap for Camp Ashraf closure, it stressed, ”the government of Iraq has recently taken constructive steps to advance this process.”[12]
The State Department reported of a cargo convoy of 300 additional air conditioners, several large water tanks, additional generators, and other goods transported from Ashraf to TTL to improve the residents’ quality of life at TTL. On July19, the Iraqi government transported to camp Hurriya three especially equipped vehicles for residents with disabilities. [13]

As the International community is seriously concerned about peaceful evacuation of Camp Ashraf and consequently resettlement of its residents in third countries, the MKO propaganda is working hard to undermine the UN efforts to resolve the problem. The group is not cooperative to advance any plan presented by either the UN or the GoI because it doesn’t actually want to leave Camp Ashraf.

Peaceful relocation appears not to be a good solution for the MKO leaders who prefer a forceful relocation. They seem to seek another bloody clash with Iraqi government –which has shown enough tolerance towards the presence of foreign terrorists in its territory so far. In their idea, victimization of some other dissident members of the group would be a useful way to both clear the cult off disloyal members and to feed the propaganda machine of the group. Lack of cooperative behavior by the side of the MKO proves its violent approach.

Daniel Benjamin, the State Department Coordinator for Counter terrorism official said,” this is MEK’s moment to show that it has taken a fundamentally different character.[…]And that really is going to be a very important demonstration of what the MEK’s orientation in the future will be.”[14]
By Mazda Parsi

Refrences:
[1] UN News Centre, UN puts forward roadmap for relocation of Iranian exiles from Camp in Iraq, July24, 2012
[2]ibid
[3] Lach, Eric, Iranian Group Advocated Tried to get State Department. Meeting under False Pretences, TPMMuckraker, July9th, 2012
[4] UN Webcast, Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq – Security Council Media stakeout , July19, 2012
[5]ibid
[6]ibid
[7]IRNA, Iraqi government issues deadline to evacuate Ashraf, July25, 2012
[8]Habilian Association, Iraqi official warns of people’s anger over delay of MKO expulsion, July26, 2012
[9]Reuters, Iraq says will force out Iran dissident group, July 31, 2012
[10] Press TV, Iraqi government requests for MKO evacuation, July 31, 2012
[11] UN News Centre, UN puts forward roadmap for relocation of Iranian exiles from Camp in Iraq, July24, 2012
[12]US State Department, US support for UN roadmap on Camp Ashraf, Press statement, July25, 2012
[13]ibid
[14]Lach, Eric, Iranian Group Advocated Tried to get State Department. Meeting under False Pretences, TPMMuckraker, July9th, 2012

August 5, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Who Breaks Deadlock over MKO Relocation?

The world should be concerned over MKO’s potentiality of waging all kinds of vendetta

All sides involved in the humanitarian issue of relocating the members of Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO/MEK/PMOI from their military base, Camp Ashraf, to a transit facility near Baghdad seem to have been locked in a protracted battle over the plan. The Iraqi government, encouraged by the UN and the US, has so far maintained the credibility of practicing a humanitarian approach towards the residents and has respected human rights principles. In contrast, MKO has been insisting on exacerbating the tension it has generated.

Six months ago, the Iraqi government extended an extra six-month period to MKO’s deadline to leave Iraq upon a UN request that lasted on July 31. During the period, MKO members have displayed the least form of cooperation with the Iraqi authorities and only two third of the residents have been relocated to transitory camp. In an international conference held on the last day of the extended period, Iraq’s National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fyadh announced that the only option left for the terrorist group is to leave the country or face prosecution by the Iraqi justice system:

The Iraqi Government has shown cooperation with the UN and the UN had asked Iraq to give the MKO six months before being expelled. The six months have passed and their continued presence is not an option. If they refuse to leave, Iraq with deal with them as a group which is a threat to Iraq’s sovereignty.

By creating a variety of unjustifiable excuses, MKO has refused further relocation of its members. The group M complains of poor conditions at the transit camp while there are evidences of appropriate humanitarian and standard conditions at the camp according to UNAMI’s report corroborated by the US. In a press statement released yesterday, Patrick Ventrell, Acting Deputy Spokesperson, called on MKO leaders to cooperate since all its demands have been met by the Iraqi government:

We also call on the Ashraf leadership to immediately resume cooperation with the relocation of residents to Camp Hurriya, especially following the Iraqi Government’s delivery of a cargo convoy of goods as demanded by the residents on July 15. Allegations of dire humanitarian conditions at Hurriya are inconsistent with observations made by U.S. Government officials who have visited Hurriya, as well as reporting from UN monitors. Based on these reports, and other information, it is clear that the quality of life at Hurriya exceeds accepted humanitarian standards. The continued intransigence of the residents’ leadership in placing preconditions and making demands prior to any agreement to relocate further Ashraf residents is unacceptable and puts in danger protections established in the MOU.

Despite all efforts for seeking a peaceful solution in handling the MKO’s exit from Iraq, the group is resolved to heighten the tension to a point that might provoke a violent reaction, just what MKO dreams to happen. MKO never observes nor has any respect for human rights and international laws; it is getting ready for causing an appalling human tragedy rather than to end it. Although it is not in the interest of anyone to witness repetition of the provoked tragic clashes that took place in 2011 and led to many casualties from the both sides, MKO is not uninterested to make all residents martyrs to demonize the Iraqi government as well as securing a much more extended period of stay in Iraq with all needed sympathy directed in its own favor. The world should be concerned over the possible violent reaction from the terrorist MKO with a proven potentiality of waging all kinds of vendetta.

August 4, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

PMOI relocation frustrates many

The government of Iraq, along with Iranian exiles, is called on to honor the spirit of a resettlement agreement, a U.S. State Department official said. PMOI relocation frustrates many

Baghdad and the United Nations signed a memorandum of understanding in December outlining the voluntary relocation of members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran from their Camp Ashraf enclave in Diyala province to Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Patrick Ventrell, a State Department spokesman, said continued dialogue, not forcible means, was the best way for the Iraq government to facilitate the transfer. Further demands, meanwhile, issued by the thousands of exiles remaining at the Diyala enclave are "unacceptable," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a similar appeal through his spokesman.

"He urges both sides to continue to work constructively in this regard with a view to peacefully concluding the transfer of the remaining residents as soon as possible," the statement read.

The PMOI is labeled as a terrorist organization by the US.

August 4, 2012 0 comments

Iran Interlink

UN demands MKO’s cooperation in completing Iraq relocation

The UN chief’s special envoy in Iraq has demanded that members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) prepare for the final evacuation of their base in the country.

Ban Ki-moon’s representative in Iraq Martin Coupler made the comment following the persistent refusal of the MKO leaders to submit to UN’s step-by-step plan to relocate members of the notorious terror group from Camp Ashraf to a former US military base in the country, Camp Liberty, as the initial phase of their entire removal out of Iraq.

Coupler urged MKO leaders to prepare for the complete relocation from Camp Ashraf without further ado.

Nearly 2,000 members of the terrorist group have already been transferred to Camp Liberty, but 1,200 more still remain in Camp Ashraf, staging resistance against the relocation effort.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fyadh announced Tuesday in an international conference in Baghdad on the status of the terrorist group that MKO members have never displayed any form of cooperation with the Iraqi government during the extra six-month window extended to the group for the relocation process upon a UN request, insisting that the group will face prosecution by the country’s justice system if they do not cooperate with the relocation effort.

The UN official also emphasized on the humanitarian aspects of transferring MKO members to Camp Liberty, adding that children and special-needs individuals would have the priority in being relocated.

He also called for restraint from resorting to violence during the relocation process in meetings with Iraqi officials.

“The Iraqi Government has shown cooperation with the UN and the UN had asked Iraq to give the MKO six months before being expelled. The six months have passed and their continued presence is not an option. If they refuse to leave, Iraq with deal with them as a group which is a threat to Iraq’s sovereignty,” Al-Fyadh said at the conference on Tuesday.

The conference, organized and chaired by the Iraqi national security advisor, was attended by representatives of eight countries including the United States, Britain, China, Russia, Canada, Australia as well as the EU and the Arab League.

The Iraqi official further emphasized that many MKO members are on the Iraqi wanted criminals list for committing crimes against humanity in the country during the nation’s 1991 popular uprising. The list, according to Fyadh, consists of 38 MKO members including its top leaders Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, and is responsible for numerous terrorist acts against both Iranian and Iraqi citizens. The group is especially notorious in Iran for siding with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 war he imposed on the Islamic Republic.

The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed despot and set up its camp near the Iranian border.

August 4, 2012 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq tells MKO to leave Camp Ashraf or be forced out

The Iraqi government on Tuesday told the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization that it must move out of Camp New Iraq, which was formerly known as Camp Ashraf, immediately or be forced to leave, Reuters reported.

Iraqi authorities have been locked in a protracted row with the MKO over their plan to move 3,000 members of the group from Camp Ashraf to a large former U.S. military base, a step toward expelling the group from Iraqi territory.

The United States also said last month that the group should close the camp, saying it was “gravely mistaken” to think there was another option.

“We have reached a dead end (with them) and the extension ends today, they have to move,” Falih al-Fayadh, Iraq’s national security advisor, told a conference attended by the UN mission in Iraq, aid groups, and Western and Arab diplomats on Tuesday.

“Now we are free to implement the mechanisms required to transfer those who live in (Camp Ashraf) to where we find appropriate.”

The MKO started its activities as a terrorist group based in Iraq in the early 1980s. In addition to the assassination of hundreds of Iranian officials and citizens, the group cooperated with Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in its repression of the Iraqi people.

It took refuge at Camp Ashraf, 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad, during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

The United States added the MKO to its blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997, but the group has since said that it has renounced violence and has mounted a legal and public relations campaign to have the designation dropped.

August 2, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

U.S. bids to resettle MKO in Israel

Sources say that terrorist MKO group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, along with other high ranking members of the terrorist group had a meeting earlier last week to explore ways to convince the European countries to accept the members of the terrorist group who are being held at Camp Ashraf and Liberty.

According to a report published by Habilian Foundation website, Arabic language Nahrain News Agency quoted informed sources as saying that the group leadership contacted the U.S. embassy staff (suspected CIA agents) to help them find a new place for their resettlement.

“The United States is trying to persuade some European countries, including Bulgaria and Romania to take in some of the elements of the terrorist MKO group,” the sources added.

The sources disclosed that Maryam Rajavi has demanded the embassy of Zionist regime in Paris to accept a number of MKO elements in the Israeli-occupied territories; however, Tel Aviv has so far shown no reaction to it.

August 2, 2012 0 comments

UN chief tells Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq to move

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. chief is urging some 1,200 Iranian exiles who are refusing to UN chief tells Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq to move leave Camp Ashraf to cooperate with Iraqi authorities and resettle in a new refugee camp near Baghdad.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday also urged other countries to give asylum to the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, an exiled Iranian dissident group that had waged a campaign from foreign bases to overthrow Iran’s clerical government.

The exile group, also known by its Farsi name, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, have already moved about 2,000 of its residents from Camp Asraf in northern Iraq to a Baghdad refugee camp, Camp Hurriya, which is a former U.S. military base. But they ignored a July 20 deadline to move the remaining 1,200 members, saying they will not go until they see proof of more water, increased electricity, better facilities for sick and disabled people and other improvements to the base. The U.N. says the services there are already far better than at most other refugee camps worldwide.

On Tuesday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayadh warned the group to move soon or his government will take matters into its own hands.

Ban expressed "appreciation" for Iraq’s government and urged the refugees to "earnestly prepare for their next transfer."

But he added that "violence should, at all costs, be avoided" and urged Iraq’s government to "exercise restraint."

The People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran has been labeled everything from a cult to a terrorist organization — although one that has provided the U.S. with intelligence on Iran. The group says it renounced violence in 2001, after carrying out bloody bombings and assassinations in Iran in the 1980s.

The Iraqi government considers them a terrorist group that is in the country illegally. Over the last six months, the U.N. has tried to mediate, and helped broker an agreement to close Ashraf and temporarily move the exiles into the refugee camp. Ultimately, Iraqi and U.N. officials want to give the Ashraf residents refugee status and resettle them outside of Iraq.

The distrust between the exiles and Iraq’s government has always been palatable, but it peaked after security forces led deadly raids in Ashraf twice in the last four years.

"The government of Iraq receives all of its orders on Ashraf from the Iranian regime, refrains from implementing this simple and practical plan, and it’s planning for the third massacre at Ashraf," the exiles said in a statement Tuesday.

CBS News

August 2, 2012 0 comments

USA

U.S. concerned over Iraqi threats to force MEK from Ashraf

The United States expressed concern on Wednesday over Iraqi threats to force an Iranian U.S. concerned over Iraqi threats to force MEK from Ashraf dissident group out of a camp in Iraq, but also urged members of the group to relocate voluntarily to a large former U.S. military base in Baghdad.

Iraqi authorities have been locked in a protracted dispute with the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) over plans to move 3,000 MEK members from Camp Ashraf, where they have lived for years, to a former U.S. base near Baghdad’s airport – a step toward their ultimate expulsion from Iraq.

The Iranian group, which calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders and was supported by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shiite-led government that came to power after Saddam’s downfall in 2003. Clashes between Ashraf residents and Iraqi security forces last year killed 34 people.

“The United States is concerned by the government of Iraq’s reference on July 31 to the possible closure of Camp Ashraf by involuntary relocation of its residents,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

“We urge the government of Iraq to remain patient and flexible in seeking a voluntary arrangement for continued relocations, as only a peaceful resolution to the situation at Camp Ashraf is acceptable,” he said in a statement.

“We also call on the Ashraf leadership to immediately resume cooperation with the relocation,” Ventrell added.

The MEK has complained of poor conditions at the former U.S. base, known as Camp Liberty. Only about two-thirds of the group have moved there. The others, around 1,200 people, are refusing to leave Camp Ashraf. None have moved since May, U.S. officials say.

Iraq on Tuesday told them they have to move or it would be free to transfer them “to where we find appropriate,” as Iraq’s National Security Advisor Falih al-Fayadh put it.

Ventrell said U.S. government officials who have recently visited Camp Liberty did not find the “dire humanitarian conditions” that MEK members had alleged. He noted that Iraq had delivered goods demanded by Liberty’s residents two weeks ago. These included air conditioners, generators, food and water tanks.

“It is clear that the quality of life (at Camp Liberty) exceeds accepted humanitarian standards,” Ventrell said.

“The continued intransigence of the residents’ leadership in placing preconditions and making demands prior to any agreement to relocate further Ashraf residents is unacceptable,” he said, adding that finally closing Ashraf would let the United Nations, the United States and others focus on a “durable solution for the residents’ relocation outside of Iraq.”

The United Nations has been interviewing members of the Iranian group and approaching foreign governments to ask that they accept them for resettlement.

The United States has warned the MEK that its cooperation in moving from Camp Ashraf would be a key factor as the United States weighs whether to remove it from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Also known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, the group led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran during the 1970s, including attacks on U.S. targets. Some Iranians vilify the group for allying itself with Iraq’s Saddam during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Will Dunham)
Reuters, August 01 2012
http://www.euronews.com/newswires/1605664-us-
concerned-over-iraqi-threats-to-force-iran-dissidents-from-camp/

August 2, 2012 0 comments

USA

MKO remains on the list Foreign Terrorist Organizations in U.S.

Chapter 6. Foreign Terrorist Organizations
MKO remains on the list Foreign Terrorist Organizations in U.S.
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism

Country Reports on Terrorism 2011

Report

July 31, 2012

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Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). FTO designations play a critical role in the fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities.

Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended:
1. It must be a foreign organization.
2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)), or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)), or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
3. The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.

—————————————-

U.S. Government Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB)
Ansar al-Islam (AAI)
Army of Islam (AOI)
Asbat al-Ansar (AAA)
Aum Shinrikyo (AUM)
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA)
Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
Gama’a al-Islamiyya (IG)
Hamas
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI)
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
Harakat ul-Mujahideen (HUM)
Hizballah
Indian Mujahideen (IM)
Islamic Jihad Union (IJU)
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)
Jemaah Islamiya (JI)
Jundallah
Kahane Chai
Kata’ib Hizballah (KH)
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)
Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LT)
Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)
Mujahadin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
National Liberation Army (ELN)
Palestine Islamic Jihad – Shaqaqi Faction (PIJ)
Palestine Liberation Front – Abu Abbas Faction (PLF)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)
Al-Qa’ida (AQ)
Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
Al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI)
Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Real IRA (RIRA)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N)
Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
Revolutionary Struggle (RS)
Al-Shabaab (AS)
Shining Path (SL)
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)

(…)

MUJAHADIN-E KHALQ ORGANIZATION (MEK)

aka MEK; MKO; Mujahadin-e Khalq; Muslim Iranian Students’ Society; National Council of Resistance; NCR; Organization of the People’s Holy Warriors of Iran; the National Liberation Army of Iran; NLA; People’s Mujahadin Organization of Iran; PMOI; National Council of Resistance of Iran; NCRI; Sazeman-e Mujahadin-e Khalq-e Iran

Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, 1997, the Mujahadin-E Khalq Organization ( MEK) is a Marxist-Islamic Organization that seeks the overthrow of the Iranian regime through its military wing, the National Liberation Army (NLA), and its political front, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The MEK was founded in 1963 by a group of college-educated Iranian Marxists who opposed the country’s pro-western ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The group participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced the Shah with a Shiite Islamist regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini. However, the MEK’s ideology – a blend of Marxism, feminism, and Islamism – was at odds with the post-revolutionary government, and its original leadership was soon executed by the Khomeini regime. In 1981, the group was driven from its bases on the Iran-Iraq border and resettled in Paris, where it began supporting Iraq in its eight-year war against Khomeini’s Iran. In 1986, after France recognized the Iranian regime, the MEK moved its headquarters to Iraq, which facilitated its terrorist activities in Iran. From 2003 through the end of 2011, roughly 3,400 MEK members were encamped at Ashraf in Iraq.

Activities: The group’s worldwide campaign against the Iranian government uses propaganda and terrorism to achieve its objectives. During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. In 1972, the MEK set off bombs in Tehran at the U.S. Information Service office (part of the U.S. Embassy), the Iran-American Society, and the offices of several U.S. companies to protest the visit of President Nixon to Iran. In 1973, the MEK assassinated the deputy chief of the U.S. Military Mission in Tehran and bombed several businesses, including Shell Oil. In 1974, the MEK set off bombs in Tehran at the offices of U.S. companies to protest the visit of then U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger. In 1975, the MEK assassinated two U.S. military officers who were members of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group in Tehran. In 1976, the MEK assassinated two U.S. citizens who were employees of Rockwell International in Tehran. In 1979, the group claimed responsibility for the murder of an American Texaco executive. Alhough denied by the MEK, analysis based on eyewitness accounts and MEK documents demonstrates that MEK members participated in and supported the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and that the MEK later argued against the early release of the American hostages. The MEK also provided personnel to guard and defend the site of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, following the takeover of the Embassy.

In 1981, MEK leadership attempted to overthrow the newly installed Islamic regime; Iranian security forces subsequently initiated a crackdown on the group. The MEK instigated a bombing campaign, including an attack against the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Prime Minister’s office, which killed some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar. These attacks resulted in an expanded Iranian government crackdown that forced MEK leaders to flee to France. For five years, the MEK continued to wage its terrorist campaign from its Paris headquarters. Expelled by France in 1986, MEK leaders turned to Saddam Hussein’s regime for basing, financial support, and training. Near the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, Baghdad armed the MEK with heavy military equipment and deployed thousands of MEK fighters in suicidal, waves of attacks against Iranian forces.

The MEK’s relationship with the former Iraqi regime continued through the 1990s. In 1991, the group reportedly assisted the Iraqi Republican Guard’s bloody crackdown on Iraqi Shia and Kurds who rose up against Saddam Hussein’s regime. In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and consular missions in 13 countries, including against the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale operations overseas. In June 1998, the MEK was implicated in a series of bombing and mortar attacks in Iran that killed at least 15 and injured several others. The MEK also assassinated the former Iranian Minister of Prisons in 1998. In April 1999, the MEK targeted key Iranian military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, Brigadier General Ali Sayyaad Shirazi.

In April 2000, the MEK attempted to assassinate the commander of the Nasr Headquarters, Tehran’s interagency board responsible for coordinating policies on Iraq. The pace of anti-Iranian operations increased during “Operation Great Bahman” in February 2000, when the group launched a dozen attacks against Iran. One attack included a mortar attack against a major Iranian leadership complex in Tehran that housed the offices of the Supreme Leader and the President. The attack killed one person and injured six other individuals. In March 2000, the MEK launched mortars into a residential district in Tehran, injuring four people and damaging property. In 2000 and 2001, the MEK was involved in regular mortar attacks and hit-and-run raids against Iranian military and law enforcement personnel, as well as government buildings near the Iran-Iraq border. Following an initial Coalition bombardment of the MEK’s facilities in Iraq at the outset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, MEK leadership negotiated a cease-fire with Coalition Forces and surrendered their heavy-arms to Coalition control. From 2003 through the end of 2011, roughly 3,400 MEK members were encamped at Ashraf in Iraq.

In 2003, French authorities arrested 160 MEK members at operational bases they believed the MEK was using to coordinate financing and planning for terrorist attacks. Upon the arrest of MEK leader Maryam Rajavi, MEK members took to Paris’ streets and engaged in self-immolation. French authorities eventually released Rajavi.

Strength: Estimates place MEK’s worldwide membership at between 5,000 and 10,000 members, with large pockets in Paris and other major European capitals. In Iraq, roughly 3,400 MEK members were gathered at Camp Ashraf, the MEK’s main compound north of Baghdad, at the end of 2011.

As a condition of the 2003 cease-fire agreement, the MEK relinquished more than 2,000 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery.

Location/Area of Operation: The MEK’s global support structure remains in place, with associates and supporters scattered throughout Europe and North America. Operations have targeted Iranian government elements across the globe, including in Europe and Iran. The MEK’s political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has a global support network with active lobbying and propaganda efforts in major Western capitals. NCRI also has a well-developed media communications strategy.

External Aid: Before Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, the MEK received all of its military assistance and most of its financial support from Saddam Hussein. The fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime has led the MEK increasingly to rely on front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.
(….)

August 2, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Concern about Camp Ashraf

Press Statement
Concern about Camp Ashraf
Patrick Ventrell
Acting Deputy Spokesperson, Office of Press Relations

Washington, DC
August 1, 2012

The United States is concerned by the Government of Iraq’s reference on July 31 to the possible closure of Camp Ashraf by involuntary relocation of its residents. We urge the Government of Iraq to remain patient and flexible in seeking a voluntary arrangement for continued relocations, as only a peaceful resolution to the situation at Camp Ashraf is acceptable. This requires that continued dialogue be pursued in place of forcible measures and that all sides act in accordance with the December 25, 2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Iraqi Government and the United Nations.

The process established by the MOU has resulted in the safe relocation of nearly 2,000 residents from Camp Ashraf, almost two-thirds of its estimated population. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq’s (UNAMI) “Roadmap” provides a peaceful way forward for Ashraf’s closure, and the United States urges adherence to this process to finally and peacefully close Camp Ashraf. Ashraf’s closure will allow UNAMI, the United States, and our partners to focus attention and efforts on a durable solution for the residents’ relocation outside of Iraq.

August 2, 2012 0 comments

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