Iraq

Confiscated property at Camp Ashraf to be allocated to MKO victims

Uday al Khaddran: Funds from confiscated property at Camp Ashraf to be allocated to victims of Mojahedin Khalq .

While former members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist cult are pursuing a class action against Massoud and Maryam Rajavi’s assets to claim compensation for the victims of the group, the mayor of Khalis in Iraq is pursuing a similar action in his province.

Once the UN have successfully moved the MEK from Camp Ashraf to the temporary transit camp, Camp Liberty, property confiscated from the terrorist group by the Iraqi authorities will be sold and the money used to help the victims of MEK terrorism in Iraq and to recompense local farmers for the land and property stolen from them by the MEK over the past three decades.

The mayor of Khalis, Uday al Khaddran, told media, "the property at the camp includes types of saloon cars and transport, buses and tanks as well as engineering equipment and generators of different sizes and large private halls, as well as electrical appliances and cooking utensils and the types of audio devices, photography, types of medical devices for hospitals".

The mechanism for the sale must take into account recompense for the Iraqi people who suffered under the former regime he stressed.

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Iraq

MEK backers exploit loopholes in French law

Maliki’s adviser: MEK backers exploit loopholes in French law to engineer false arrest of Camp Liberty chief

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s media advisor Ali al-Moussawi said on Thursday 21 June that the MEK backers exploit loopholes in French lawIraqi government considers the detainment of one of its officials to be an abuse of the French Judicial system. Pointing out that lawyers fees were paid to follow the case, al-Moussawi pointed to the absence of any evidence against the official.

Al-Moussawi told reporters, "The Iraqi Embassy in France commissioned a lawyer to follow the case of Sadeq Kazem, who is Director of Camp Liberty near Baghdad", noting that "the lawyer had his client released after it was found there was no evidence or documents to support the allegations against Mr Kazem".

He said that the detention of Sadeq Kazem was "a real abuse of justice and the French justice system," pointing out that "this will not alter Iraqi-French relations."

The French authorities also stated that there was no doubt about the innocence of Mr Kazem and there was no evidence to support his detention. The MEK backers had taken advantage of loopholes in French to engineer the false detention on Thursday.

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Former members of the MEK

Open letter of Mr. Fatahiyan to the French Ministry of Justice

Terrorists should not have the right to organize meetings

Honorable Minister of Justice Madam Christiane Taubira Ghafour Fatahiyan

With greetings,
Before beginning my letter, I would like to introduce myself. I, Ghafour Fatahiyan , am a former veteran member of People’s Mujahedin Organization (PMOI, MKO, MEK, Rajavi’s cult) who had been a fulltime member and captive of the Rajavi’s cult for twenty years in pmoi different bases .
Honorable Minister of Justice, probably you have been informed about the pmoi situation in Iraq and the Iraqi government decision regarding the expulsion of pmoi from their soil . so far five groups of pmoi members despite of all tricks, deceptions and obstructions which pmoi leadership have implemented, have evacuated the Ashraf and gone to the liberty camp and unfortunately not only those obstructions and tricks are not finished or subsided but also they have got worse and the leadership of this cult do not let the international organizations to do their job on purpose.

Few days ago , Maryam Rajavi , the leader of pmoi in her statement said that she does not advise the remaining groups to leave Ashraf. the people who are familiar with pmoi tactics and their method in dealing with problems , they understand the essence of this order perfectly which is a direct organizational order for more bloodshed and organizing more conflicts and confrontations with the Iraqi police and Iraqi government like the confrontations in the past which took the life of more than fifty people , because the leaders of this cult do not want to lose Ashraf easily and they are trying their best to buy time by all means because by shutting down of Ashraf , they will lose their breeding ground of their cult completely and this event will be considered as a huge and devastating failure and fiasco for the leaders of this cult .

Honorable Minister of Justice
The pmoi by the leadership of Maryam Rajavi which her headquarter is situated in Auver sur Oise near Paris , intends to organize a gathering with her presence in Paris. The objective of this gathering is that , if they lose their main and the only cultic breeding ground , Ashraf , in Iraq then they will substitute Ashraf with another safe base in Paris which will be their new breeding ground for their cult.
According to my knowledge and experiences of the essence and content of this organization which I had gained those during my membership in this dangerous organization and based on my presence in many pmoi internal sessions during my stay in pmoi , I know very well that after the downfall of Saddam Hussein and the likelihood of their expulsion from Iraq , the next country for their residence will be France . they intend to reside in their main headquarter and base , Auvers sur Oise in Paris , the place which Maryam Rajavi before the US invasion to Iraq ,was deployed clandestinely.
According to the internal political and organizational sessions which I participated , I heard from Mozugan Parsayee many times that if we lose our main base , Ashraf , we have still our headquarter in Auvers sur Oise and she added , for this reason Maryam Rajavi has gone and deployed there to influence the French society with her presence. This speech is one of the facts which proves my claim and for this reason the pmoi has concentrated all its power in this issue.

As you know , these days pmoi is trying its best to organize this meeting and gathering in Paris and they are struggling to bring as much people as they can in this gathering from different nationalities and I can surely say that more than 80 percent of those people who will participate in this gathering are not Iranian and pmoi pay and spend huge amount of money to attract those people to their gathering and unfortunately some of the French mayors will participate in this gathering as a result of pmoi fake propaganda .
According to the international rules of law and regulations , the terrorist groups do not have the right to organize meetings and gatherings throughout the world . the pmoi has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization in US state department since 17 years ago and also this notorious organization had been listed as a terrorist organization in European Union for a long period of time and no one has forgotten the pmoi self immolations on the streets of Paris in 2003 which was directly orchestrated and ordered by Rajavi’s cult.
In 2003 I was in Iraq when Maryam Rajavi got arrested in Paris , we were told by high ranking officers of pmoi in Ashraf that if Maryam Rajavi was not released immediately , the pmoi members had to set themselves on fire in front of American camp inside Ashraf to show and demonstrate their protest.
Honorable Minister

1. We are talking about an organization which its essence and content is based on crime and terrorism.

2. We are talking about an organization which imprisons and tortures its dissidents only for small criticism against Massoud Rajavi and sending them to the Iraq notorious prison, Abou ghraib.

3. We are talking about an organization which forced its members to throw themselves in front of the Iraqi police vehicles to be killed.

4. We are talking about an organization which has not allowed its members to have a simple meeting with their loved ones and families since 25 years ago and has captivated its members.

5. We are talking about an organization which does not allow its members to have access to a radio and ……………etc.
Yours Excellency, according to the concrete facts which some of them mentioned above , in your opinion such organization is qualified to organize a gathering or meeting in France? Do they have the right to organize such gathering in France?

With many thanks
Ghafour Fatahiyan

Ghafour Fatahiyan, Iran Pen Clube

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The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

No Hope for MKO in Internal Political Conflicts

MKO is mistaken that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to its advantage

The Iraqi government is absolutely conclusive to close the military bastion of the ousted No Hope for MKO in Internal Political ConflictsSaddam’s mercenaries, Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO, and expel its members altogether from its soil by July 20, the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The preliminary phase to carry the job through is to relocate them, under United Nations and Iraqi government auspices, to a transit camp near Baghdad airport to undergo refugee process processed and be eventually re-settled to countries in Europe and other countries that will receive them. Some 2,000 MEK members have been transferred from Camp Ashraf since the process began, but none have moved since May 5. Although the chief impediment to have halted relocation is reported to be implausible excuses invented by MKO, frequent change of demands and asking too much, but there are other possibilities as well.

Following the reports of the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, MKO might have concluded that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to its advantage. As a result, the group halted its cooperation in the relocation process waiting to witness a possible collapse of Maliki’s government. However, so far all those who thought Maliki would be subject to a no-confidence vote have been disappointed.

Whatever will be the outcome of the political conflict in Iraq is an internal issue. But one thing is for certain that MKO is gravely mistaken to think that any Iraqi government, be it Maliki’s or another’s, will allow it to remain on Iraqi soil. Decisiveness to expel the group is a national demand and a constitutional decision rather than personal. The Iraq’s constitution prohibits presence of any terrorist organization on its soil (Article 7 of the constitution). The Iraqi government recognizes MKO as a terrorist organization, as it is on the US terror list and some other countries.

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Former members of the MEK

MKO looted Iraqi munitions, lands after fall of Saddam

Habilian Foundation (families of Iranian terror victims) caught up with a former member of MEK leadership Council to talk about the terrorist Cult of Rajavi (also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq, MKO looted Iraqi munitions, lands after fall of SaddamMEK, and MKO) and her two decades of experience in the terrorist cult.

In the first part of this serialized interview, Batoul Soltani talks about the way she and her 3-month-old baby were transferred to Iraq and then she further discusses the MKO’s situation in the very first year of their arrival in Iraq. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Habilian: How the MKO members went to Iraq? Did they use legal ways? Did they have passport and visa or they went to Iraq illegally?

Soltani: In his dream to take power in Iran, Masoud Rajavi aligned with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was at war with Iran. He left France for Iraq in a bid to overwhelm Iran, and spent exorbitant amounts of cash to draw together his members, opponents, even the addicts and poor people from all walks of life in Iraq.

Having Saddam’s government as his supporter, Rajavi gathered troops in Iraq and in neighboring Iran by forging travel documents and making fake passports with huge sums of money given by Saddam Hussein to help him overthrow Iran and make himself the full owner of Iran’s soil. For instance, I and my husband have been transferred to Iraq by a fake Iraqi passport with names of Zahra and Abrahim.

We did not know then the ominous thoughts of them for us, and we did deem it a right way and thought that we would be able to go to a European country, such as France and to enjoy a free life and well-being. But after our arrival, (Rajavi) took all our (travel) documents and destroyed the bridges behind us in a bid to compel us to remain in Iraq and to follow his organizational orders.

Habilian: How many members were in MKO in the first years of its presence in Iraq? What was the total number of members in the last year of Saddam Hussein’s rule?

Soltani: Rajavi tried to take all the members to Iraq at all costs. The number of members in the great operations was 5000, 1000 of whom were killed in Forough Javidan (Mersad) operation.

In the last year of Saddam’s rule, Rajavi sent a group of members to France along with his third wife, Maryam Rajavi. A bunch of members escaped the Organization, and the remaining members were 3400 in the last year of Saddam’s reign.

Habilian: How was the Organization provided with Camp Ashraf? How the facilities and infrastructure constructed there?

Soltani: After the meeting of Rajavi with Tareq Aziz, the then Iraqi foreign minister, known as Peace Meeting, and in his meeting with Saddam, Masoud Rajavi was gifted with Ashraf Garrison and several other garrisons at Iran-Iraq borders and in the deserts on the frontiers which previously belonged to Saddam’s Army as well as some palaces inside Baghdad.

Ashraf Garrison known as Filq II was smaller than the present, so Rajavi said that he needed bigger land. Thus, Saddam confiscated the surrounding lands and handed them over to Rajavi.

Later, the land which was about 36 square kilometers were laid down barbed wire and tall guard towers were built inside it. Electrical wiring and strong floodlights were installed on the sides of the garrison.

A prison was built inside it and a round-the-clock patrol and security forces made there a big and isolated prison.

Habilian: Did the Organization underwrite the building garrison and providing facilities? How did the Organization fund them?

Soltani: It was seemingly the Organization that underwrote the projects, but they took all the money from Iraqi government en masse. Notably before the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Organization was provided with so much money that immediately after the downfall of Saddam Hussein members of the Organization tried to buy companies in Iraq.

The Organization took out as far as it could the wretched peoples’ assets, so that they could establish foreign investments companies.

Habilian: How did the Iraqi people treat MKO?

Soltani: Since Iraqi Kurds remembered the Organization’s alignment with Saddam’s army in suppression of their uprising, they hated MKO members, and the rest of Iraqi people saw us as the members of (Saddam’s) army and they hated and feared us.

We have been prohibited to have contacts with Iraqi people even at the time of Saddam Hussein.

The Organization tried to replace this hatred and fear to relation and friendship. So, Rajavi ordered large parties to be held and thousands of Iraqi people were invited to dinner or lunch.

He spent very huge amount of money in this way. He even managed to penetrate into Iraqi society by organizing roughly 500 Iraqis with big costs. He established an Iraqi militia, and held Persian language classes inside the Garrison and paid them money.

Habilian: How did the members saw the Iraqi imposed war on Iran and their cooperation with invading forces who assaulted their territory?

Soltani: Masoud Rajavi has spent thousands of hours convincing their presence in Iraq and cooperation with aggressive Saddam. In the first step he tried to pretend that it was Iran who invaded Iraq and he instead described Saddam Hussein as a civilized and good man. He has made an angel in our minds from Saddam who was a demon. Rajavi even white-washed Saddam’s bloody hands in the massacre of Kurds, and said that Kurds are our enemies and (Iranian) regime’s accomplices.

Everything was censored in Rajavi’s Organization and we had no access to media, news, or free world. For example, he said: “we seek peace in order to prevent the killing of people, though, this is Iran which put all of their lives at stake and we want to prevent the war to stop killing people,” thereby he legitimized his collusion with aggressive forces.

Habilian: Did the relationship between the Organization and Iraqi government changed after the Iraq’s defeat in war?

Soltani: In his childish dream and of course with the help of his opportunistic personality, Rajavi attacked Iran after the defeat of Iraq in war with Iran, but he was rewarded with a strong slap in his face by Iranian people and his organization fled Iraq with 1000 casualties.

Then he said that children and wives prevented them from a good combat, so, he dismantled the families like a wolf sending the children to foreign countries and coerced wives to divorce. Thenceforth he himself married them.

He (Rajavi) had arguments with Iraqis too. He vituperated Saddam a lot, saying that his air support was not enough.

On the verge of Saddam’s overthrow, Rajavi took away Iraqi people and government’s properties, so that he got to extend the Camp (Ashraf) to the western (borders) by capturing Iraqi military forces headquarters. They also captured weapons and ammunition left around Iraqi Garrisons, and took them all to Ashraf Garrison claiming that they belonged to himself (Rajavi)!

To be continued.

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MEK Camp Ashraf

A Negative Response to Terrorists’ Incessant Preconditions

The State Department is warning MKO not to bargain over the humanitarian issue of relocation

No doubt, terrorism is a common problem and all measures have to be undertaken to lower the level of its threat with a focus on preventive measures. But to see a terrorist group setting precondition for the continuation of its cooperation in a process to fulfill another unconventionally reached agreement with it is a new phenomenon. It appears that even all parties engaged in the process of relocating MKO’s members from its military camp, Camp Ashraf, to the Temporary Transit Location TTL near Baghdad have grabbed the truth that the group is contriving a serious battle against them. That is because so far all efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff are being rebuffed by MKO’s strict set of conditions to resume a negotiation to comply with the already agreed transfer process.

All the parties involved are unanimous that the issue of relocation of the residents in Camp Ashraf is a purely humanitarian issue that should be made as easy and peaceful as possible to accomplish, notwithstanding MKO is blacklisted a FTO. In December 2011, Ambassador Daniel Fried, Special Advisor for Camp Ashraf for the State Department, made the cause clear and promised to monitor the process of the transfer: “Embassy Baghdad will visit former Camp Liberty on a frequent basis to provide robust observation. The US seeks a safe, secure, humane resolution. Our interest is humanitarian”. But MKO is grabbing at the issue as an opportunity to force the State Department to remove it from its terrorist blacklist.

The process has reached a stalemate since MKO stopped convoys of Camp Ashraf residents to TTL after the relocation of the fifth group in early May. Since then, it has minimized its contact with the Iraqi government and other involved parties and has focused on widespread propaganda warfare to impose its set six preconditions to resume the transfer. Amongst these publicly-declared conditions is a call for the State Department to inspect Camp Ashraf, “U.S. will inspect Camp Ashraf as soon as possible”, a task the US has announced to carry out following the complete evacuation of Camp Ashraf in a two month-long span. The result will be instrumental in convincing the State Department to review MKO’s re-designation.

Apparently fed up with MKO’s procrastination and enraged by its sets of preconditions, particularly the one calling for the inspection of Camp Ashraf, Victoria Nuland, the Department Spokesperson, in a statement released on June 18 urged MKO “to resume full cooperation immediately with the Iraqi Government and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)”. The statement adds, “Constructive offers must be met with a constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in dialogue. Recent publicly-declared conditions for cooperation, including calls for the Department to inspect Camp Ashraf as a precondition for further relocations to Camp Hurriya, are an unnecessary distraction.”

MKO considers the court ruling giving the State Department four months to announce its final decision over the group’s terrorist tag as a gained victory to have the upper hand in any dealing. The illusion fostered mostly when some European high-profile personalities congratulated the halfway, unpromising court ruling, as a decisively issued ruling. However, an American official believes that “the group’s leaders may have overinterpreted the U.S. court ruling as a guarantee that it would escape the terrorist list”. In fact, the State Department is delivering a message to MKO forewarning that it is gravely mistaken to strike any bargain with the Iraqi government and the US over the humanitarian issue of the residents; it is warned that it has no other option but to follow through on plans to resume the process of relocation as planned.

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Mujahedin Khalq Organization

What is the MKO dreaming of?

After the relocation of about 2000 people of camp Ashraf to the new Temporary Transit Location (Camp Liberty /Hurriya) the relocation process has been seemingly ceased by the MKO. The What the MKO is dreaming of?leaders of the group do not cooperate with Iraqi government , the UN and the US State Department any more.

The group leaders –apparently mad with the attorney for the US State Department who said that the US army has never been able to inspect Camp Ashraf to make sure it was disarmed — issued a statement and “invited” the State Department to inspect the camp.[1]

Besides, the MKO took a strong stance against the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Martin Kobler. As usual, the group accused him of serving Islamic Republic of Iran and the government of Nouri al-Maliki.[2]

In its turn the US State Department issued a statement on June18, urging “immediate cooperation of Mujahidin Khalq with the Iraqi Government and UN”. The statement reads that the DOS remains concerned about the situation at camp Ashraf. Victoria Nuland, the spokesperson of the DOS, about the MKO’s recent “invitation for inspection”, said:”Constructive offers must be met with constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in Dialogue.”She calls the group’s new pretext to stay in Ashraf as “an unnecessary distraction”.[3]

Why such reluctance again by the side of the MKO?

While the State Department believes that the Camp residents and their leadership – both in Iraq and in Paris – should recognize this path as a safe and humane resolution to this situation, the MKO leaders seem to oppose the complete closure of Ashraf and eventually their expulsion from Iraq. And, while the US Secretary of State has said that the camp closure is “a key factor in determining whether the organization remains invested in its violent past” [3] the MKO shows no sign of cooperation in order to comply with Iraqi government’s legal right — that is to sweep foreign forces off its territory.

Since the last convoy of Ashraf residents on May 5th there has been no convoy, according to senior US administration officials who attended a Special Briefing on June18, 2012. “Since that time, the MEK has curtailed its contacts both with the Iraqi Government but even with the UN, refusing to meet with Ambassador Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq.”[4]

The official believes that two probable reasons may have led the MKO to slow down its cooperation with the UN and the Iraq Government. “…there are two issues that have occurred to us. One, the MEK may have over-interpreted Iraqi politics and the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Maliki. That vote appears to be receding,.” he said.” A second reason is it may be an MEK over-interpretation and misunderstanding of the recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling with respect to delisting.”[5]

However, the other official clarifies that the court has not told Secretary Clinton to delist the group and its leaders are “quite plainly, wrong”. the official concludes,” So it is time for the MEK to recognize that Ashraf is not going to remain an MEK base in Iraq.”[6]

What does the MKO propaganda do to fulfill the dream?

A delegation of Iraqi senior officials traveled to Europe to mobilize support for Camp Ashraf evacuation and secure transfer of the residents to Camp Liberty [TTL]. The delegation attended the meeting of the Relationship with Iraq Committee at the European Parliament. [7]
Iraqi Foreign Minister Undersecretary, Labid Abbawi proposed a statement about the meeting.”The meeting focused on the efforts made by the Iraqi Government in order to secure the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to Camp Liberty in a peaceful manner and in accordance with international standards and in respect to human rights and international humanitarian law,” the statement said.[8]

Meanwhile the MKO’s propaganda arm, National Council of Resistance broadcasts the same event in a completely opposite way, claiming that the delegation is charged “to justify inhumane and suppressive behavior towards residents of Ashraf and Liberty.”[9]

The US administration official denounces the group’s propaganda by saying “We support the government considering people for refugee or otherwise bringing them in. Now, the United States is prepared to do its part. We take this obligation seriously. [10]

The MKO propaganda is all the time complaining of the “terrible “conditions of life at TTL. American officials, on the other hand, say that they follow condition at camp liberty in detail: ” We follow conditions at Camp Liberty in detail. We receive daily reports from the United Nations. We have an exact notion of the daily water supply. We know that it is – that each resident now receives about 200 liters per person per day of water. We follow the issues – we follow issues of electricity generation, problems with air conditioners, problems with sewage, that sort of thing. Medical treatment is available. The residents who need it are escorted to Baghdad hospitals. They’re allowed back. They’re given treatment. We follow this in great detail. “[11]

About complexities of MKO leaders’ approach towards the relocation issue, a US senior Official said,” We do not understand why, for example, they consider it in their interest to refuse contact with Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq, who, more than any other person, has – is responsible for the relative success of these relocations so far.” Of-course the official seems to find the answer- which is originated in the cult-like substance of the MKO. “They seem to be concerned with their organizational integrity”, he says.[12]

In order to maintain their integrity, the MKO resort to any probable pretext. The current political situation of Iraq appears to be a very little hope for the group to stay in its Iraqi headquarters Camp Ashraf where the forces are totally isolated from the world, obedient to their leaders. In response to a question posed by National Journal correspondent about the MKO’s possible strategy for the time being, the official said,” there is some evidence, and we – I would say that as an informed speculation, we believe the MEK may indeed calculate that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to their advantage, and they may be able – and they might be able to stay.

They do have some support among the Sunni politicians, but we believe that they are gravely mistaken to think that any Iraq – conceivable Iraqi government would, in fact, allow them to remain as a paramilitary organization in Iraq. We think that their time in Iraq is over.” [13]

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1]The MKO Website. Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.
[2]ibid
[3] US State Department, State Department urges immediate full cooperation of MEK, June18,2012
[4] US State Department, Press Release, Senior Administration officials on Camp Ashraf,June19,2012
[5]ibid
[6]ibid
[7] allIraqnews.com, FM Undersecretary participates in European Parliament session, June 2o, 2012
[8]ibid
[9] The MKO Website. Nejat bloggers are either former MKO members or have a family member who is currently held in Camp Ashraf. They have suffered deeply because of Massoud Rajavi’s crimes. While the Nejat Bloggers recognize that citing sources of information is essential ,we, as a society feel so strongly against the MKO that we have agreed to not include the group’s websites or links in our articles because we consider it as kind of publicity for the cult.
[10] US State Department, Press Release, Senior Administration officials on Camp Ashraf, June19, 2012
[11]ibid
[12]ibid
[13]ibid

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Iraq

FM Undersecretary participates in European Parliament session

The Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Labid Abbawi, head of the Iraqi delegation in charge of mobilizing support for Iraq’s position to evacuate Camp Ashraf and secure transfer of its residents to the interim site of Camp Liberty in order to resettle them in third countries, participated in a meeting of the Relationship with Iraq Committee at the European Parliament held on Tuesday.

A statement by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by All Iraq News Agency (AIN) cited "The meeting focused on the efforts made by the Iraqi Government in order to secure the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to Camp Liberty in a peaceful manner and in accordance with international standards and in respect to human rights and international humanitarian law."

"The Undersecretary started his speech by talking about the development of the political process in Iraq and Iraq’s regional and international role, particularly after Iraq’s hosting the Arab Summit, leading the joint Arab action, as well as hosting the meeting of the 5 +1 group on Iran’s nuclear file," the statement concluded.

All Iraq News

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The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq Camp Relocation Problematic For Iran’s MEK

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday warned Iranian exile group Mujahideen-e Khalq, or MEK, to comply with its relocation from Iraq’s Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya if it hopes to be removed from the United States’ list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

"The United States remains concerned about the situation at Camp Ashraf and urges the residents of Camp Ashraf to resume full cooperation immediately with the Iraqi government and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"The peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf is achievable but requires continued patience and practical engagement to be realized. Constructive offers must be met with a constructive spirit and not with refusals or pre-conditions to engage in dialogue."

The State Department has held the transition over MEK’s head for half a year, saying a peaceful move and cooperation with American and Iraqi authorities could get it off the terrorist list.

Washington believes that the eviction is necessary for humanitarian reasons since Ashraf has long been considered a refugee camp. So far, around 2,000 MEK members have successfully moved to the Iraqi-run Camp Hurriya, formerly Camp Liberty, in Baghdad. But another 1,200 to 1,400 are still in Ashraf, and the relocation is stalled, with MEK threatening to leave them behind if the conditions in Hurriya are not approved.

MEK — sometimes known as the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or PMOI — has been on the foreign terrorist list for the last 15 years and is desperately trying to be removed. The group was exiled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution and fled to Iraq, as well as across Europe, under the guidance of leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi. The group allegedly helped Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war and has in the past been linked to various bombings and assassinations inside Iran.

However, MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an umbrella organization for Iranian exiles run by Miryam Rajavi, insist that the group is now only a political organization and refugee group. All of MEK’s weapons were confiscated by the American government years ago, and it has renounced its former violence.

Over the past few years, MEK, with help from a slate of American supporters that includes an all-star list of former top officials, have campaigned to be removed from the terrorist list, going as far as filing a suit with a U.S. appeals court to force Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to make a decision about MEK’s status within four months.

Nonetheless, a number of MEK members have seized the move from Ashraf to Hurriya as an opportunity to defect, revealing troubling details about the organization in the process. One of the first, according to the Sahar Family Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that says it provides humanitarian assistance to those who leave Ashraf, was Ali Reza Rahmati, who was in MEK for 10 years.

"I am extremely happy, and I thank God that I could obtain my freedom. I did not even have the right of free-thinking, and I was under the constant pressure and mental torture," Rahmati stated. "Now I feel the love of life’s revival inside of me, which was dead for 10 years, and I feel great satisfaction of this."

Ehsan Bidi, who also defected from the MEK and "declared separation" from "the corrupt Cult of Rajavi," compared his time in the refugee camp to being imprisoned and admitted that he had tried to escape before. Eight-year MEK member Sirous Morsalpour said that he was twice shot in the stomach — once in 2009 and once in 2012 — but was not permitted to have surgery outside of Camp Ashraf despite requests and the severity of the injuries. Morsalpour said that after he continued to insist on going to a hospital, "I was told that I was fired."

"They handed me to Iraqi police to get rid of me," he declared as he left the group.

The highest-ranking Mujahedeen to escape was Qorban Ali Husseini Nezhad, a 30-year member who was part of the MEK’s foreign affairs team, as well as a translator. Nezhad escaped after arriving in Camp Liberty in April and, like the rest of the defectors, described MEK more as a cult than a terrorist organization.

However, confirming long-held suspicions, Nezhad also said that thanks to deals between Saddam and Massoud Rajavi, MEK spied for Iraq’s intelligence service and received payment from the ill-conceived oil-for-food program.

By Daniel Tovrov

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MEK Camp Ashraf

US Senior Administration Officials On Camp Ashraf

Press Release: US State Department
Background Briefing: Senior Administration Officials On Camp Ashraf
Special Briefing US Senior Administration Officials On Camp Ashraf
Senior Administration Officials
Via Teleconference
Washington, DC
June 18, 2012

MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us this morning. This morning we have a call on background. Joining us today are [Senior Administration Official One] and [Senior Administration Official Two]. Because this call is on background, from here on out we’ll refer to our speakers as Senior Administration Official One and Senior Administration Official Two.
So having said that, I will go ahead and turn it over to Senior Administration Official Number One. Go ahead, sir.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Good morning. Thanks for joining us. The State Department just issued a statement about Camp Ashraf expressing concern about the situation there. The statement urges the residents of Ashraf to resume full cooperation with the UN and the Iraqi Government. The statement also urges the Iraqi Government to intensify its efforts to fulfill its commitments to provide for the safety, security, and humanitarian treatment of the residents.
The reason for issuing the statement is that after a period of successful convoys moving from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty, where almost two-thirds of the residents of Camp Ashraf have been moved on conditions of safety, this process has slowed down. The last convoy was May 5th. There has been no convoy since.
Since that time, the MEK has curtailed its contacts both with the Iraqi Government but even with the UN, refusing to meet with Ambassador Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq. The Iraqi Government has made clear that it wants Ashraf to be closed by Ramadan, which is July 20th. And we wanted – we, the United States wanted to make clear that we continue to support a peaceful and humane resolution of this – of the problem of Camp Ashraf, and we wanted to put both sides on notice that we are concerned by the prolonged stalemate.
Ambassador Kobler of the UN issued a statement about a week ago expressing his concern and pointing out that we have avoided violence until now (inaudible) since there has been no major violence since April of 2011, and it’s important to continue the relocation process to avoid violence altogether.
We cannot speak with certainty about the reasons for the MEK’s slowdown in its cooperation, but there are two issues that have occurred to us. One, the MEK may have over-interpreted Iraqi politics and the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Maliki. That vote appears to be receding. A second reason is it may be an MEK over-interpretation and misunderstanding of the recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling with respect to delisting. And my colleague, Senior Administration Number Two, will address that issue.
But we want – in the beginning of this process when the United States backed the UN-Iraqi Memorandum of Understanding to relocate the residents of Camp Ashraf, I promised and [Senior Administration Official Two] promised to keep you all informed, and we are doing so.
A final bit of information: The Iraqi – an Iraqi senior delegation of people directly involved in the movement of residents from Ashraf to Liberty is traveling to Europe this week to explain what they are doing and to urge European countries to accept residents of Camp Liberty as refugees. The United States supports this delegation. We support the governments considering people for refugee or otherwise bringing them in. Now, the United States is prepared to do its part. We take this obligation seriously.
Now, let me stop there and turn it over to my colleague for additional comments.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: All right. Well, thanks for joining us this morning. I really just have one issue to address in this context, which Senior Official One alluded to, and that is the possibility that the MEK has over-interpreted the action of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Specifically, the court did not order the Secretary of State to revoke the MEK designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It appears that MEK leaders believe that the Secretary has no choice now but to delist them and that is, quite plainly, wrong.
As the Secretary has made clear, the MEK’s cooperation in the successful and peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf will be a key factor in her decision regarding the MEK’s FTO status. She retains complete discretion on this matter. The court has told her to deliver a decision one way or the other. They have not told her to delist.
So it is time for the MEK to recognize that Ashraf is not going to remain an MEK base in Iraq. The Iraqi Government is committed to closing it, and any plan to wait out the government in the hope that something will change it – change its mind – is really quite dangerous. So it is time that the MEK got with the plan here and continued the move from Ashraf to Camp Hurriya. We support that orientation. We think it’s essential, and the MEK should recognize where its interests lie in this regard.
And now I guess we’ll take your questions.

MODERATOR: Operator, if we can go ahead and get our first question.

OPERATOR: Thank you. And for those listening on the phone at this time, if you would like to ask an audio question, please press *1 on your touchtone phone and please record your name and media affiliation clearly when prompted. Once again, *1 on your touchtone phone and please record your name and media affiliation clearly when prompted. One moment as we wait for our first questions.
And our first question comes from the line of Jo Bidell with AFP. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. I understand the court of district appeals gave Secretary Clinton four months in which to make her decision. Could you just tell us on the timing of that visit, does that take us to the back end of July? And do you think that the Secretary will comply with this?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: No. It takes us to October 1st.

QUESTION: Oh, to the (inaudible).

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: And the Secretary has made clear that she will obey the court’s order in this regard.

QUESTION: Thank you.

OPERATOR: And our next question comes from the line of Guy Taylor with The Washington Times. Your line is open, sir.

QUESTION: Hi. Thank you. Regarding the senior Iraqi delegation that is going to Europe to urge European countries to accept residents of Camp Liberty as refugees and the U.S. obligation to facilitate that or play a role in it, I’m wondering if these individuals are part of a group that remains on the terrorist designation list, how they could be accepted as refugees in European countries. Could you please explain that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: The U.S. maintains the MEK on its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. European countries do not, and the European countries have made clear that our designation is not a legal barrier for them. Whether or not it is a political barrier or an optical barrier is something you’ll have to ask them, but it is not a legal barrier. Moreover, the United States has already made it clear that, for our own part, we are prepared within our law to look at referrals from the UNHCR, the High Commissioner for Refugees, of individuals who may be eligible to bring into the United States one way or another; that is, despite the fact of the listing. This is a legal option, and we are also pursuing it. In other words, we’re not asking Europeans to do something we are in principle unwilling to do ourselves.

OPERATOR: And once again for those on the phone, if you would like to ask an audio question at this time, please press *1 on your touchtone phone and please record your name and affiliation clearly when prompted.
Our next question comes from the line of Joby Warrick with The Washington Post. Your line is open.

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks for doing this. Do you have a sense at this point about how many people are still in Ashraf that remain to be brought over? And then how many are – have already made the move? And also if there’s any – if you’re monitoring complaints they have on the ground about conditions – any specific problems that are causing concern for the MEK?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: There are just under 2,000 former Camp Ashraf residents in Camp Hurriya. That is somewhat under two-thirds – we’re not sure of the exact number of people that Camp Ashraf, but it is within the 1,200 to 1,400 range. So somewhere well over half – somewhat shy of two-thirds of the people have already moved.
We follow conditions at Camp Liberty in detail. We receive daily reports from the United Nations. We have an exact notion of the daily water supply. We know that it is – that each resident now receives about 200 liters per person per day of water. We follow the issues – we follow issues of electricity generation, problems with air conditioners, problems with sewage, that sort of thing. Medical treatment is available. The residents who need it are escorted to Baghdad hospitals. They’re allowed back. They’re given treatment. We follow this in great detail.
That said, it is our view that the Iraqi Government could do even more to address some of these issues. In recent weeks, there has been some progress in getting the Government of Iraq and the residents to agree on a way forward to improve humanitarian conditions. We think that if the MEK – if the residents engaged – reengaged fully with Ambassador Kobler, this process would continue – would be – would go faster and easier.
But do follow this – we do follow conditions at Camp Liberty in great detail.

OPERATOR: And once again, if you would like to ask an audio question, please press *1 on your touchtone phone and please record your name and affiliation clearly when prompted. One moment as we wait for our next questions. And we do have another joining. One moment. We do have two – three joining now. One moment.
And our next question comes from the line of James Kitfield with the National Journal. Your line is open, sir.

QUESTION: Thank you, guys, for doing this. Could you give me an idea of what you sense the MEK’s strategy is here? You talked about them maybe over-interpreting the no-confidence vote in Maliki. Say Maliki was – did face a no-confidence vote. Are they allied with the Kurds or with the Sunnis in some way that they think that they would be allowed under some conditions to remain at Ashraf and sort of keep the status quo?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, I don’t want to speak authoritatively about MEK thinking, because we simply don’t – we’re not sure we understand it. But there is some evidence, and we – I would say that as an informed speculation, we believe the MEK may indeed calculate that a change of government in Iraq could rebound to their advantage, and they may be able – and they might be able to stay.
They do have some support among the Sunni politicians, but we believe that they are gravely mistaken to think that any Iraq – conceivable Iraqi government would, in fact, allow them to remain as a paramilitary organization in Iraq. We think that their time in Iraq is over. And we – instead of arguing over conditions of convoys, we ought to be putting our full efforts behind getting them out of Iraq and safely resettled, which is why we welcome the Iraqi delegation going to Europe. That’s where our focus should be.
But this is – we can speculate as to their thinking, but we’re not sure we understand it. We think it is – we think, though, if they are overconfident, they are making a serious, serious mistake.

OPERATOR: And our next question comes from the line of Rosalind Jordan with Al Jazeera English Television.
Your line is open, ma’am.

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks for the call. I had a similar question to that of James Kitfield. What’s their endgame? Why are they doing this? Does it hurt their credibility to be doing something such as this?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, it certainly does nothing to help their credibility. European governments are considering taking residents of Camp Liberty as refugees, and some non-European governments as well. And we have argued till we’re blue in the face to the MEK leadership that their interests and their safety would be – would increase if they were seen as fully cooperating. We do not understand why, for example, they consider it in their interest to refuse contact with Martin Kobler, the head of the UN mission in Iraq, who, more than any other person, has – is responsible for the relative success of these relocations so far.
They seem to be concerned with their organizational integrity, and we think they need to concentrate on getting out of Iraq safely. But again, we’re not – I’m not speaking with authority about their motives. All we can do is try to figure out what they’re thinking, judging by their actions and their rhetoric.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: I would just add to that that with regard to the court case, they seem to believe that they have won a decisive victory and have failed to read the actual decision, and it appears that they think that delisting is now imminent. And we continue to try to impress upon them that there is no such automaticity, and that we would like to see them continue to move to Hurriya and to dissolve this remaining singular paramilitary camp in Iraq.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: On February 29th, Secretary Clinton said before Congress that leaving – cooperating in the closure of Camp Ashraf would be a key factor in her eventual decision about the FTO status. So as Senior Administration Official Number Two said, that is what we look for.

QUESTION: Thank you.

OPERATOR: And once again, if you’d like to ask an audio question, please press *1 and please record your media affiliation clearly when prompted. Our next question comes from the line of Jo Biddle with the AFP.
Your line is open again, ma’am.

QUESTION: Thank you very much for taking a follow-up question. I note that the UN Envoy Martin Kobler said earlier this month – last week, in fact – that he’s concerned about violence breaking out if the relocation doesn’t go ahead as planned. Could you talk to that, please? Is this a fear that the United States has? And also, could you give us a sense of what the breakdown is among those refugees? Are there men and women among them as well? Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: There is a history of violence in relations between the Government of Iraq and the MEK. There was a terrible incident in April of 2011 in which a number of residents of Ashraf were killed. Violence in Iraq is something that happens. So Ambassador Kobler was absolutely right to express his concern about what happens if this process does not move forward. The process is like a bicycle. It moves – if it moves, it is more stable; if it does not move, it is less so.
With respect to refugees, well, about one-third of the residents of Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty are women. The UNHCR has teams on the ground and is devoting great energy to processing people for refugee status. They have processed many hundreds of people, and it – their progress gives us the basis to work with our international partners to see which governments can accept these people who are coming out of the UNHCR process with refugee status.
So there is – has been significant progress made. If you go back to December and think about the fears expressed at that time about mass violence, horrific incidents of people disappearing, none of that is taking place. The convoys have all been secure and safe. We need to continue this process, get Camp Ashraf closed, and focus on relocating people.

QUESTION: Thank you.

OPERATOR: And our next question comes from the line of Guy Taylor with The Washington Times. Sir, your line is open again.

QUESTION: No. Hi. Thank you. With regard to the Treasury Department’s subpoenaing of records pertaining to speaking fees paid to former senior U.S. officials who have spoken out on behalf of the MEK, among them James Woolsey, the former CIA director, along with a long list of others, do you have any information about whether those individuals are considered to be providing material support to a group designated as a terrorist organization?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Absolutely no comment on this business.

QUESTION: Well, in other words, I mean, in your opinion, is it illegal to, say, accept money for speaking out on behalf of a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. We’re not making any – expressing any legal opinion, any legal judgments, or in any way commenting on this matter, not at all. Sorry.

OPERATOR: And our next question comes from the line of Christina Wilkie with The Huffington Post. Your line is open, ma’am.

QUESTION: Thank you. If – I know part of the legal decision was that the Secretary would make a decision within four months, and if not, that the – then the U.S. Court – that the Washington court would be – would have some kind of a legal authority, it appeared, to delist the MEK themselves. Would you mind talking about – I understand that the Secretary doesn’t plan this – for this to be an outcome, but if it were to for any reason, what – I don’t understand the legal authority that the court would have to delist a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Well, I think we’re going to have to refer you to the Justice Department or our own lawyers on that, because this is terra incognita for us. There has never been a case of a court ordering a delisting. We don’t expect it to happen in this case either. But as a legal matter, the – I assume courts have the right to do that. But again, I’m not a – I’m not the legal advisor, and I think Harold Koh might have something to say about that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: The Department has said that the United States will respect the decision of the court; that is, that the Secretary will make a decision within four months of the court ruling. That’s what we anticipate will happen. As to the authority under which the court did this and the legal way to describe the mandamus petition, I – both Administration – both Senior Administration Officials are not qualified to give legal opinions, and the last thing we want to do is mislead or misinterpret something.

OPERATOR: And at this time, we have no other questions in the queue.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, all right, then. That’s good. Look, thanks, everybody, much appreciate the time and interest, and this is in the nature of an interim update. We are concerned about the situation, but it can – we can still have a decent outcome if the parties involved do what they need to do.

MODERATOR: Thank you all, and have a good day.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you all. Bye.

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