Page 606 – Nejat Society

Iran raises probability of MKO members’ return

Iranian ambassador to Iraq Hassan Danaei-Far said Ashraf Camp residents may return to Iran if there is no case opened against them in the country.

Referring to the situation of Iraq’s Ashraf Camp, Danaei-Far said that staying of these people (members of terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organiztaion, MKO) in Iraq is considered illegal on behalf of Iraqi government.

"If they don’t leave the country promptly, Iraqi government will prosecute them," he told ISNA.
Referring to the rift between Iraq’s Ashraf Camp and the country’s army, he said that the situation has returned to normal condition.

"If the residents will and if there is no legal case opened against them either in Iran or Iraq, they may go to Iran or any other country they wish and they are granted passport," he continued.
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad said, "less than 100 of the residents have legal cases, either in Iran or the both countries. Over recent years, more than 750 of them have left Ashraf Camp and come to Iran."

He also said that Iraqi ministers of justice and tourism are to visit Iran in the coming weeks.

April 14, 2011 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

UNHCR: Camp Ashraf residents have to renounce violence before applying for refugee status

Iranian PMOI exiles ‘must leave Iraq by end of year’
Iraq’s government has said members of an Iranian exile group must leave the country by the end of the year, after deadly clashes with security forces.

The People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) would be forced out of its base north of Baghdad, Camp Ashraf, "using all means", a spokesman said.
But its members would be deported to a third country and not Iran, he added.

The PMOI’s political wing has said 34 people were killed and 300 injured in an "attack" on Camp Ashraf on Friday.
Medics say at least 10 died, while officials put the toll at three.

The PMOI, also known as Mojahedin-e Khalq, is considered a terrorist group by the US and Iran.

It set up Camp Ashraf in Iraq in the 1980s and was welcomed by then-President Saddam Hussein, who was fighting a war against Iran. He funded and armed the PMOI, which fought alongside Iraqi troops.

‘No intention of staying’
During the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Camp Ashraf was bombed by coalition forces. PMOI leaders eventually agreed a ceasefire and its members were disarmed.
In 2009, the US military handed responsibility for the camp to Iraq’s Shia-led government, which has repeatedly vowed to close it.

On Monday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that in the wake of last week’s violence the cabinet had "committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group, the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, by the end of this year at the latest, and the necessity of getting it out of Iraq".

"This organisation must be removed from Iraqi territory by all means, including political and diplomatic, with the co-operation of the UN and international organisations," he said in a statement.

Iraq was "taking into consideration the wish of the PMOI members to choose the country in which they wish to reside", he added.
"We have to find a nation where they can go, and we will look to the UN to help."

A spokesman for the UN High Commission on Refugees, Andrej Mahecic, said residents of Camp Ashraf could apply individually for refugee status, which would help them find a permanent home.

But before that could happen, they would have to renounce violence as a means of achieving their goals, which some have refused to do, he added.

Shahin Gobadi, a PMOI spokesman based in Paris, said the camp residents would be willing to move to the US or EU member states willing to grant them asylum.
"We have no intention of staying in Iraq, but there has been no response," he told the Reuters news agency.

Mr Gobadi said they were also willing to return to Iran, but only if it could be guaranteed that they would not be punished by the authorities.

April 14, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Dabbagh: Cabinet committed to end MKO presence in Iraq

Minister of State and Official Speaker of Government, Ali Dabbagh, said, "The Council of Ministers asserted its earlier decision to liquidate the presence of the Iranian Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), by the end of the current year.

In a statement to the press on Monday, Apr. 11, Dabbagh said, "The Council of Ministers stressed the necessity to get MKO out of Iraqi territories through the use of all means, including political and diplomatic, and to cooperate with the UN and international organizations, taking into consideration the desire of MKO’s members in choosing the country they want to settle in."

National Iraqi News Agency – NINA

April 13, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq to deport Mujahideen Khalq by year end

The Iraqi government has decided to deport the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) by end of this year, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said Monday.

The government reaffirms a previous commitment to deport MKO members, who are based on the New Iraq Camp, by end of this year, he said in a statement.

The government "underscores importance of getting MKO out of the Iraqi territories by all means, including political and diplomatic, and in cooperation with the UN and international organizations, while taking into consideration wishes of MKO members to select the country they wish to live in, " said Dabbagh.

Dabbagh made the remarks after security forces guarding Ashraf Camp, which houses MKO, were exposed to stones’ attack from inside the camp injuring five of them.

The Iraqi government warned MKO against illegal actions.

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani briefed ambassadors of the European Union, Russia and Turkey Iraq’s position vis-a-vis MKO.

April 13, 2011 0 comments

Iran

Iran calls for EU to reform its approach towards terrorist MKO

Iran called for the European Union (EU) to reform its approach towards terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).

"We expect all international organizations and countries, which claim they back human rights, to condemn terrorist acts without resorting to any dual-track political behavior," said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday in his weekly briefing session with reporters.

His remarks came after the EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton released a statement on Ashraf Camp events in Iraq and in favor of the members of MKO terrorist group.

Mehmanparast called for the EU to avoid providing shelter for terrorists.

Meanwhile, he referred to Iranian diplomats in Ivory Coast and said, "Iranian diplomats and nationals were all evacuated from Ivory Coast and we hope that stability and security returns to the African country soon."

"We will do our utmost to evacuate Lebanese nationals from Ivory Coast to transfer them to a safe place," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman added.

As to launch of Bushehr nuclear power plant, he said, "all measures for launch of Bushehr nuclear facility have been completed, experts are carrying out their activities and their work is going well. We are only waiting for the power plant to generate power and join national grid."
He then assured that there is no problem for operation of the nuclear installation in near future.
Mehmanparast then moved to France’s more limits on Muslim women as well as crack down and arrest of protestors and said, "any measure to prevent hijab means lack of freedom and human rights."

"Women’s right in European countries is one of the instances revealing double-standards on human rights. Women have the right to have hijab. We advise Western countries to consider human rights in its real form and give up instrumental use of human rights."

April 13, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Deadline Set For Iranian Dissidents To Leave Iraq

The Iraqi government has set the deadline for members of Iranian dissident group being housed at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province to leave the country, stressing that they will be removed from the country by the deadline using "all means" available.

"The council of ministers has committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), by the end of this year at the latest, and the necessity of getting it out of Iraq," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said late Monday. "They need to leave Iraq by the end of the year. Iraq is not the choice for them,"

Indicating that the Iraqi government was "taking into consideration the wish of the PMOI members to choose the country in which they wish to reside," Dabbagh added: "We have to find a nation where they can go, and we will look to the U.N. to help."

Dabbagh also declared that the Iranian dissidents would be expelled from the country "by using all means, including political, diplomatic, and co-operation with the United Nations and international organizations."

The development comes days after violent clashes erupted at Camp Ashraf last Friday after Iraqi security forces raided the camp after its occupants allegedly threw rocks at the security forces during a "riot."

Iraqi government said later that three people were killed in the raid and denied allegations that its troops had opened fire at the occupants of the camp during the raid. But the PMOI alleges that Friday’s military operation at the camp killed at least 34 people and left more than 300 others injured.[..]

The Iraqi government has since announced that it has launched an investigation "to look into the real details of the operation, to know how many people exactly were killed, the reasons for the deaths and the date of the deaths".

Camp Ashraf, located in Diyala province to the north of Baghdad, has served as a refugee base for members of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), an exiled Iranian opposition group, for almost two decades.

The PMOI was founded in 1965 to oppose the Shah of Iran, but the group later turned against Iran’s regime that ousted the Shah in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Camp Ashraf was opened in the 1980s after then-President Saddam Hussein allowed the PMOI to set up bases in Iraq. Saddam also armed the group’s military wing, the National Liberation Army of Iran, to fight along side Iraq troops in the 1980-88 war against Iran.

The U.S. troops disarmed the PMOI fighters in 2003 and confined the nearly 3100 residents to the camp. The U.S. military placed the camp’s residents under its protection, before Iraqi forces took over its security from the U.S. earlier this year.

RTTNews

April 13, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to probe Camp Ashraf deaths

Iraq’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it would probe claims that 34 residents of an Iranian dissident camp died during an Iraqi military operation last week and suggested some may have been killed before troops moved in.

Iraqi authorities have said three people were killed at Camp Ashraf on Friday when security forces responded to rock-throwing and threats by residents during an operation to reclaim land from the camp and return it to farmers.

Ashraf advocates say 34 were killed when Iraqi forces launched a “criminal attack” and shot residents.

The controversial camp northeast of Baghdad, which houses a guerrilla group that opposes the Shi’ite cleric leaders of neighbouring Iran, has been a thorn in the side of Washington, Baghdad and Tehran for years.

Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the disparity in the death tolls prompted the government to open an investigation “to look into the real details of the operation, to know how many people exactly were killed, the reasons for the deaths and the date of the deaths”.

“We, at this time, can’t give sufficient answers to these questions,” he told reporters in Baghdad.

Ashraf is the base of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which the United States, Iraq and Iran consider a terrorist group.

Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein gave it refuge in Iraq in the 1980s and some of its fighters joined him in the battle against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to US forces after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.

QUESTIONS
Askari said the government had evidence that some residents had wanted to leave Ashraf but were prevented from doing so by camp leaders, and that some of the alleged victims were shot “in a professional way, in the head, chest and heart”.

“This makes us believe that it was a pre-orchestrated operation,” he said. “Are these killings done by some elements from inside the camp? Are these previous deaths or even deaths that happened after the event?” “All these questions will be answered by the investigation.” In an emailed statement, Mohammed Mohaddessin of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI’s political wing, called Askari’s comments “worthless lies … the final episode of a ridiculous scenario by the Iraqi government that initially claimed that in the attack no violence was used.” Iraqi officials have said the three residents who died were run over by military vehicles.

The council said many victims were shot. A source at the hospital where victims were taken said many had bullet wounds.

Askari said soldiers had been ordered not to use live ammunition during the operation at the camp, which is located in restive Diyala province about 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad in an area largely inaccessible to journalists.

The camp’s fate has been in question since the US military turned it over to Baghdad in 2009 under a bilateral security agreement. An Iraqi government spokesman said on Monday Ashraf residents would be given until year-end to leave the country.

Washington blamed Baghdad for the violence at Ashraf and the United Nations has sought access to monitor the camp.

April 13, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Talabani informs European ambassadors with the Iraqi stance toward Mujahideen Khalq

President jalal Talabani informed the European Union, Russian, and Turkish ambassadors in Iraq with the Iraqi stance toward the Mujahideen Khalq Organization and its presence in Iraq now.
A presidential statement mentioned that political developments, regionally and internationally, were discussed during the meeting.

Also, the preparations for the Baghdad Arab Summit were all affirmed ready to hold the Summit on time.

For their part, the ambassadors expressed happiness for holding such meetings in Iraq which contribute in showing the image of understanding between Iraq and the EU.

Present at the meeting were, Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibari, Head of the Presidency Office, Nasir Al Ani, and a number of officials.

NINA – National Iraqi News Agency

April 13, 2011 0 comments

USA

US moots ‘negotiated’ plan for Iranian camp (Ashraf) in Iraq

WASHINGTON — The United States said Tuesday it is ready to help Iraq find a negotiated plan for an Iranian opposition camp in which the dissidents there could "conceivably" end up in a third country.

Iraq has ordered the exiled Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedeen of Iran to leave the country by the end of this year after a deadly weekend assault at its Camp Ashraf base.
"We’re prepared to help the government of Iraq develop and execute a negotiated plan — and the emphasis on ‘negotiated’ — that addresses the future of Camp Ashraf," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

When asked whether the plan could include having the camp’s members transferred to a third country where they would not be tortured or abused, Toner replied: "Conceivably, yeah."
Toner also said Washington is urging the authorities in Baghdad to allow UN officials to visit Camp Ashraf to determine what happened during the assault and how many people were killed.]

An Iraqi security official said at least three people were killed Friday when Iraqi forces clashed with the Iranian opposition group, but the dissidents claimed 31 of their members died in a full military assault.

During a visit to American troops in northern Iraq, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern at the reports of casualties. He urged Iraqi authorities to show restraint.

The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran set up Camp Ashraf in the 1980s — when the regime of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was at war with the Islamic republic — as a base to operate against Tehran.

It was disarmed following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

April 13, 2011 0 comments

Iran

MP Sees Iraq’s Resistance against MKO as Another US Failure in Region

A senior Iranian legislator hailed the Iraqi Army for its tough reaction to the armed assault and terrorist activities of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), and said Baghdad’s attitude towards the MKO should be viewed as yet another failure of the US policies in the region.
"The Iraqi government’s confrontation against the Monafeqin (i.e. Hypocrites, as MKO members are called in Iran) was another failure for the US policies in the region," Ali Borouqani told FNA on Monday.

He reminded the United States’ dissatisfaction with the Iraqi government’s stance and policy on the MKO, and said, "No surprise the US voiced opposition to the attacks because the White House supports any terrorist group which runs activities against Iran."

Noting the terrorist nature of the MKO, Borouqani pointed to the group’s black record and long-time hostilities towards the Iranian nation, and reminded that the members of the terrorist group have assassinated a large number of Iranian elites and officials as well as the ordinary citizens.

The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.

Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – in 2009 and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.
The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

The terrorist group alleged that the Iraqi army entered its premises in the Camp of New Iraq on April 2, but the Iraqi army strongly denied the claim.

The Iraqi army denied the MKO’s accusation, underlining that no invasion or military advancement has occurred.

"It’s a replacement of forces, not a new deployment," Brigadier Tarek Azzawi, chief of military operations in Diyala province, North of Baghdad, told AFP.

"The Fifth Division in Diyala has replaced the Ninth Division that protects Ashraf, and we have not advanced even one meter (yard)," he said. "There were no clashes," he added.

The Iraqi government and parliament have repeatedly vowed to expel the group from the country in the near future. A senior Iraqi MP stressed on Sunday that the Iraqi people, legislators and government are all resolved to expel the MKO from their country’s soil immediately.

"The Iraqi people and parliament seek expulsion of MKO from their country’s soil and they want to end its presence in Iraq, which has lasted for several years," Hossein Ali told FNA yesterday.
Reminding the crimes committed by the MKO members against the Iraqi people, specially Iraq’s Kurd population, in collaboration with the former Baath regime in previous years, Ali reiterated that the Iraqi government is determined to expel the terrorist group as well.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

April 12, 2011 0 comments

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