The Mojahedin-e Khalq [aka Rajavi cult] managed the meeting of two Iraqi Sunni representatives with Israelis in Brussels.
Some western journalists in Brussels are surprised to see the volume of cooperation and coordination between the MKO and Iraq’s Sunni oppositions. These journalists state that they had earlier received reports that Sunni oppositions had talked about the dangers of Safawis of Iraq and their threat and in response to questions that who they meant by Safawis they pointed to Iranians and Iraqi Shiites who support Iranians. Journalists say what surprised them was the presence of Iraq’s Sunni leaders in Brussels and that MKO was fully responsible for coordinating their affairs! The MKO had provided the Iraqi group with Iranians who were fluent in Arabic. It’s enough to say that Sunni delegation headed by Adnan Al-Dulaimi was the guest of MKO and not the European Parliament. It’s amazing! If the Iranians were Safawis, how a Sunni group would make alliance with them?
According to the reports, there are deep differences between the members of this political Sunni delegation and each one of them tried to manage his own meetings with European representatives. The tension intensified so that sometimes they accused each other; for instance, Khalf Al-Alyan denied the position of Adnan Al-Dulami and competed with Saleh Motlaq in establishing ties with European Parliament’s diplomats.
A diplomat in the EU said: "The Sunni’s delegation had entered Brussels through improper channels and it could have achieved far better results if I had come by the invitation of Arab League or some Arab states. However, they came here by a notorious organization that is being punished for its terrorist designation. Although the organization opposes the Islamic regime of Iran, the group itself has not a proper political situation. Therefore, it can’t be considered a good mediator between Iraqi Sunnis and the EU.
Press sources have stressed that the MKO has used its ties with Israeli diplomats in Brussels to manage a meeting between two Sunni representatives and some Israeli figures. In the meetings, the two Sunnis have been given missions to pursue in Iraq. It’s been said that the Israelis were Mossad Agents. The two Sunni representatives knew the Israelis were intelligence agents.
According to sources, whose reports are based on the intelligence of Belgian security forces (responsible for monitoring and protecting this delegation), these two Sunnis were "Khalf Al-Ayan" and "Zafer Alaani". The sources added that other members of the delegation also might have met the Israelis.
"Khalf Al-Ayan" is trying to prevent the ruling of Shiites over Iraq. Having been an army officer in the former regime and serving in Iraq-Iran war, he strongly opposes Iran," sources added.
"Khalf Al-Ayan and other members of the delegation are going to affront Shiite religious leaders, particularly Ayatollah Ali Sistani."
In this regard, Al-Alyan had said that he had rejected meetings with Ayatollah Sistani because he didn’t want to recognize his role, or that of other religious leaders, in Iraq.
The delegation, headed by Adnan Al-Dulaimi, included a number of Iraqi Parliament members such as Khalf Al-Ayan, Saleh Motlaq, Zafer Alaani, and Sheikh Khaled Al-Bar’ a leader of Sunni tribe of Al-Dulaim and General Ali Khalifeh, a commander of former regime’s army.
After the EU court ruled that restrictions on MKO properties should be lifted, Adnan Al-Dulaimi, Khalf Al-Alyan and Saleh Motlaq contacted MKO leaders and congratulated them on the issue. They expressed hope that the group could continue its activities as the past 20 years.
It shold be noted that the MKO’s relations with this group is not limited to Brussels’ visit, but the intelligence exposed two years ago indicated that there were wide security, military and political relations between the two sides and that these ties were encouraged by US’s ambassador to Iraq, Zalmi Khalilzad. So far, these relations were kept secretly but after Maliki’s government pressurized the group to leave Iraq, the MKO asked Iraqi groups to announce their support for the group in public so that the entire world would know that there are Iraqis who don’t like MKO’s expulsion!
To show that Sunni Arabs support the group, MKO asked Paulo Casaca, a member of European Parliament and a stronger supporter of the group, to manage the visit of Iraqi Sunnis to Brussels.
It should be noted that the visit has had high costs for the group. It’s also said that the Iraqi Sunnis received gifts from the group.
In this regard, Nahrainnet was informed that there were 20 in the delegation that left Jordan to Brussels, while only 13 have returned. It seems that others have found the opportunity to seek asylum in Germany and Netherlands.
Nahrainnet.net, February 11, 2007
http://www.nahrainnet.net/news/52/ARTICLE/9515/2007-02-11.html
In a report from Baghdad on security measures in to combat insurgent activity, the Iraqi government again clarified its position regarding the Mojahedin Khalq organization (aka Rajavi cult). 18 February 2007 Meanwhile, Iraqi cabinet spokesman Ali Al Dabagh said the government regarded the Iranian [Mojahedin] Khalq opposition group, which Iraq harboured during former President Saddam Hussein’s reign, as “a terrorist” group. Al Dabagh said that the group should be forced to leave since “the constitution forbids the presence of any organization that is engaged in or supports in terrorism in the Iraqi territories.” Less than a month before Al Dabagh’s comments, a [Mojahedin] Khalq spokeswoman had told pan-Arab Al Sharq Al Awsat that the group’s faction in Iraq, which lives in a camp east of Baghdad, has stopped its activities. “We only have around 4,000 men, women and children who reside in Ashraf camp near Diyali,” Dawla Norouzi said, adding: “We respect the Iraqi government.” Norouzi said that [Mojahedin] Khalq activities in were reduced to “cultural and educational” activities. [Mojahedin] Khalq has been struggling against the Iranian regime for more than two decades.
According to NCRI-website, members of MKO terrorist cult marked the 200th day of their sit-in outside the United Nations High Commission headquarters in Geneva, demanding that the UN agency reaffirm the political refugee status of those kept in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.
The UNHCR’s silence indicates that the real intention of the cult is fully recognized. The affirmation of the political refugee status secures the cult’s clutches at the members’ throats and frustrates the attempts made to break the bonds of the fearsome cult that is wearing the mask of a political campaigner.
MKO permits no international and humanitarian organization to interfere in its internal issues concerning the members. The cult attempts not to ease its grip to let the members free. Nearly a month ago, Dawlat Norouzi, a spokeswoman to the cult, told Al Sharq Al Awsat that “We only have around 4,000 men, women and children who reside in Ashraf camp near Diyali”.
What are these women and children really kept for in a lonely camp in the deserts of Iraq? If, as MKO claims, it has stopped its activities, why then it does not let these women and children decide for their future individually? Do they need people to organize a 200-day sit-in to help them? It seems that somebody somehow is hearing help cries piercing the walls of Ashraf.
mojahedin.ws – 20/02/2007
Sadraldin Al-Qabanji, Najaf’s Friday prayer leader, pointed to the issue MKO’s presence in Iraq and said:
"Iraqi government has decided to expel the MKO from Iraq. Giving political refugee status to this terrorist organization, which is a danger for our neighbor, is not acceptable. We can’t accept them in our country either."
Aswat Al Iraq, February 21, 2007
In Norway, there are some people who support an Iranian dissident group which is called Muajhedin-e-Khalq; however the group doesn’t deserve the support.
The group played an effective role in people opposing campaign against the regime of Shah but after the fall of Shah the group challenged the newly-come to power Islamic Regime and called the people to go on strike and demonstration. But the people turned against them and thus the group which was left alone set out for terrorizing the individuals, bombing and execution. They defeated in that fight. Therefore the group’s leader, Masud Rajavi fled Iran and took refuge in France. After some time Rajavi joined his supporters in Iraq and planned an alliance with Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein gave weapons, military bases and funds to them. Saudi Arabia and America also gave money to Mujahedin.
Mujshedin-e- Khalq attended the Iraqi military invasion to Iran by assisting Saddam Hussein’s forces against their own country. If the Iranian hadn’t already opposed the group now they didn’t hesitate to oppose it “ An Iranian whether agreed or disagreed the governing regime in the country, kept his patriotic emotion after the Iraqi arrack. The attack which was affirmed and backed by US and while that attack the so-called "people’s Mujahedin" fought Iran jointly with the enemy forces. Many of the members defected the group and several other members were persecuted or tortured by the group leaders.
A kind of fascist culture was formed in the group. The members were settled in common houses. A leader (Masul) was assigned for them; the "Masul" in his turn had to report everything to Masud Rajavi, the main leader of the organization. The report of routine activities ended with "Viva Rajavi". Following the leaders, order and hierarchy had become the principals of the organization to the extent that if the members wanted to get married, at first they had to ask the leader for permission. Speaking of marriage, the disgrace for the group was revealed when Masud Rajavi married the wife of Mehdi Abrishamchi, the fourth person in the organization hierarchy. Abrishamchi thanked God due to the opportunity the God gave him to share a "Successful Ideological Decision". A decision according to which his wife " Maryam Azdanlou" was elected as the co-leader of the organization. Political Department of MKO, the Central Committee and the central Council of MKO, all confirming the marriage, considered it as vital for stability and continuality of the growth of new leadership in a social and political domain. (Middle East Journal-Fall,1987)
We should consider the following points about MEK’s nature: – The organization has no support among Iranian people. – MKO’s structure is based on the leader Rajavi’s personality; even a sign of democracy can’t be seen in the organization. Several members of the group have defected MKO due to Rajavi’s dictatorial leadership and his alliance with Saddam’s regime.
– The group has launched several attacks against civilians in Iran. Since 1981, the group has admitted responsibility of the assassination of thousands of Iranians who, according to their claims, were the regime agents.
– The group assisted Saddam in violently suppressing Kurds in Iraq and even after the Iraqi invasion to Kuwait in 1990, it kept on supporting Saddam Hussein since Saddam funded them with hundreds million dollars.
Therefore, the group named Mujahedin-e-Khalq was put in the FTO list published by the US but now the card is turning and a number of people are trying to name the group as "non criminal" in order to use it in their fight against Iran. The military wing of the group which is still based in Iraq is under the US forces’ protection and ranking members of US congress and some others (including some Norwegians) want to legalize the group by removing it from the terror list and introduce it as an Iranian opposition.
And this is a wrong way to go to Iran.
Karin Linstad – Feb, 2007 – Norway-Salt journal
On Cheney, Rumsfeld order, US outsourcing special ops, intelligence to Iraq terror group, intelligence officials say
The Pentagon is bypassing official US intelligence channels and turning to a dangerous and unruly cast of characters in order to create strife in Iran in preparation for any possible attack, former and current intelligence officials say.
One of the operational assets being used by the Defense Department is a right-wing terrorist organization known as Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), which is being “run” in two southern regional areas of Iran. They are Baluchistan, a Sunni stronghold, and Khuzestan, a Shia region where a series of recent attacks has left many dead and hundreds injured in the last three months.
One former counterintelligence official, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the information, describes the Pentagon as pushing MEK shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The drive to use the insurgent group was said to have been advanced by the Pentagon under the influence of the Vice President’s office and opposed by the State Department, National Security Council and then-National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice.
“The MEK is run by a husband and wife team who were given bases in northern Baghdad by Saddam,” the intelligence official told RAW STORY. “The US army secured a key MEK facility 60 miles northwest of Baghdad shortly after the 2003 invasion, but they did not secure the MEK and let them basically be because [then Deputy Defense Secretary Paul] Wolfowitz was thinking ahead to Iran.”
Another former intelligence official added that the US military had detained as many as 3,500 members of MEK at Iraq’s Camp Ashraf since the start of the war, including the highest level ranking MEK leaders. Ashraf is about 60 miles west of the Iranian border.
This intelligence official, wishing to remain anonymous, confirmed the policy tensions and also described them as most departments on one side and the Pentegon on the other.
“We disarmed [the MEK] of major weapons but not small arms. [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld was pushing to use them as a military special ops team, but policy infighting between their camp and Condi, but she was able to fight them off for a while,” said the intelligence official. According to still another intelligence source, the policy infighting ended last year when Donald Rumsfeld, under pressure from Vice President Cheney, came up with a plan to “convert” the MEK by having them simply quit their organization.
“These guys are nuts,” this intelligence source said. “Cambone and those guys made MEK members swear an oath to Democracy and resign from the MEK and then our guys incorporated them into their unit and trained them.”
Stephen Cambone is the Undersecretary of Defense Intelligence. His office did not return calls for comment.
According to all three intelligence sources, military and intelligence officials alike were alarmed that instead of securing a known terrorist organization, which has been responsible for acts of terror against Iranian targets and individuals all over the world – including US civilian and military casualties – Rumsfeld under instructions from Cheney, began using the group on special ops missions into Iran to pave the way for a potential Iran strike.
“They are doing whatever they want, no oversight at all,” one intelligence source said.
Indeed, Saddam Hussein himself had used the MEK for acts of terror against non-Sunni Muslims and had assigned domestic security detail to the MEK as a way of policing dissent among his own people. It was under the guidance of MEK ‘policing’ that Iraqi citizens who were not Sunni were routinely tortured, attacked and arrested.
Although the specifics of what the MEK is being used for remain unclear, a UN official close to the Security Council explained that the newly renamed MEK soldiers are being run instead of military advance teams, committing acts of violence in hopes of staging an insurgency of the Iranian Sunni population.
“We are already at war,” the UN official told RAW STORY.
Asked how long the MEK agents have been active in the region under the guidance of the US military civilian leadership, the UN official explained that the clandestine war had been going on for roughly a year and included unmanned drones run jointly by several agencies.
In a stunning repeat of pre-war Iraq activities, the Bush administration continues to publicly call for action and pursue diplomatic solutions to allegations that Iran is bomb-ready. Behind the scenes, however, the administration is already well underway and engaged in ground operations in Iran.
The British, however, are less enthused about a strike in Iran. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has called an American strike on Iran “inconceivable,” while Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he’s keeping all his options open. Asked about the MEK, a senior British intelligence official said that the Brits are not yet sure of what the situation on Iran’s southern border is, but vehemently condemned any joint activity with the terrorist organization.
“We don’t know who precisely is carrying out those attacks in the south but we believe it is MEK,” the British official said.
When asked if the US military is running the MEK, the source was careful to indicate that while there is a US unit in Iran gathering information, it’s difficult to say if they are in any way involved with MEK.
“The people who are inside Iran are from a US Special mission unit,” the source explained. “They are called by codenames, but would not be involved in the bomb blasts. They want to get in, get the intelligence and go out with anyone knowing they have been there. But the bomb blasts might be diversions away from the operations by this US special mission unit. The British are definitely not involved in any of this.”
Moreover, the British official expressed that any operations with MEK would violate their own military code and would absolutely not be tolerated.
“We have very strict rules and can’t go consorting with terrorists," the official added. "We did it in Northern Ireland. No more.”
April 13, 2006
Economist has always had a lot of information. This week’s Economist has an article, "Fund and Find Your Opposition", in which the author speculates the death of Massoud Rajavi and that Maryam Rajavi has become a widow!
The article has a critical view on Condi Rice’s request for allocating 75 million dollars to finding an opposition desirable for the US.
The article goes as follows:
So America’s challenge now is to find suitable NGOs, trade unions, human-rights groups and students to receive the $20m they have been allocated. (The other $55m will help disseminate Persian-language broadcasts and propaganda on the internet.) Iran’s internal opposition lacks a Nelson Mandela; Iranians in the diaspora (1m in the United States) cannot even boast of an Ahmed Chalabi, the neo-conservatives’ failed favourite to run Iraq…
Even supposing the promise of cash moves the diaspora to unite, the credibility of its leading lights is low. Though he has astutely backed calls for a referendum on a political system to replace the Islamic Republic, Reza Pahlavi, the personable but reputedly unambitious son of the last shah, is little spoken of in Iran."
As for the MKO, the article says:
"As for the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which sided with Saddam Hussein during his war with Iran in the 1980s and is officially considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, it is widely despised by Iranians back home, millions of whom lost relatives in that war. The group fosters a cult of personality around Maryam Rajavi, wife (probably widow) of its long-time leader. There is growing support in the United States and Europe for removing the terrorist label attached to the PMOI, which is widely credited with having exposed several of the nuclear-research facilities the Iranian government had kept secret for many years. But that may not endear it to people in Iran either."
"Probably widow", this is what raises questions. Why? Does the Economist have secret reports, or is only based on rumors due to the long absence of Massoud Rajavi?
If the latter case is true, those who create rumors and those who extend the cult of personality and its ambiguities should be blamed equally. If the former case is true and the report is based on intelligence, then why are they creating ambiguity?
Anyway, we should wait for MKO’s response.
Irandidban’s analysis on Economist article – 2007/02/18
The presence of Iranian opposition group, Mojahedin-e Khalq, has had negative consequences for Iraqis.
This organization was used as a sectarian group against Iraqis and Saddam Hussein turned them into a suppression force against Iraqi people. In 1991, we witnessed the role of this organization in Shaabanieh uprising against the Kurds. The elements of this group are known for their brutality. In 1991, during the assassination of senior religious leader Seyed Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, they were used again as a suppression tool.
The MKO has been designated as a terrorist organization and the stances of the US and Europe on this group are similar. As it served the goals and interests of Saddam’s regime in the past, it is now acting to deepen tribal differences. Some Imperialist forces have tied their hopes to this terrorist group and even use this organization against Shiites of Iraq and Iran; they use it for illegal operations.
This group has an active role in destabilizing the security and supporting terrorists. For instance, we can discuss the status of Dyala province. this organization is playing a role in Iraq’s instability and it has conducted many crimes against Iranians. Even, tribal leaders and sheikhs in Dyala can’t stand this group anymore. What should be dealt with carefully is the plan they’re trying to achieve in Iraq: sectarianism and plotting against Iraqis. For example, the group held a conference under the name of supporting Iraqi Sunnis with coordination of European representatives, but the European sides didn’t take part in the conference.
While the Iraqi government tries to destroy paramilitary and armed groups in order to secure the country and apply the law, the presence of a foreign armed militia in Iraq, which has military teams and plots against Iraqis, is a threat to our nation.
The comments of Mr. Ali Al-Dabbagh, Iraqi government spokesperson, on the threats of this organization and the decision of the government to expel this group show that the government is well aware of the dire consequences of the presence of this terrorist group in Iraq and that they are determined to establish security for Iraqis.
The response of NCRI to the comments of Mr. Dabbagh is funny and sarcastic. This response includes illogical sentences:
"The legitimacy of MKO’s presence comes out of Geneva Convention"!
We answer: "Which law legitimizes the interferences of a terrorist group in our internal affairs? Which law opens their hands to erase our national figures and which law allows them to kill our children?"
Iraqi government should discuss the case of this organization and expose the crimes they did against the Iraqis so that world public opinion is aware. It should also do its best to expel the group from Iraq. Iraqi parliament should take this case and decide about it. If we ask our neighbors, including Iran, not to interfere in our internal affairs, we should first expel this organization since its presence in Iraq is interference in Iranian affairs.
The presence of this organization in Iraq is against all laws and regulations and also against the national interests of Iraqis.
Abdulkarim al-Mohammadavi
Three years after evident interferences of terrorist cult of Rajavi in Iraq’s affairs- with the assistance of Baath remnants- it has now become clear that this alliance has been influential in Iraq’s unrest. Meanwhile, Iraqi elites warn about the plans of the cult of Rajavi and its supporters, who are seeking a religious and ethnic crisis in Iraq.
Hassan Al-Alavi, Iraqi researcher and elite, in an interview with Al-Hurra TV channel, pointed to the Baathists’ use of MKO and said: "Why do the sunnis, who are against Iraqi Shiites, go and ally with the Iranian MKO. This is a political war and it’s not based on religious vision or ideological principles. In this conflict, each side uses its tools to blow the other side."
Abbas Al-Yasseri, author and analyst, criticized some Sunni MPs’ use of terrorist group of Rajavi and said: "Some people use the MKO, which is a terrorist organization and is known for its role in the previous regime. This group has now central role in plotting against Iraqis and in religious differences. Some TV channels and failed newspapers help this organization. It holds conferences and interferes in Iraq’s internal affairs. What’s surprising is that some MPs take part in the conferences of this terrorist group in Brussels and Paris. One of them, who is the leader of a Parliament’s fraction, said they had common goals and principles with the MKO. I think this person is putting himself in the corner of the ring when he forgets, or pretends that he’s forgetting, that the MKO has been designated by the EU and many other countries of the world as a terrorist group. In this way, he is making alliance with terrorists…."
Also, Sheikh Sabah Al-Saedi, Member of Parliament from Coalition List asked for the removal of Mohammed Dayinee’s immunity. Saedi said: "Following Dayinee’s comments and his support for armed group, a number of MPs have asked the parliament to review this proposal. These comments and his position will lead to terrorism investigation."
The revelations on extremists who use the MKO as a leverage has increased to the point that news wires announced that coalition forces have asked international police to arrest Mashan Jaboori. "Coalition forces issues arrest warrant for him, citing his TV channel’s support for terrorist groups".*
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* All reports quoted from IranLiberty website
Irandidban – 2007/02/17