The cult of Rajavi

Women Lured by Mojahedin-e Khalq, the Religious Cult

 I have only one solution: to rise above this absurd drama that others have staged around me.

Still reeling from my bitter experience, I am trying to come to grips with many years of my most vulnerable life spent in a religious, destructive cult called the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK); an experience which shattered my confidence and left me feeling abused and betrayed.


I was seeking freedom and the equal rights of men and women in my homeland Iran when I was recruited by and trapped in the Mojahedin cult.

At the time that I succumbed to them and became a member of the MEK, I would never have thought that one day the MEK’s leaders would betray me as they did.

As a former cult member, I endorse the view that the Mojahedin cult’s leaders Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are deceptive, exploitive masters of mind control who can weave pernicious spells capable of holding followers in thrall for decades, especially the women. Like many leaders, they are handsome, attractive and seductive.

The organization itself vehemently rejects the notion that it is a cult–and all that the designation brings with it. The leaders prefer to describe their outfit as a legitimate political group which wants to bring freedom to Iran. Unfortunately, behind this façade they do not follow even the minimum principle of freedom which is the freedom of personal decision making. However the MEK characterizes itself, an individual’s foray into the cult netherworld can exact a huge emotional toll.

The surrender of personal autonomy, even during the first brief enchantment, can cause profound self-doubt and loss of self-esteem. A longer stay can seriously derail (if not destroy) a member’s life. The damage is even greater if exiting members were abused and abuse of women’s sexuality in the MEK cult is a common theme for women members. Some former women members describe being forced into marrying men that they did not know. Then, in 1990 the leader of the MEK cult ordered all the members to divorce. This meant that all the married couples in the MEK must divorce without any question or protest. For unmarried members, both men and women, they were required to divorce their sexuality and purify themselves of all sexual thoughts and feelings. Women in the MEK are indoctrinated into performing whatever has been planned for them by the leaders. After the divorces, the women had to give up their children and denounce and destroy their feelings of motherhood.

How much do we have to fear from these groups? And how do otherwise intelligent and seemingly sensible women get trapped in such madness?

In the main, cults target people in transition–college students away from home for the first time, people who have moved to new cities for jobs, those who have just been divorced or widowed. The vast majority of members are merely looking for a sense of community during a difficult time in their lives. This is how the MEK as a cult group operates. The MEK recruiters deceive and trap people by finding the weak point of the individual. Once recruited, the individual is subjected to a daily indoctrination using patterns of mind control. This will start by keeping recruits so busy and so isolated that they have no time to question or reflect on what they’re doing or to talk to others who might instill doubts. Rigid rules and rituals help reinforce the autonomy of the MEK cult, particularly in women. Yet experts in cults disagree on whether mind control without the use of force is even possible. "No-one who has observed these groups closely has concluded brainwashing is the reason people are in such cult," insists David Bromley, a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and this is what exactly MEK does. Another powerful factor is the charisma, magnetism, and seductive talents of the cult leaders. "They are con artists par excellence," I would insist, invasion of privacy, and the infliction of severe emotional distress.

Cults like the MEK should not remain such a mystery to people at this time. It is no longer an unknown phenomenon. Broad agreement does exist among psychologists and sociologists about what is meant by referring to a group as a cult. The study of countless cults has given rise also to valuable research into the use of mind control techniques and what is meant by psychological manipulation and psychological coercion.

Still, while organizations like the MEK are taken at face value and not subjected to rigorous investigation and research, it is clear that not enough is known about the many former members who have been able to extricate themselves from the clutches of the cult and return to a normal life. Nor is it not possible to ascertain how many people are still being recruited through the front door by dangerous, destructive cults like the MEK even as disenchanted members leave through the back door.

As a former member of the Mojahedin cult, I wonder why the public does not know more about destructive cults and the warped motives of their leaders. While experts may argue the finer points about what actually makes a cult or whether or not mind control or brainwashing keeps members in thrall, former members like myself struggle to put their lives back together. But, it certainly isn’t easy: being in a cult is not something you walk away from and forget, it is like a disease and needs a long term cure.

There is no doubt that the Mojahedin-e Khalq is a destructive cult. But, when the claim of such an entity to be a democratic, freedom-loving political force which respects human rights, is not subjected to real scrutiny based on the evidence of former members, then I believe the tolerance of such destructive cults will be far more detrimental to society than anyone can imagine they are.
Parvin Haji, Canada

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UK

Update on Mojahedin Khalq Organisation in Europe

A number of British MPs in the House of Commons discussed the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.

In the meeting, the report of which was published by British Parliament’s website, UK Foreign Office minister Kim Howells responded to some MPs’ request for lifting MKO from terror list: "On the proscription of Mojahedin-e Khalq, the Home Office rejected an application for de-proscription last year and that is, strictly speaking, a matter for the Home Office."

"The MEK is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 and its involvement in violence means that it has little support in Iran. The MEK claims to support human rights and democracy, but it is hard to square that with its authoritarian structure and claims by respected human rights non-governmental organisations of serious violations of the rights of its own members," he added.

In response to protests on terrorist designation of MKO, Mark Pritchard said:

"All solutions on Iran, whether by the international community or Iranian exiles, should be peaceful. They shouldn’t be aimed at weakening the position of current regime."

"I believe that we should respect Foreign Office’s decision to band the MKO".

 "Mojahedin-e Khalq organization remains on EU’s terror list," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.

In an interview with Iranian reporters in Paris, he added: "In France, this organization is still under prosecution."

"Prosecution began in 2000 and led to the detention of 165 members of MKO in 2003 and the trial of Maryam Rajavi," he said.

"French officials act in the framework of law and there’s no flexibility in dealing with the MKO."

In response to a question on France’s instance towards Hizballah and whether it was on EU’s terror list, Blazy said: "No, Hizballah is not on EU’s terror list."

"In our view, Hizballah has members in Lebanon’s Parliament. We like it to turn to a political movement from an armed one."

  The European Parliament, in a meeting Tuesday, clarified that a European court ruling on the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in December referred to procedural matters and in no way changes the status of the MKO as a terrorist group.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht has reportedly said that he will use his veto power in the EU Council to stop any attempt to remove the MKO from the EU’s terror list.

The EP’s Committee for Relations with Iran held a meeting on "the MKO and consequences of the judgment of the European Court of First Instance of 12 December’ to unfreeze the assets of the MKO. EU put the MKO on its terror list and ordered continued freezing of its funds in 2002.

"It is not a ruling on substance. It is a procedural decision stating that the EU Council did not provide the right to a hearing.

So it is a procedural shortcoming," German MEP Michael Gahler, who is also vice-president of the EP’s Foreign Relations Committee, told the meeting.

He said that the EU had sent a letter to the MKO stating the reasons why the group should be kept on the terror list.

 "So it’s not correct to believe that there was any other reason.

The problem lies in a procedural error. The MKO will try again and appeal against a final decision, but I am quite sure that the Council will not go along with the ruling (of the court) at the end of the day," said Gahler.

A legal advisor to the EU Council also explained that the European court ruling had reference to procedural matters relating to the obligations to justify the reasons and give the MKO the right to a hearing, but it does not affect the common EU position to maintain the MKO in its terror list.

Josy Dubie, Belgian senator and a former war correspondent for a Belgian TV channel, condemned the MKO as a terrorist organization.

Dubie told the meeting that he covered the eight-year imposed war in the 1980s from both sides, that is, Iran and Iraq, and witnessed MKO fighters launching attacks against their own country (Iran).

"What I discovered was a sect, a group of men and women completely and irrationally devoted to their leader, Masoud Rajavi, which shocked me deeply. I had a feeling that I was among a group of fanatics who followed the orders of their leader blindly," he added.

Dubie, since 1999, has been a member of the Belgian Senate and vice-chair of its Foreign Relations committee. He said he has been recently visited by some MKO members.

"They target people they consider to be important and try to influence them. They try to convince these people that they are a democratic movement fighting for their country. But that is the opposite of what I saw," said the Belgian senator, who also clarified that he had no sympathy for the current regime of President Ahmadinejad.

"So when I received them in my office, I told them what I had seen and they did not contact me again because when they `realize it is not going to work they abandon you and look for somebody else,’" he said.

When Maryam Rajavi was invited by certain members of the Belgian Senate, they (MKO) claimed they had been officially invited to the senate.

"I deny this propaganda. The Belgian Senate itself refused to receive Maryam Rajavi," he said.

Some individual members of the Belgian Senate, including its President Anne-Marie Lizin, received Rajavi, who lives in Paris, last October. "A large number of senators protested, including myself," said Dubie.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht asked the senate about this matter and said he was very sore about this meeting and regretted that she had been invited by some senators.

De Gucht reportedly told the senate that the MKO had been responsible for hundreds of attacks in Iran and elsewhere, practiced torture and used emotional blackmail.

Dubie said he asked De Gucht in the senate about the court ruling on the MKO and whether the minister was in favor of removing the MKO from the list of terrorist groups.

According to Dubie, the Belgian foreign minister’s answer was:

"My answer to your question is very simple. I am in favor of keeping the PMOI on the European list and any decision to lift them or not to lift them requires the decision of all of the EU member states.

Belgium has a veto here and is prepared to use it."

"I can reassure you that the council has no intention of taking the MKO off the list," said the minister.

 Mohammad Hossein Sobhani, a repentant MKO member and an author, related his long and bitter experience with the terror group in Iraq — how he was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for eight years in Asharf Camp and then in Abu Ghraib.

He asked the European parliamentarians not to use the "violations of human rights in Iran" as an excuse to support criminal terror groups such as the MKO.

Portugese MEP Paul Casaca, who organized the pro-MKO group ‘Friends of a Free Iran’ in the EP, had objected that since no MKO member was invited to speak, Sobhani should also not be allowed to talk in the meeting.

German MEP Michael Gahler said the agenda should not be changed.

"A voting of MEPs took place and the agenda was approved as it was." The chair of the EP’s delegation from its Committee for Relations with Iran, Angelika Beer, said she decided not to invite the MKO "because the information provided to me told me that the MKO has not been deleted from the list of terrorist organizations and therefore I did not find it correct to invite them."

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Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

The Story of MKO

Mojahedin-e Khalq of Iran is a political organization that seeks the overthrow of current Iranian regime.

 

History:

 

This group was established in 1965 by a group of middle-class students headed by people like Mohammed Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen and Ali Asghar Badizadegan. The group was first opposed to Pahlavi regime and after a few years, they adopted an extreme ideology that was taken from Marxism and Islam.

Before the group’s armed attack against Shah’s regime started, former Intelligence Service of Iran (Savak) arrested several leaders and 90 percent of members of the group. Only 10 percent of members could survive the attack and go to hiding.

Before the revolution of 1979, Savak released a number of MKO members including Massoud Rajavi.

Before the revolution, MKO attacked West’s targets and interests in Iran but after the revolution, it conducted many military and sabotaging operations against the new regime.

The most important attacks are as follows:

 

– Assassination of leaders and officials of Islamic Revolution.

– Bombing Iran’s parliament building*, in which many of MPs were killed.

– Destroying Iran’s economical infrastructures.

 

The MKO has a long history of hostility towards Western countries and several American military officers in Iran were assassinated by the group in 1970s. Thus, some Western countries, including the US and Canada consider it a terrorist organization. It should be noted that former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was the main military, financial and political supporter of the group, especially during Iraq’s war with Iran.

In 1986, French foreign minister signed a deal with Iran according to which, Iran advised Hizballah in Lebanon to free French hostages in Lebanon and in return, French officials shut MKO offices in France and deported its leaders.

The MKO continued its hostility towards the West but what was surprising for everyone was US’s support for the group after invasion to Iraq.

The group, still based in Iraq, had some military bases in the country:

 

– Camp Ashraf: the headquarters of the organization, 100 Km from western borders of Iran and 100 km north of Baghdad.

– Anzali Camp: 120 km from Baghdad and 40 km from Iranian borders

– Faezi Camp: near the city of Kut,

– A camp near the city of Meqdadieh.

 

The MKO has apparently stopped hostility towards the West. The group has been supported by US officials especially after former Soviet Union broke down. The group tries to establish ties with Western countries, particularly with those who oppose the Iranian regime.

In this way, the group served CIA and Mossad and Israeli lobby groups like AIPAC, Center for Jews’ National Security Affairs, Congress Committees, strategic centers and Neocons’ organization in the US.

 

Group’s Ties with Israeli Lobby:

 

Despite being one of the biggest opposition groups to Islamic Republic, the group didn’t dare to establish ties with Israeli lobbies or the US and UK when Saddam was in power. Following Bush’s presidency and the rule of Necons on Pentagon and their efforts to change the regime in Iran, and after US’s invasion to Iraq, the group established strong and direct ties with all Israeli lobbies in and out of the US. In this regard, Mahan Abedin said in an interview with Asia Times that Israeli lobby and some Necon leaders had decided to use the group as a good alternative for Iran. Abedin referred to the comments of Massoud Banisadr, a former leader of MKO, who said:”We know that Israeli lobby has an influential role in the congress and therefore when we want to pursue a particular legal rule we should try to get closer to Israeli lobby.”

 

MKO’s Ties with Mossad:

 

The group has had a longtime relationship with Israel’s Mossad. An espionage network tied to Israel’s Mossad is active inside Iraq and Iran. The elements of this network have been selected from the members of MKO. This network collects top secret information on economical, political, social, military, technological and security affairs and transfers it to Mossad. The intelligence is then transferred through Mossad’s base in Dihok in a region under the control of Barzani.

 

Mossad, Shin Bet, and Shabak train MKO members with following purposes:

 

– Political assassination of Iranian leaders,

– Destroying Iran’s infrastructures: bridges, strategic places like power plants, communication offices and …

– Creating psychological war in order to divide internal groups,

– Destroying Iran’s economy by printing fake bills, destruction of farms and setting fire to strategic places,

– Concentrating the efforts of opposition groups and giving financial, logistic, and military aids as well as training to these groups,

– Distribution and installation of satellite-controlled spying systems in order to locate Iran’s infrastructure for possible attack, including military, security and nuclear establishment.

 

One can say that MKO’s relations with the US and Mossad will continue and expand. However, neither Iranian regime would be toppled by MKO nor Israel and the US would be able to take the risk of attacking Iran. Thus, the MKO has no option except giving intelligence to Mossad and this is the only condition for receiving food from the White House.

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* The author should have said”Republic Party”instead of”Parliament”

 Al-Jamal Network

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The cult of Rajavi

Commemoration of 8th of March, The International Women’s Day

Paying tribute to the women’s roll in the society, and examining the situation of women in Rajavi’s cult

The former women members of Mojehedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO) participated in a commemorative meeting which was organised by the Nejat Society in Isfahan on the anniversary of the International Women’s Day.  They presented a conclusion about their experiences from the cultic relationships within the MKO to the concerned families of the MKO members. The atmosphere dominating the cult was also explained and they described how women, even more than men, are mentally abused in the organisation.

The meeting was opened by Ms Rabii. She explained how women have been victims of various cults including the MKO particularly as mothers. The meeting was followed by a panel to discuss the situation of women in cults and two vital questions about women in MKO were discussed. The two queries are as follows:

1. Why women have been given higher positions in the MKO?

2. Why less women defect from the MKO compared to the men?

In this panel Ms Shalchi, Ms Qorsi, and Ms Sadri spoke about their experiences within the MKO. They discussed that despite Rajavi as the leader of the MKO is a man but he has given all key responsibilities to women. This is of course due to the fact that he does not trust men and finds women more reliant.

They illustrated how Rajavi suppressed the natural emotions, passions and feelings of women and forced them to divorce their husbands and abandon their children. Rajavi knows well that this suppression would absorb them to his cause and make them all dependent on him.

The ladies provided many examples and facts about the misdeeds occurring inside the organisation. For instance Ms Sadri explained how she was suggested to give her one year old child a bottle of milk containing cyanide and how she was made to slap her husband into his face. Ms Qorsi declared that she was threatened that she would be sent to Abu-Ghuraib Prison if she would not submit to the demands of the organisation. Ms Shalchi testified that the organisation believes family is the nest of corruption and made the followers to have the same thought.

The conclusion at the end of the panel was the answer to the above mentioned questions that although men and women are equal by creation, but the society has imposed them certain eminent roles. Women, particularly in eastern societies like Iran are more reluctant and dependent to someone else than men. They generally feel the need of being supported. On the other hand women are the core of the family and very dependant to them, therefore the organisation, like many cults, tries to turn their love to the family into hatred. Women would be totally vulnerable to be dependent to the cult and its leader once a woman is made to hate her family and would be much harder for her to break ties with the cult and leave the organisation.

Finally the families who had participated in the meeting raised their questions to be answered by the panel. They mainly wanted to know that how they can help their beloved ones out of the terrorist cult of Rajavi. 

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Nejat Publications

Pars Brief – Issue No.31

1.    Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO) to remain in EU’s terror list, say European parliamentarians

2.    EU says MKO Remains on Terror List

3.    Iranian Mujahideen group must leave the country, says government

4.    Should Washington "UNLEASH" Rajavi cult in Iraq?

5.    Scooter Libby and World War III  –  How the Libby trial could impact US foreign policy

 
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.31
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.31

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European Union

Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization remains on EU’s terror list

France says the anti-Iranian terrorist outfit "Mojahedin e Khalq" Organization (MKO) is on the European Union’s list of "terror organizations".

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy made the remark on Wednesday, adding that, "In France, this organization (MKO) is still under prosecution."

"The judicial prosecution was instituted in 2000 and it has led to the arrest of 165 members of the MKO. Some key figures of the Organization, including Maryam Rajavi, have also been tried," said Douste-Blazy, who is also a French presidential candidate.

He asserted that his country’s officials were carrying out their duties according to the law and would never show any tolerance or flexibility towards the terrorist gang.

Asked if France assumed the Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist group and if the group was ever listed by the EU as a terrorist organization, the French foreign minister replied, "No. Hezbollah is not on EU’s list of terrorist organizations."

"In our point of view, Hezbollah has representatives in the Lebanese parliament, he said, however adding that France would like to see Hezbollah active only on the political front.

Press TV – 01 Mar 2007

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Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

The Gang of Rajavi is Collapsing

In an unprecedented way, the MKO’s stupid propaganda system is reflecting how its supporters and members in gatherings have decreased.

The gang of Rajavi could gather only 35 supporters in Geneva, 12 in Munich and 17 in London to show the support for its policies; this indicates that the gang of Rajavi is bankrupt.

Decrease in the number of forces and those who used to take part in MKO gatherings can have 3 reasons:

1. After Maryam Rajavi escaped and Massoud surrendered himself, and when the members were left alone and Saddam was toppled, many of MKO members are discourage and disappointed of MKO’s policies.

2. MKO’s shortage of budget, formerly provided in large amounts by Saddam Hussein, has deprived the motivation from many of their supporters. That’s why the MKO insists on execution of the ruling of the First Instance Court (to compensate the shortage of money).

3. It seems that there have been some measures taken to limit MKO’s access to refugee camps. Formerly, they could easily get to the camps and get supporting forces.

 Anyway, what the MKO is now boasting as "assemblies and gatherings" can be interpreted as a political scandal, showing that the group is collapsing and dismantling.

 Irandidban –  2007/02/28

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USA

Armed mercenaries; Warmongers’ Last Resort

There’s no doubt that recent unrest and terrorist activities in the eastern and western borders of Iran have been done with foreign backing. This has been admitted by Americans themselves. By allocating budgets against Iran and forming offices for espionage and recruiting spies against Iran, they try to expand their interferences.

Movements of CIA and Pentagon to create unrest and covert violent activities are acts documented during the past decades.

That we occasionally hear the name of terrorist MKO and Pentagon’s use of this organization doesn’t mean that they only rely on this terrorist group to destabilize the country. In fact, it means that Pentagon and Neocons, as pioneers of warmongering against Iran, use all possible means, including the gang of Rigi, Pezhak and criminal cult of Rajavi.

Sunday Telegraph has pointed to the ties between Pentagon and terrorist group of MKO. Recent comments of Dick Cheney also show that warmongers are determined to harm Iranians and inflict considerable damages.

 

In part of its article, Sunday Telegraph writes:

"A row has also broken out in Washington over whether to "unleash" the military wing of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), an Iraq-based Iranian opposition group with a long and bloody history of armed opposition to the Iranian regime.

The group is currently listed by the US state department as terrorist organization, but Mr Pike said: "A faction in the Defense Department wants to unleash them. They could never overthrow the current Iranian regime but they might cause a lot of damage."

At present, none of the opposition groups are much more than irritants to Teheran, but US analysts believe that they could become emboldened if the regime was attacked by America or Israel.

It’s notable that despite all its efforts to be known as an alternative, the MKO is not considered a proper choice even in the eyes of those who support the idea of using them, but they’re considered as armed mercenaries who can create chaos and unrest".

——————————————–

Sunday Telegraph, "US funds terror groups to sow chaos in Iran", Feb. 25, 2007

——————————————————————————–

 Iran didban, February 27, 2007

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Europe

Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO) to remain in EU’s terror list, say European parliamentarians

The European Parliament, in a meeting Tuesday, clarified that a European court ruling on the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in December referred to procedural matters and in no way changes the status of the MKO as a terrorist group.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht has reportedly said that he will use his veto power in the EU Council to stop any attempt to remove the MKO from the EU’s terror list.

The EP’s Committee for Relations with Iran held a meeting on "the MKO and consequences of the judgment of the European Court of First Instance of 12 December’ to unfreeze the assets of the MKO. EU put the MKO on its terror list and ordered continued freezing of its funds in 2002.

"It is not a ruling on substance. It is a procedural decision stating that the EU Council did not provide the right to a hearing.

So it is a procedural shortcoming," German MEP Michael Gahler, who is also vice-president of the EP’s Foreign Relations Committee, told the meeting.

He said that the EU had sent a letter to the MKO stating the reasons why the group should be kept on the terror list.

"So it’s not correct to believe that there was any other reason.

The problem lies in a procedural error. The MKO will try again and appeal against a final decision, but I am quite sure that the Council will not go along with the ruling (of the court) at the end of the day," said Gahler.

A legal advisor to the EU Council also explained that the European court ruling had reference to procedural matters relating to the obligations to justify the reasons and give the MKO the right to a hearing, but it does not affect the common EU position to maintain the MKO in its terror list.

Josy Dubie, Belgian senator and a former war correspondent for a Belgian TV channel, condemned the MKO as a terrorist organization.

Dubie told the meeting that he covered the eight-year imposed war in the 1980s from both sides, that is, Iran and Iraq, and witnessed MKO fighters launching attacks against their own country (Iran).

"What I discovered was a sect, a group of men and women completely and irrationally devoted to their leader, Masoud Rajavi, which shocked me deeply. I had a feeling that I was among a group of fanatics who followed the orders of their leader blindly," he added.

Dubie, since 1999, has been a member of the Belgian Senate and vice-chair of its Foreign Relations committee. He said he has been recently visited by some MKO members.

"They target people they consider to be important and try to influence them. They try to convince these people that they are a democratic movement fighting for their country. But that is the opposite of what I saw," said the Belgian senator, who also clarified that he had no sympathy for the current regime of President Ahmadinejad.

"So when I received them in my office, I told them what I had seen and they did not contact me again because when they `realize it is not going to work they abandon you and look for somebody else,’" he said.

When Maryam Rajavi was invited by certain members of the Belgian Senate, they (MKO) claimed they had been officially invited to the senate.

"I deny this propaganda. The Belgian Senate itself refused to receive Maryam Rajavi," he said.

Some individual members of the Belgian Senate, including its President Anne-Marie Lizin, received Rajavi, who lives in Paris, last October. "A large number of senators protested, including myself," said Dubie.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht asked the senate about this matter and said he was very sore about this meeting and regretted that she had been invited by some senators.

De Gucht reportedly told the senate that the MKO had been responsible for hundreds of attacks in Iran and elsewhere, practiced torture and used emotional blackmail.

Dubie said he asked De Gucht in the senate about the court ruling on the MKO and whether the minister was in favor of removing the MKO from the list of terrorist groups.

According to Dubie, the Belgian foreign minister’s answer was:

"My answer to your question is very simple. I am in favor of keeping the PMOI on the European list and any decision to lift them or not to lift them requires the decision of all of the EU member states.

Belgium has a veto here and is prepared to use it."

"I can reassure you that the council has no intention of taking the MKO off the list," said the minister.

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani, a repentant MKO member and an author, related his long and bitter experience with the terror group in Iraq — how he was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for eight years in Asharf Camp and then in Abu Ghraib.

He asked the European parliamentarians not to use the "violations of human rights in Iran" as an excuse to support criminal terror groups such as the MKO.

Portugese MEP Paul Casaca, who organized the pro-MKO group 1Friends of a Free Iran’ in the EP, had objected that since no MKO member was invited to speak, Sobhani should also not be allowed to talk in the meeting.

German MEP Michael Gahler said the agenda should not be changed.

"A voting of MEPs took place and the agenda was approved as it was." The chair of the EP’s delegation from its Committee for Relations with Iran, Angelika Beer, said she decided not to invite the MKO "because the information provided to me told me that the MKO has not been deleted from the list of terrorist organizations and therefore I did not find it correct to invite them."

IRNA, February 28, 2007

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