Page 908 – Nejat Society

Trying Rajavi beside Saddam

If the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization is proven guilty of having committed atrocities against the people of Iraq, MKO leader Masud Rajavi can also be prosecuted alongside former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Iranian professor Sadegh Zibakalam said on Saturday.

Saddam’s charges specifically include the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Halabja in 1988 and the massacre of Shia villagers in Dujail in 1982, Zibakalam said.

If the MKO is found guilty of committing genocide and crimes against humanity, as defined by international organizations, in Iraq, the issue can be pursued through legal means, he explained.

MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee also said on Saturday that there is sufficient evidence to prove that Rajavi is guilty of committing genocide against the Iraqi and Iranian people alongside Saddam Hussein.

“The Iranian government must pursue the case,” he told the Mehr News Agency, adding, “Iraqi Kurds can charge him with genocide based on indisputable evidence. “The MKO’s role in suppressing the 1991 Iraqi Intifada and massacring Iraqi Kurds is undeniable. Even the Europeans and the United States refer to them as terrorists.”

Falahatpisheh condemned Saddam’s crimes against the Iraqi and Iranian nations, saying that the many abhorrent and unprecedented aspects of his crimes should not be buried with him after his death.

Political analyst Javad Mansuri also said on Saturday that the special tribunal trying Saddam could legally subpoena and try Rajavi if survivors of the 1991 attack against Iraqi Kurds file charges against him.

“The request to extradite Rajavi is completely legal and practicable and the diplomatic and judiciary bodies should both make efforts to do this,” he asserted.

International relations expert Hossein Sabbah Zanganeh affirmed on Saturday that the special tribunal trying Saddam is legally responsible for trying other people of any nationality who have committed crimes against the Iraqi nation.

The MKO and Rajavi himself have committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity both on Iranian and Iraqi soil, Zanganeh told the Mehr News Agency.

According to the UN Security Council resolution on terrorism, Iran can present its request to extradite Rajavi and other key MKO members to the UN, he added.

On Saturday, political activist Masud Dehnamaki called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the families of Iranian martyrs to submit an official request to arrest and try Rajavi as an accomplice to Saddam.

Meanwhile, an Iranian Judiciary official told MNA on Saturday that Rajavi, as an Iranian national, should be tried in Iran.

He expressed the view that the special tribunal investigating crimes against humanity in Iraq, which has been formed to try Saddam, is only qualified to deal with the crimes of Iraqi nationals.

Mehrnews

November 29, 2005 0 comments

The cult of Rajavi

DUTCH AUTHOR CALLS IRANIAN OPPOSITION ‘DANGEROUS’

Judit Neurink was interviewed about her book "Misleide Martelaren" (Misled Martyrs), which covers the 40-year history of the Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MEK), Radio Farda reported on 7 November.

Neurink told Radio Farda she got interested in the subject about two years earlier, when MEK members immolated themselves after their leader, Maryam Rajavi, was arrested in France. Neurink asked herself why people would do such a thing, and said "My book tells a story that many don’t know — about brainwashing, about the imprisonment of friends and comrades, about torture, and about persuading people to go to Iran and kill civilians." Neurink said she interviewed MEK members, but experience showed her that this is like listening to a recorded message when the needle is stuck. Neurink described MEK as "dangerous." Radio Farda said Neurink’s book will be translated into English and Persian.

November 28, 2005 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Interview Alen Cheuvalrias with Dr. Mahmoud

Dr.Mahmoud worked for Mujahedin’s diplomatic service in Italy and he is a doctor now:

– When for the first time did you contact with the organization?

– In 1980, while I was studying medicine in AncÔne, Italy. Therefore, I joined the Iranian youth supporting Islamic Revolution against Shah. I established some relations with Mujahedin Khalq since they were the only movement making news in Iran’s political scene.

– Where was their center?

– They had an office near the Medicine University “Posa Tora” and had named themselves “Muslim Students Society”.

– Haw many people were working there?

– There were only two permanent members. That was only a base to recruit forces and send them immediately to Rome or Iraq in accordance with the organizations need.

– How did you start to work for the MKO?

– At first I sold Mujahedin’s publications to Iranians who lived in AncÔne . Then they took the collected money. Since I could speak Italian fluently, they sent me to diplomatic committee in Rome, in 1984. We were settled in “Nomentania” which was not far from Iranian and Libyan embassies. I was obliged to give up my studies and dedicate myself to my mission. Our offices were in a small two floor building where we had twelve rooms, two for diplomatic committee, two for the committee responsible for distributing the publication , two for the manager and two for the service responsible for relations with Iranian students all over Italy. At night, we slept in an apartment which was named”relaxation base”.

– Did you receive any wage for your work?

– No. but if we became permanent, all our equipments including clothes would be met by the organization.

– How was the work in diplomatic committee?

– We were three people. My mission included arranging relations between the organization and Italian politic men in order to achieve their support for our own policies.

– Where did the orders come from?

– I received them from Paris through telephone, of course not from Masud’s own mouth but from a woman called "Elahe".

– In Rome, didn’t you have a responsible to organize your activities?

– No, we shouldn’t talk together about our own duties.

– What did they want you to do?

– First I had to find the most influential person in the party, then I determined different political movements. I sent the information to Paris and there they told me among these people which ones have the priority to be contacted.This way, we collected more than 700 signatures of ministers, ministers deputies etc.. .

– Give me the names.

Luigi Ciriaco De Mita one of the Democratic Christians, Bettino Craxi, general secretary of Social Democratic Party and former prime minister , Claudio Martelli, Craxi’s assistant , Nicollazi member of Social Democratic Party, Alessandro Natta of Communist Party, Enrico Berlinger Chief of Rome fraction of Communist Party, Flaminio Piccoli director of Christian Democratic Party, Emanuele Villante of Communist Party, Achille Occhetto Secretary of Communist party, Giacomo Mancini Socialist leader. I contacted all these people personally and convinced them to sign the petitions.

– How could you convince them?

– I emphasized that Mujahedin are working for peace. Besides I told each party what it was interested in. For Communists, we were seeking social justice. In Democrat Christians’ view we were supporter of Democracy. In Italy, we obtained a status where all politic men knew Mujahedin just as dissident movement against regime in Iran.

– Note some of the tactics you used to obtain these supports.

– For example, to obtain the support of Communist Party, we invited ourselves to the annual congress and tried to get a time for speech, so we used the situation and approached the most important participants.

Then with their support we could get the representatives’ rooms and contact parliament members. We acted in the same way in Senate.

– Did you use any other methods?

– We also distributed our journal "Iran Liberation", this journal included instructions for sending donations.

– What did you do with the collected sums?

– The sums were given to the financial committee of the organization in Italy. After that I didn’t have the right to know.

– How was your relation with your high ranking officials?

– Strangulating and even immoral. Every night, after saying prayers, we had to write our self – criticizing texts and give it to our responsible but he prevented us from reading books and even thinking our own thoughts.

– Why did you leave Mujahedin?

– For political reasons. Gradually, I understood that neither they defend democracy nor freedom, nor national independence. Besides I didn’t feel comfortable due to the money they gave us. We didn’t know where it came from. They claimed that they receive the money from European civilians or parties, but we knew they lied and they had special relations with Iraq. They also had some relations with terrorist organizations.

– Can you state them in details?

– In Ancône, I had married a girl who was a medicine student too. She worked in News Committee of MEK, in Rome. She was responsible for searching the press and her principal duty was seeking information on terrorism: information on Red Brigades and members of IRN in Ireland and Lebanon and etc.

– This does not prove the organization link to terrorism.

– Why do you think we did that? To fill the papers? Mujahedin got the information of the activities of these movements because of political objectives.

– Did you have other reasons for your tendency to defect from Mujahedin?

– My wife and I were worried about our security. I had realized that the MKO had called medicine students to Iraq in order to treat the allegedly injured members in the hospital. In fact, they send them to the front to fight while Iran and Iraq were fighting each other.

– Do you have any evidence for what you say?

– The students were killed. I think a boy named Mehdi was killed in such away after our departure. I didn’t know his last name but he was from Shiraz. Another person named Mehdi Ahmad Far who worked with me in diplomatic committee was killed in war, in 1987. Some individuals who saw they have been deceived, tried to return to Italy. They asked for their passport which was seized by the organization. In response, they were beaten or thrown in to the prison and then given up to Iraq Intelligence Service. They were taken to Turkey later and left without passport and money. Mujahedin even canceled their residential permission in Italy.

– I want clear names, prove or witnesses.

– This is what everybody says.

– Why did they give their passport and money to MKO?

– It was systematic. When one entered the organization, gave his passport and all his money. The passports were used to transfer other members.

– Did it happen to you and your wife?

– Yes, but when we insisted, the organization ended with returning our passports to us. However we didn’t have the right to leave the Camp, we escaped at night, in 1986.

– Why did they return your passports?

– Without doubt because we were two, so we were more powerful. Besides I worked for diplomatic committee. I had relations with influential politic men in Italy. Do you still have question?

– Just the last point. Have you ever visited Masud or Maryam Rajavi?

– No, never.

November 24, 2005 0 comments

Duplicity of the MEK nature

Democracy in Rajavi’s “Islamic Democratic Republic”

The leader of Mojahedin’s cult claims that he’s fighting with religious tyranny for the freedom of Iranian people.

Apart from MKO’s struggling method that is full of pure terrorism, “freedom” is only a word the MKO has employed to cover its ugliness.

It’s natural that the one who has ugly mind and heart tries more to use a heavier make-up to hide his ugliness.

One of MKO’s biggest lies concerns “freedom”, that’s in contradiction with the nature of the MKO. This system (MKO) itself is completely tyrannical, in which low ranking members have to obey unquestionably.

People needed several years to understand the sectarian nature of this cult and see how it uses violence to suppress the mind.

What revealed MKO’s permanent opposition to the freedom of thought and speech was a press conference on MKO-Saddam relations and the role of this group in suppressing Kurds and Shittes in 1991; this conference was held in London.

In this conference, the MKO used all its agents to prevent revelations; on this day, they forgot all their claims on “freedom” and showed their anger of disclosure of realities.

MKO agents, deployed from Netherlands and France, accused participants of being the agents of the Islamic Republic ministry of intelligence. In addition, they disrupted questioning and answering process, threatening and attacking journalists.

They even insulted the journalists, calling them Iranian agents; even, VOA’s correspondent was beaten by MKO supporters when she was leaving the place.

By such violent suppressive behavior against political opponents (during past 24 years in Europe), MKO proved that it isn’t even familiar with “freedom” and that they will leave no one alive in the case of getting to power in Iran. Their physical confrontation with reporters outside the current regime proves that they will resort to executions in their own regime.

Does it mean that the MKO, during all these years, has been trying to replace Islamic Republic with its “Modern Islamic Democratic Republic”?

Hadi Shams Haeri

November 23, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

EX-MKO MEMBER DEMANDS RAJAVI BE TRIED WITH SADDAM

“The Mujahadeen in Iraq celebrated the September 11th attacks”

Washington DC, October 25, 2005 – On the brink of the trial of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Karim Haggi Moni, chairman of the Iran Peyvand Association, introducing himself as a former member and now dissident of the Mojahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO), asserted that “we now face another form of fundamentalist ideology that has committed 100’s of terrorist acts” with the financial and political support of the former Iraqi president.

Through both his personal testimony and a ten minute video displayed during the press conference at the National Press Club earlier on Monday, Moni sought to highlight the MKO’s cooperation with Saddam Hussein and demanded that Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the MKO and his associates be tried for “their human rights violations.”

Citing his personal encounters with the MKO, Moni referenced “the system of propaganda” that Rajavi and the MKO use to mask their “terroristic ways.”

The video, which catalyzed a heated exchange between Moni and some members of the audience, included interviews with witnesses and experts on the MKO’s connection with the former Iraqi regime and outlined the MKO’s role in halting the Kurdish advance in Iraq in 1995 and the violent suppression of internal uprisings during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Referencing the video, Moni claimed that “Saddam placed more trust in the MKO than his Iraqi army” during his campaigns against Iraqi Shiites and Kurds.

Citing the “hypocrisy of the US administration”, Moni also criticized Bush administration officials for attempting to take the MKO off of the State Department’s list of international terrorist organizations despite their alleged connections with the former Iraqi regime.

“The Mujahadeen in Iraq celebrated the September 11th attacks,” Moni said, arguing that there is an attempt “to cover the Mujahadeen’s past activities.”

In an event that can only be described as chaotic, several audience members questioned the legitimacy of Moni’s sources and assertions as they interrupted and barraged him repeatedly with an array of accusations.

The heated exchange was interrupted by a brief respite that later led to the premature conclusion of the press conference

By Karim Haggi Moni , The National Iranian American Council

November 23, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

calling for adequate protection for journalists

Open Letter to the Home Secretary, The Right Honourable Charles Clarke, MP,

calling for adequate protection for journalists reporting on the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation.

Dear Mr Clarke,

I am writing to alert you again to the on-going activities of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO or PMOI) in the United Kingdom.

My wife and I head a small pressure group based in Leeds called Iran-Interlink. For the past three years we have been engaged in publishing information about the real nature of the terrorist Mojahedin organisation as a religious/personality cult, as well as exposing the Mojahedin’s abuse of its members’ fundamental human rights. In addition, we provide a point of contact for families and friends of members of the MKO, and support victims of the organisation, which include many former members.

On November 10, we held a press conference in London with the title ‘Saddam’s links with international terrorism’. The press conference showed evidence of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi’s involvement in the violent suppression of Iraqi Kurds in the Spring of 1991. Film was also shown of Rajavi taking orders from officers of Saddam’s secret services.

Massoud and Maryam Rajavi are the self-appointed, self-styled leaders of the Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation of Iran which also uses the names National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA). It has been dubbed Saddam’s private army because the MKO enjoyed the patronage of Saddam Hussein for twenty years.

We were aware that supporters of the MKO and Massoud Rajavi would try to disrupt our press conference. As a precaution, we informed the police in advance that MKO agents might possibly perform some act of violence and intimidation in order to prevent revelations about Massoud Rajavi’s war crimes in Iraq becoming public.

The police presence was vital to prevent around twelve agents of the MKO from forcing themselves into the hotel and breaking into our meeting. Thanks to the police presence, the meeting passed off peacefully and the journalists who attended were able to watch the films and listen to the speakers.

Unfortunately, in spite of the good understanding and cooperation of the police, it was not possible to prevent one incident of intimidation in which one of the reporters was attacked by an MKO agent as she left the hotel building. The reporter, the representative of Voice of America in London, is a well known personality in the Iranian community, and as an analyst on Iranian issues has been invited to speak many times on British radio and television programs. The police immediately escorted the reporter back to the building, visibly shaken by her ordeal. The police were then obliged to call for reinforcements in order to provide security for all the organisers and participants to leave the building and travel safely to their destinations. The BBC Persian Service published a report of the incident on both its website and its radio broadcasting channel, which reported that the Mojahedin’s supporters at the meeting "insulted the journalists and called them the agents of the Iranian regime". Iran-Interlink apologises to all the participants, in particular the Voice of America and BBC reporters, who suffered this abuse at while attending our press conference.

Dear Mr Clarke,

On September 26, 2005 a letter was sent to you, signed by more than eighty affected people, issuing a warning and asking for your help. The letter was titled "MKO assassination teams activated in Europe" and a copy was sent to all European Interior Ministers. On September 29, 2005, I raised the issue again in an interview with the BBC Persian Service asking for help. The letter highlighted the danger posed by an influx of Mojahedin forces into Europe in 2003 from its terrorist training camps in Iraq. These forces have the same training as Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard and therefore have the same capability of the Iraqi leader’s elite Fedayeen. These forces have now regrouped in Europe and have been recently activated to target critics of the Mojahedin and Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.

The MKO’s agents in the UK, who have been working overtly for Saddam Hussein’s services in Britain for the last two decades, are not unknown to your law enforcement agencies throughout the country. The organiser of the attempted intimidation on November 10, was Dowlat Nowrouzi, an agent of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi and member of Saddam’s private army, who is now working under the name of the National Council of Resistance of Iran from her office situated not far from your own office in Westminster.

Activities organised by terrorists linked with Saddam Hussein and based in London are not confined to this. Massoud Rajavi’s agents continue to misuse the democratic institutions of the UK, in particular the democratic traditions of both Houses of Parliament. They have launched and run websites in London under the names of National Council of Resistance http://www.ncr-iran.org/ and Iran-Focus http://www.iranfocus.com/. The purpose of these sites is to coordinate a campaign of character assassination and intimidation against anyone who criticises the MKO, in particular people who are involved in press conferences such as ours – including the professional reporters who attend – by labelling them as agents of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. The Mojahedin’s lies and slander have no limit. The names and integrity of prominent British politicians, French and British journalists and researchers and international human rights organisations have also been smeared by agents of the Mojahedin, including Dowlat Nowrouzi and her minions in the UK.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation, using the name NCRI (listed as a terrorist entity in the USA as an alias for the Mojahedin), has gone to the extent of fabricating lies under the name of Mr Win Griffiths, former Member of Parliament for Bridgend, Wales. Mr Griffiths kindly arranged for my niece to obtain a visa from the Iranian Embassy in London last year so that she could visit her father – my brother Ebrahim Khodabandeh – who is in Evin prison in Iran on charges relating to smuggling for the MKO. I believe that Mr Griffiths was at that time engaged in dialogue with the Iranians for a possible reconciliation and an amnesty for the heads of the MKO. (The Iranian government has since issued an amnesty to MKO members, but not to the leaders of the group.)

Sir,

More shocking is the presence of agents this group under the protection of Lord Corbett in the House of Lords. This gentleman, whether he is aware of it or not, has appeared in the MKO’s publications under the Mojahedin’s logo of Kalashnikov and red star an average of three times a year for the past fifteen years, apparently condoning violence against the victims of this military cult. Public opinion is no doubt shocked that on the same day as the terrible London bombings on July 7, speeches by terrorist leader Maryam Rajavi were broadcast into the heart of parliament during a meeting hosted by Lord Corbett.

Dear Mr Clarke,

The free movement of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation in London, including running an office in Westminster in direct communication with Maryam Rajavi (currently awaiting trial in France on terrorism charges), and Mohammed Sani (currently operational head of the Mojahedin’s intelligence section for Europe based in Cologne, and one of the Mojahedin’s Fedayeen who committed self-immolation following the arrest of Maryam Rajavi in Paris in June 2003), cannot be regarded as anything less than shocking.

At a time when the whole country has been following the debate on the number of days the British police will be able to detain terror suspects, I would again ask for your intervention to instigate a meaningful investigation into the activities of the known agents and terrorists linked with Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime who are active in London under whatever assumed name or logo. As was requested by the letter of September 26 this year, please take this threat seriously before it is too late.

Although I have no doubt about the amount of information already available to the law enforcement agencies of this country, I and my friends remain at your disposal for any information relating to this matter.

I should add that while we regard the leaders of this terrorist cult with abhorrence, we at Iran-Interlink regard the ordinary followers of the Rajavi’s with the kind of sympathy which must be extended to the subjects of psychological manipulation in any cult. Iran-Interlink is willing to assist victims of Rajavi’s cult who have managed to escape it.

Yours sincerely,

Massoud Khodabandeh

Iran-Interlink

November 15, 2005

November 21, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Another MKO plot to intimidate critics fails

The failure of MKO plot on November 3, 2005, in Amsterdam

On Thursday, November 3, Ms. Judith Neurink, Dutch journalist, held a press conference in Amsterdam to introduce her new book ‘Misled Martyrs’ which concerns the MKO terrorist activities.

Ms. Neurink had invited the people she wanted by e-mail and had reserved some places for other guests; she had announced that those who want to take part in the conference should give their names and addresses ahead of the event and that their ID cards would be checked so that unauthorized people wouldn’t be allowed to get in.

The Mojahedin thought that they could disrupt the conference by registering too many names and leaving no room for others but since they didn’t want their terrorist IDs and addresses to be revealed they had booked seats with forged names and this was how controllers banned them from entering the place.

Around 20 terrorism supporters (the MKO has no more supporters in Netherlands) who couldn’t get into the hall to disrupt the event stayed behind the doors for more than two hours with contempt and started insulting the participant as they were leaving the place, which reflects high levels of culture of Rajavi. The police, of course, did not ignore this [intimidation].

The MKO considers this (staying the street for more than 2 hours) a ‘victory’. Another victory is that they couldn’t disrupt the program, and the other is that the violent terrorist nature of the MKO was revealed for the Dutch participants. It is also a victory that the accuracy of Ms. Neurink’s book was proved immediately. These, are all the MKO’s victories!

Now the question is: “why does the Mojahedin always give false names and addresses?” Why do they hide behind false identities?

Doesn’t this add to the proof that they’re terrorists? If an organization is not a notorious terrorist group, why should its members hide their identities?

Members of other political groups are proud of their ideology, but the MKO members don’t want to come to the scene with their real IDs. Why do they want to move forward with fake clubs and associations?

The message of this failure for unaware members of the terrorist cult is that you should not let the cult use you as tools. If you want to fight the regime, you should join a group whose membership gives you pride and not shame.

Someday, you’ll certainly join this group’s opponents and then, you’ll be ashamed of the time when you were full of hatred and enmity.

Hadi Shams Haeri – November 10, 2005

November 21, 2005 0 comments

UK home secretary to protect journalists from MKO

UK home secretary "urged" to protect journalists from Iranian "terrorist group"

Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA website

London, 16 November: Home Secretary Charles Clarke is being urged to provide adequate protection in the UK to journalists threatened by the Iraq-based Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist group [MKO – Iranian opposition group] for reporting about their activities.

"Please take this threat seriously before it is too late," Clarke was told in a letter sent Tuesday [15 November] by Mas’ud Khodabandeh [an Iranian national], who heads British-based Iran Interlink, which provides humanitarian support and family contacts for members wishing to leave the MKO.

His appeal came after a representative of Voice of America was intimidated after attending a conference organized by Interlink last week calling for MKO leader Mas’ud Rajavi to be tried along with former Iraqi president Saddam Husayn.

"The MKO’s agents in the UK, who have been working overtly for Saddam Husayn’s services in Britain for the last two decades, are not unknown to your law enforcement agencies throughout the country," Khodabandeh told the home secretary.

Although the MKO is proscribed in the UK as a terrorist group, it operates under its so-called front group, the National Council of Resistance, frequently organizing propaganda meetings in the UK parliament.

Interlink wrote to Clarke back in September, with a copy to other EU interior ministers, warning that ‘MKO assassination teams were activated in Europe."

"Those forces have the same training as Saddam Husayn’s Republican Guards and therefore have the same capability as the Iraq leader’s Fedayeen," Khodabandeh said.

Chairing last week’s conference in London, British member of the European Parliament, Baroness Nicholson, also warned "for the sake of our citizens and for global safety" that greater attention be paid to the MKO.

Khodabandeh said that the terrorist group, which is under US protection in Iraq, had regrouped in Europe and had been reassigned to target critics.

"I would again ask for your intervention to instigate a meaningful investigation into the activities of the known agents," he told the British home secretary.

Source: IRNA website, Tehran, in English 0550 gmt 16 Nov 05

BBC Monitoring Media – 16 November 2005

November 21, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Tension in Conference on MKO-Saddam Ties

A number of former members of Mojahedin-e khalq organization, who’ve formed the “Iran-Interlink” group and act to save MKO remnants in Iraq and to reveal what they call inhumane activities of the MKO leaders, held a press conference on Wednesday (November 10) in London’s Ambassador Hotel. They wanted to give information to journalists about the relations between the MKO and Saddam Hussein and the role of this organization in suppressing Shiites and Kurds in 1991 but the meeting was disrupted with the intervention of a number of people who seemed to be MKO supporters.

These people accused the organizers of the meeting of being the agents of the Iranian intelligence ministry. In addition to disrupting the process of the meeting, they threatened and even attacked reporters.

MKO, formed 25 years ago with the purpose of overthrowing the Iranian regime through armed struggle, settled in Iraq in 1986 and attacked Iran with direct support from Saddam Hussein. Despite the fall of Saddam Hussein and the occupation of Iraq by the US, MKO members remain in one of their bases; the group is a terrorist organization in the US and Europe.

In Iran-Interlink’s press conference, first a film was shown about the suppression of Kurds and Shiites in 1991 as well as interviews with survivors, victims and Kurd journalists. In addition, former MKO members gave evidences and documents, proving that Saddam Hussein used MKO members to kill Iraqi Kurds.

Another film showed MKO members giving intelligence on Iran to Iraqi officers and receiving millions of dollars in return. The film was produced by former Iraqi secret services.

According to Massoud Khodabandeh, one of the organizers, they had received the films from Iraqi Kurds and experts had verified that authenticity of the films. In addition, the content of the tapes matched the confessions of former Iraqi intelligence agents.

Then, Alain Chevalerias, French researcher and journalist and the author of a book on the MKO spoke for the audience. Anne Singelton, former member of the MKO and author of a book on the MKO activities gave her speech. When these two authors said they were ready to answer the questions of reporters, some people among the audience started supporting the MKO and prevented journalist from questioning the former members.

These people even insulted the journalists and called them the agents of the Iranian regime. VOA correspondent was even beaten by MKO supporters when she was leaving the place and she was returned to the building under the protection of police.

These moves caused police to come to the scene and the invitees had to leave the place under police protection.

Security concerns (fear from MKO members’ violence in the meeting) forced the organizers to change time and place of the meeting and Baroness Emma Nicholson, UK representative in European Parliament, who was supposed to take part in the meeting was absent.

Although the organizers had tried to limit the event to researchers and journalists (including the correspondent of MKO TV channel), some people joined the meeting with cover names and then disrupted the event.

For instance, a man said he was working for the Congress and US security service but he was supporting the MKO and even attacked reporters.

Mehrdad Farahmand, BBC Persian Service – November 10, 2005

November 21, 2005 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Revealing Conference in London

A British institution and a number of former members of the Mojahedin-e khalq organization held a press conference in London to reveal its activities and called it a terrorist organization with inhumane internal relations.

Leeds-based Iran-Interlink institution was the main organizer of this event.

A few days ago, Iran-Interlink published a statement calling MKO leader the criminal ally of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and asked for his trial beside Saddam.

Baroness Emma Nicholson, member of European Parliament and member of House of Lords in UK supported the conference; her representative was in the conference.

Alain Chevalerias, French journalist and the author of “Burned Alive” as well as Anne Singleton, former member of the MKO and the author of “Saddam’s Private Army” and a number of other former members gave speech to the audience.

First, a documentary film on MKO-Saddam cooperation was shown. The film showed MKO’s involvement in suppressing Iraqi Kurds and their role as a private army for Saddam Hussein.

According to this documentary film, between 1991 and 2003 (the fall of Saddam), former dictator trusted the MKO rather than his own forces.

According to this film, Iraqi Kurds made no difference between Saddam regime and the MKO and Mojahedin were not allowed to commute in Kurdish regions without escort or weapons; this was because the Kurds hated the MKO.

Alain Chevalerias, French journalist and the member of institution “Research on Terrorism after 9/11”, was the first who spoke to the audience. His book “Burned Alive” in French is now being translated to Farsi and English.

“As a journalist, I decided to write this book in June 2002 when Maryam Rajavi was arrested and I saw the outcomes of that,” he said.

“At that time, a number of MKO supporters set themselves on fire and I asked myself about this organization. What’s this organization that orders its members to kill themselves only because someone has been arrested?”

“Across Europe, Iraq and Iran, I have interviewed current and former members and supporters of the MKO as well as the group’s victims and I got that this is a religious cult not a political group,” he added.

“Is the MKO a terrorist organization? The answer is simple. A group that uses weapon to get to its goals and considers it a right to kill civilian people is a terrorist group and any such activity in the world is terrorism.”

“Is it possible to use this terrorist group against undesirable regimes? Can they be trusted? This is what a part of US administration is doing, is it right?” Chevalerias asked. He replied himself as follows: “If we accept that terrorist groups like the MKO can be used against Islamic Republic, we have indeed authorized the Iranian regime to use terrorists against Western governments to reach their goals.”

“I knew many of Bin Laden’s supporters and relatives. The way they were brainwashed for suicide operations and the way they thought were very similar to those of the MKO. MKO members in Iraq were not allowed to learn Arabic language because they were not allowed to be in touch with Iraqis. They couldn’t see any TV programs except their own programs because receiving information from sources outside the MKO disrupts the process of brainwashing. There is no freedom of thought in this group. All the orders come from higher ranks and lower ranks have to obey.”

Quoting International Red Cross officials, he said: “Most of MKO members would leave the group if psychological, military and family-related pressures on them [by the group] are lifted.”

“The example of MKO deception, to show the depth of MKO influence among MKO leaders, is reflected to this organizations news reports in which they claimed that Maryam Rajavi went to French Senate by the invitation of the head of Senate. The fact was that she could go to a senate public meeting without any official invitation. At a time, she stood beside the head of senate and group’s photographer took a photo of this scene. Then, they claimed that Maryam had been invited by the head of Senate.”

Anne Singleton, former member of the MKO and the author of “Saddam’s Private Army” also spoke to the audience.

“For ten years, I was supporter of the MKO and for ten more years, I was official member of this group. It is not a political or military group, but a religious personal cult,” she said.

“I sold my house and my car for this organization and gave them my money. I was a computer programmer and I quit my job for this group and joined them.”

“I’m neither a political expert nor a university researcher. I’m only one of the victims of this organization and I like to give my experiences to others,” she added.

“I was harassed by the group and I was under pressure but in comparison with those who were tortured and killed in Abu Ghraib and other prisons, I was really lucky.”

According to Singleton, Mojahedin is a threat to the West because as a hated cult, it has no place in the future of Iran and Western countries that have given shelter to its members should be careful.

“They claim to be democratic, but no one can enter this group by his own will. This is the group that should choose and recruit its members.”

“Is it a democratic organization when it encourages its members to set themselves on fire in the streets of London and Paris?”

Singleton said: “Mojahedin try to appear different under the title of “National Council of Resistance” while everyone know that this council is only a cover for the activities of the MKO. I’m glad that unlike European countries, the US has designated both the MKO and NCRI.”

“This organization never condemned Saddam and his regime and now it’s waiting to spread its terrorist activities to all over the world in the case of facing expulsion from Iraq. The Western government should not play with MKO card in their struggle against Iran,” she said.

In the even, another film that was taken by hidden camera was shown.

The film shows Abbas Davari, one of MKO leaders, giving intelligence to Iraqi officers on how to attack Khuzestan province.

The film also features MKO members receiving dollars and Dinars from Iraqi officials. The organizers said that they had received the film from Iraqi kurds.

Karim Haghi, one of former MKO commanders living in Europe, talked about his imprisonment experience in the MKO.

“MKO had ties with Saddam against Iran. Now, it wants to have the same relations with George W. Bush and the US,” Haghi Said.

“Bin Laden is more honest than Massoud Rajavi because he expresses what he wants, but Rajavi doesn’t dare to say his ideas. He always lies to get to his ambitions.”

“I devoted myself to this organization since I was 16 but I saw nothing from the group, except crime and betrayal,” he added.

He also said that during the conference around 10 members of the MKO gathered outside the hotel and threatened the participants but the police stopped them. Three of them had entered the room and tried to disrupt the program.

20 journalists, photographers and reporters took part in the conference.

IRNA – November 12, 2005

November 21, 2005 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts