Page 909 – Nejat Society

Iraqi Kurds want Iranian opposition leader tried

Iraqi Kurds want Masud Rajavi, leader of an Iranian opposition organization based in Iraq, to be arrested and tried, Radio Farda reported on 20 October. Rajavi’s group, the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MEK), settled in Iraq in the 1980s, where it received assistance from and cooperated with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The Kurds say they want Rajavi to be tried because of the role his organization played in their repression by the Hussein regime.

Mohammad Tofiq Rahim, an official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said in an interview with Radio Farda that his organization has documentary evidence of Rajavi’s role. He said that when the Kurds seized control of northern parts of Iraq with U.S. assistance at the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the MEK cooperated with the Iraqi Army in retaking control of the city of Kirkuk. In the process, he charged, hundreds of the city’s residents were killed by the MEK.

"Everyone in Iraqi Kurdistan knows that Masud Rajavi cooperated with the Mukhaberat [intelligence] and security forces of Saddam Hussein not only in the suppression of the Kurds, but all the opponents of the regime of Saddam," Rahim added.

Radio Free Europe – By Bill Samii – 10.29.2005

November 16, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Geldof leaves Iran demo over terror list

BOB GELDOF walked away from a demonstration on Iran after hearing that one of the groups involved was on the UN’s terrorist list.

He was due to speak to a crowd gathered in Brussels where the EU’s Foreign Ministers were meeting and discussing growing concerns about the regime

The Live Aid organiser was on his way to Africa and stopped off in Belgium to address the gathering of Iranians against the current government

But he left after hearing that one of the group’s associated with the event, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), was on the terror list

There were banners demanding the PMOI be taken off the terror list, calling the recently elected president an assassin and describing Iran regime as terrorist.

Geldof, billed to speak for 25 minutes, did not appear to know the PMOI was a proscribed organisation

"I would not have anything to do with it if they are on the terror-list. We checked it out before we came," he said

But after speaking to the organisers, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), he walked away

The former member of the Boomtown Rats told the media he believed the Iranian government should be referred to the Security Council of the United Nations

"I do not know enough about the Iranian situation and I am not trying to become an expert but it’s a dangerous situation and we do not need more wars in that region", he said

Organisers of the rally were upset at his decision not to address the crowd of about 500 and said the PMOI should not be on the terror list

The organisation was condemned by a New York-based Human Rights Watch recently

The Irish Examiner, November 8, 2005

By Ann Cahill, Europe Correspondent

November 16, 2005 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraqis, Victims of MKO Crimes

Mr. Borhan Alimardan, the head of Workers’ Union in Iraqi province of Kirkuk, said: “I and my family are the victims of Mojahedin-e khalq’s terrorist activities”.

Mr. Aliamrdan, who’s visiting Iran with an Iraqi group, said in a meeting with MKO terrorist activities’ victims that he and his family were also the victims of crimes by this group, so that the wounds on his body are still evident.

In the meeting, he and Ms. Sanad Sham’un, the chairwoman of Women’s Department in Workers’ Union, sympathized with other victims and expressed their hate for terrorist activities of this cult. “We know this group well. Under the protection of Iraqi Baath regime and Saddam Hussein, they committed numerous crimes against Iraqis so that many in northern and southern Iraq were killed and wounded by this group.”

This Iraqi group asked Iraqi government and international community to expel terrorist MKO from Iraq.

Ashena Radio

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Iraq

Iraqi Law Includes MKO

“Anti-Terrorism law, due to be executed from next week in Iraq, includes the Mojahedin-e khalq organization,” said Iraqi deputy prime minister.

Radio Free Iraq, quoting Ahmed Chalabi, said: “From now on, we don’t allow this group to make problems for our neighbor Iran from Iraqi soil. We are going to stop this group.”

“According to Iraq’s anti-terror law, armed groups and organizations listed as terrorist won’t be allowed to use the soil of this country,” he stressed.

“Iraq won’t be a base for armed groups that want to harm our neighbors,” he declared.

IRNA

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraq Should Tackle Foreign Militants

In an interview with London’s Financial Times, Ahmed Chalabi, Iraqi deputy prime minister, said: “Iraq acknowledged Iran’s “legitimate concern” about the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an armed Iranian opposition group under US protection in Iraq under what he called “murky circumstances”.

“We should enforce the article in our constitution that Iraq should not be a transit point or base for destabilising neighbours,” he said.

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Iran Interlink

Iran Interlink Demands Indictment of MEK’s Rajavi

Iran Interlink Demands Indictment of Mojahedin-e Khalq’s Massoud Rajavi

The trial of Saddam Hussein has begun. His toppled regime actively supported international terrorism and Iran’s Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) group – led by Saddam’s closest ally, Massoud Rajavi – was at the top of the terrorist list.

In a press conference on Thursday November 10 – at The Ambassador’s Hotel in Bloomsbury, pressure group Iran Interlink demanded that Massoud Rajavi joins Saddam in being brought to justice.

The conference started with a documentary film showing Massoud Rajavi as he briefed his forces on their mission, along with eye witness accounts of the Mojahedin’s offensives against civilian Kurdish populations in the Spring of 1991. The documentary revealed that the Mojahedin, acting as Saddam’s private army, played a decisive role in the suppression of the 1991 internal uprisings in Iraq, and is responsible for the massacre of many Iraqi Kurds who opposed Saddam.

Following the film, French journalist and researcher on terrorism, Alain Chevalerias, spoke about the terrorist nature of Massoud Rajavi’s Mojahedin organisation. Chevalerias – whose book ‘Burned Alive’ charts the psychological manipulation exerted on MKO members which resulted in several members setting fire to themselves in Paris and London in June 2003 – gave a clear definition of terrorism for the audience and said that groups which attack civilian populations in countries of which the west is critical must be viewed in the same way as the terrorists who target western populations.

Anne Singleton, author of ‘Saddam’s Private Army – how Rajavi changed Iran’s Mojahedin from Armed Revolutionaries into an armed cult’, spoke about the cult nature of the Mojahedin. It is not a political organisation, nor is it a military organisation, it is a cult, said Ms Singleton. Worse than this, it is a terrorist cult. Ms Singleton spent over fifteen years in close proximity to the cult and spent three years full time with them. Ms Singleton pointed out that neither the Mojahedin organisation, nor its leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, have ever publicly condemned Saddam Hussein or his crimes, and have never publicly renounced violence as a means to achieve their aims.

Ms Singleton asserted that the Mojahedin, because it is a cult, can play no part in the political future of Iran. Moreover, now that its forces – with the exception of the people in Camp Ashraf in Iraq – are based in western countries, the Mojahedin no longer presents a threat to Iran. Rather, when its forces set fire to themselves in the streets of western cities, this organisation has now become a problem for the people of those countries.

The speakers were followed by video evidence secretly filmed by Saddam’s own security services depicting the financial, spying and terrorist relationship between the Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation and Saddam’s regime.

The conclusion of the press conference was that not only was each and every military and terrorist operation carried out by the Mojahedin in Iran ordered directly by Saddam Hussein and his intelligence and secret services in Iraq, but that as it faces greater and greater rejection from western governments, the Mojahedin will inevitably return to the side of Saddam Hussein. In this respect, it is possible that they are already participating in the insurgency in Iraq as well as planning terrorist activities in the west.

At the end of the press conference, a Question and Answer session was held with two former members of the Mojahedin.

A three-member team of supporters of Massoud Rajavi and the Mojahedin had been admitted to the conference by Iran Interlink in order to have them watch the films and listen to the speeches. It was hoped they might be in a position to answer some of the journalists questions about the crimes of Massoud Rajavi. During the Q&A session, the team began to rant and admitted they had come with the sole aim of accusing speakers at the meeting of working with the Iranian intelligence ministry.

Massoud Khodabandeh and Karim Haghi, who were holding the Q&A session, restored order so that bona fide journalists were able to get their stories. Unfortunately, the team of Mojahedin supporters, frustrated in their efforts, then began to accuse journalists at the press conference also of being agents of the Iranian intelligence ministry.

The supporters of Massoud Rajavi were unable to answer the central accusation, or to refute or deny the evidence shown at the press conference – that Massoud Rajavi had ordered his own people, Mojahedin forces, to suppress the Kurdish uprising in 1991 as a part of Saddam Hussein’s repressive regime.

Iran Interlink repeats its demand – that Massoud Rajavi be tried alongside Saddam Hussein for war crimes, terrorism and crimes against humanity.

November 12, 2005

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Double Standards in UK Criticized

Following discussion of the controversial UK Anti-Terrorism Law by the House of Commons, a prominent Muslim figure criticized double standards of the government in approaching terrorist groups.

This law would enable British law enforcement to keep terrorist suspects under arrest for 90 days. Supporting and encouraging terrorist activities are also considered as crimes.

Some MPs have criticized the content of this law.

Massoud Shajareh, a prominent Muslim leader questioned whether UK police have double standards in approaching the issue of terrorism. Islamic Human Rights Commission, chaired by Shajareh, had earlier asked the UK government to ban a meeting by Iranian opposition group in UK parliament.

National Council of Resistance, political wing of the MKO (listed as terrorist organization in UK, U.S. and EU), held a meeting in UK parliament in which a number of MPs took part.

Shajareh told UPI: “NCRI is the political wing of the Iranian terrorist organization, the MKO which has been banned in the US and Europe. In addition, this council itself has been declared a terrorist group by the US and EU.”

“The Terrorism Act 2000 bans supporting any terrorist organization or an organization whose members have also the membership of a banned organization. The punishment for violating this law can be 10 years in prison.”

He said the police appeared negligent since it didn’t act to arrest the conductors of the meeting according to the law. He said such moves would convince Muslims that such a law has been approved only for political advantages.

“It seems that there are double standards in fighting terrorism. For instance, this question is raised as to why the police ignores the activities of NCRI and allows them to raise money but cracks down on Islamic Freedom Party,” he said.

“Do they allow Al-Qaeda, as they do an Iranian terrorist group, to hold a conference in London on the future of Iraq and Afghanistan?” he asked.

Al Quds Al Arabi

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Chalabi says Iraq must tackle foreign militants

LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Iraq must do more to stop the country being used as a base for foreign militants seeking to destabilise its neighbours, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said in comments published on Monday.

In an interview with Britain’s Financial Times, Chalabi acknowledged Iran’s "legitimate concern" about Mujahedin-e Khalq, an Iranian opposition group operating in Iraq which the United States lists as a terrorist organisation.

He said there were also concerns in Turkey over bases in northern Iraq operated by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

"We should enforce the article in our constitution that Iraq should not be a transit point or base for destabilising neighbours," Chalabi told the newspaper. "We should deal with these issues humanely and fairly, but firmly."

Turkish leaders complain the PKK has a safe-haven in the mountains of northern Iraq from where rebel commanders direct operations into Turkey.

After more than 20 years of conflict, Turkish forces have failed to completely quell the PKK’s armed campaign for home-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

On Iran, Chalabi said Tehran had agreed to study his proposal for an inquiry by British, Iranian and Iraqi representatives into recent violence in the southern city of Basra.

Chalabi said Britain raised tension in the area by accusing Iran of helping Iraq militants to plant roadside bombs which killed British troops.

He added that Iran also inflamed the situation with allegations of British backing for militant Arab separatists in south-west Iran, according to the FT report.

November 7, 2005

November 13, 2005 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Hamilton:This Is A Terrorist Organization

A few hours after expressing support for the Mojahedin-e khalq organization, Elina Åberg, member of Sweden’s Environmentalist Party, Green party (Miljöpartiet de Gröna), received severe criticisms from the political leaders in her party so that she was forced to turn 180 degrees and withdrew her comments. On Thursday morning, she said that the MKO was an active organization which “works for the freedom of people” but a few hours later she had to announce that expressing such words resulted from her being young and inexperienced. “After I talked to my colleagues in the party, I found that I had not enough knowledge on the MKO and the situation in Iran”.

Ms. Lotta Hedstrom, member of parliament and Green Party leader, also denied Åberg’s support for the MKO and said to the media that supporting the MKO is not the policy of the party. “The MKO is not suitable for overthrowing Iranian regime,” she said.

Carl B. Hamilton, member of the Parliament for the Liberal Party, also criticized Åberg’s comments and said that her comments proved her inexperience. “I was shocked. This is a terrorist organization”.

Mojahedin-e Khalq has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU, mainly because of cooperation with the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.

Elina Åberg expressed support for removing MKO from terror list but withdrew her comments very soon after receiving harsh criticism from inside and outside her party.

November 7, 2005

November 10, 2005 0 comments

USA

Guns and bombs are not speech

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The United States can designate foreign organizations as terrorist groups and bar Americans from financially backing them, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.

"Leaving the determination of whether a group is a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ to the executive branch … is both a reasonable and a constitutional way to make such determinations," Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote for a three-judge panel.

"The Constitution does not forbid Congress from requiring individuals, whether they agree with the executive branch determination or not, to refrain from furnishing material assistance to designated terrorist organizations."

The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was made in a case involving people who raised money in California for Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government since 1997.

The defendants argued the MEK was not a terrorist group and they had First Amendment rights to contribute to the group.

The court disagreed, saying contributing money was not the same as exercising a right to free speech. "Guns and bombs are not speech," Judge Kleinfeld wrote.

The 9th Circuit ruling was a rehearing of the same panel’s decision in June. Both 9th Circuit decisions overturned a district court’s dismissal of the indictment in the case.

The "Committee for Human Rights" had solicited contributions at the Los Angeles International Airport and sent them to the MEK in Turkey.

The Iranian group was formed in the 1960s to overthrow the Iranian government and was involved in taking U.S. Embassy staff in Tehran hostage in 1979. Its members, dissatisfied with the clerical government, later fled Iran, and resettled in Iraq, carrying out attacks with the backing of Saddam Hussein.

The ruling acknowledged geopolitical changes could change the perception about the MEK, but said the U.S. government should be the entity that decides.

"Defendants could be right about the MEK. But that is not for us, or for a jury in defendants’ case, to say," the decision read.

"The sometimes subtle analysis of a foreign organization’s political program to determine whether it is indeed a terrorist threat to the United States is particularly within the expertise of the State Department and the executive branch."

November 10, 2005 0 comments

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