A former high ranking member of MKO told Ashraq Alawsat in Tehran:”they do not have arms. They are only trying to maintain their organization and its doctrine and obedience to its orders which is the most important to them. They think if Camp Ashraf is closed MKO/MEK/PMOI will collapse..
… The paper said that about three thousand men live at Camp Ashraf, called Camp New Iraq by the Iraqi authorities, and over 70% of them are over fifty years old. It is not clear what can be done with them. Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to people who have recently escaped from the camp. They spoke of the terrible conditions there, and said that anyone wanting to leave was severely punished, even tortured …
“The US forces considered the idea when they were responsible for the security situation in Iraq since the US administration wanted to put them in confrontation with Iran there. But now the Iraqi government is responsible for their conditions and for Camp Ashraf,” Rubaie told Asharq Al-Awsat ..Al Rubaie stressed that “Iraq is committed to international conventions and to the American administration that it will preserve the security and wellbeing of those present in Camp Ashraf.
According to the London based Al Sharq Al Aawsat newspaper, Noori Almaliki the Iraqi prime minister said: Concerning the Mojahedin Khalq presence in Iraq he said: Under no circumstances would their presence in Iraq be acceptable. Irrespective of some speculation that this may be due to pressure from Iranians or non Iranians, I should emphasise clearly that even if Iran asks us to keep them in Iraq, we will not allow this. This is a terrorist organisation present in various lists of terrorist entities across the globe ..
An Iranian opposition group said Monday that Iraqi troops tightened their siege of a camp north of Baghdad ..The People’s Mujahedeen said Iraqi troops have prevented food and fuel from reaching Camp Ashraf for the past six days ..Iraqi national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie branded the allegations”totally baseless.”He said People’s Mujahedeen members had taken over a building belonging to the Iraqi army and were preventing soldiers from entering it.
… They never yielded to the will of the Iranian people.”He adds that this”terrorist gang”participated with Saddam in his war against its own people and in the war against the Sunnah and Shi’i in Kurdistan and the southern Iraqi cities. He goes on to say that”this gang[PMOI/MKO/MEK] is now begging the foreign forces to save them and keep them alive.”..