KUNA

France warns against”disinformation”campaign by MKO

France on Thursday issued a stern warning about what it said was a growing lobbying and disinformation campaign being carried out by the Iranian opposition group, Mujahideen Khalq, which is currently banned in this country.

The movement, which for years has sought to make implicit and explicit attacks against Iran, was for a long period headquartered outside of Paris until European Union members decided to place it on the "terrorist black list" in the EU.

Some countries have retreated from this ban but France maintains the organisation as illegal here.

"France has no contact with the Organisation of the People’s Mujahideen of Iran which is known for resorting to violence," Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal stated here.

This group has "no legal existence in France in the form of an Organisation," Nadal stressed.

He warned that the Iranian opposition movement has "a violent inspiration" and is "non-democratic" and has been criticised by several human rights groups such as "Amnesty International".

The Mujahideen Khalq carried out "sectarian practices" and refuses to renounce violence, the French official added.

"We express our greatest reservations faced with the intense lobbying and disinformation campaign being carried out" by the Iranian group, Nadal warned.

June 28, 2014 0 comment

USA

US urges Europe to help in resettlement of ex-camp Ashraf residents

Ambassador Daniel Fried, special advisor to US Secretary of State on Camp Ashraf in Iraq, is on a tour of Europe to discuss about developments concerning the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK), and the continuing dialogue with EU countries on permanent resettlement solutions for Camp Ashraf’s former residents.

During his visit to Brussels, Fried will meet with officials in the European Commission and European Parliament. Speaking at a news conference at the US embassy in Brussels Wednesdy, Fried said the US has sought to support the peaceful relocation of the residents of Camp Ashraf, first from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriyet (Liberty) and subsequently out of Iraq. "Our purpose are humanitarian and not connected with any political motives of the MeK organisation," he stressed.

Last week, the US government decided to remove MeK from its list of foreign terrorist organisations.

"We made that decision because our review of MeK’s history, and in particular absence of any confirmed acts of terrorism by the MeK for more than a decade. We did not develop amnesia for MeK’s past actions inside Iraq. MeK has a bad history inside Iraq. It has a bad history with the US dating back to the 1970’s. We have not forgotten that," said the US diplomat. "But now the attention of the US and its partners will turn to resettlement. That is why I have come to Europe this week," he said.

Fried attended a meeting of the UNHCR in Geneva on Tuesday which was devoted to the issue. A number of European countries attended the meeting. The UNHCR asked to step up and help in an extraordinary basis the resettlement of the MeK members, he said. A number of countries indicated they were willing to do so, he noted but declined to name those countries. "The Iraqi government was represented at a senior level and we applause the fact that the Iraqi government approached the matter in such a constructive spirit. They too made clear that they want to see resettlement of the people in a peaceful manner outside Iraq," Fried said. "Both the US and European countries have started a process of reviewing individuals at Camp Hurriye. There has been some progress. We have been in touch with countries outside Europe. But it is true that a great many residents at Camp Hurriye were formally residing in Europe. They have long standing ties to Europe," he said.

The US official noted that Camp Ashraf has been effectively closed and that over 3000 people have moved peacefully to Camp Hurriye near the Baghdad international airport. He explained that 200 people remain in Camp Ashraf with agreement of the Iraqi government. One hundred people were supposed to leave by end of September and the other 100 will leave pending settlement of issues such as properties. The UNHCR is interviewing them one by one and making refugee status determination, he said. "Our purpose is humanitarian and not a political act," he stressed as well as the US State Department continues to have "serious concern about the MeK as an organisation."

Asked if the MEK can play some kind of a political role in the future to resolve the Iranian crisis, he replied "they think they have a role but the United States does not think so."

Meanwhile, the Paris-based leader of MeK, Maryam Rajavi, is expected to speak at the European Parliament in Brussels today afternoon.

October 4, 2012 0 comment

Jordan

Jordan confirms rejection of building a camp for MEK to its territory

Amman – Jordan reported here today the country’s categorical rejection of a suggestion by the Iranian opposition group based in Camp Ashraf in Iraq to build a camp on Jordanian territory until they move to other countries.

A source in the Interior Ministry told Al Arab alyawm newspaper today that Jordan refused to agree the setting up of a camp "for the Iranian opposition, or any other opposition. Jordan is committed to its obligation that it should not interfere in the affairs of other countries."

The source denied that Jordan was to have any discussions with any party for the construction of an Iranian refugee camp or reception of refugees.

According to the newspaper, the Interior Ministry of Jordan was responding to a statement issued by National Council of Resistance of Iran (aka; Mojahedin Khalq, MKO, MEK, PMOI) which said that the organisation (MKO) proposed to the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not to transfer around 3000 residents from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty, near Baghdad.

They had proposed to be given residence on a temporary basis in the border area near Jordan under the supervision of the Red Cross and the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at their own expense in an area which the Red Cross and the United Nations used during the Iraq war in 2003 where tents housed tens of thousands of asylum seekers fleeing the war…

Translated by Iran Interlink

March 6, 2012 0 comment

USA

U.S. welcomes peaceful departure of Ashraf residents

The United States welcomes the peaceful departure of the first 397 residents from Camp Ashraf and joins the United Nations in welcoming their safe arrival at Camp Hurriya, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Saturday.

"The United States commends the Iraqi government for its facilitation of a secure and peaceful relocation process and its willingness to invest significant resources in that regard," she said in a statement released by the department. "The United States also commends the decision by the Ashraf residents to begin to relocate to Hurriya, where the United Nations will begin a process aimed at facilitating their eventual departure from Iraq." The United States encourages Ashraf residents to continue their cooperation with Iraqi authorities and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) as they work to complete the relocation to Hurriya, she said. The United States will continue to coordinate with UNAMI and the Iraqi government to follow the relocation process, she said. In addition to around-the-clock UN human rights monitoring, the U.S. will visit the temporary transit facility at Hurriya regularly and frequently, she said.

"The United States acknowledges and echoes the call of the United Nations for the international community to expeditiously assist the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as its work at Hurriya begins, to ensure that those recognized as refugees by UNHCR under its mandate can be safely relocated out of Iraq as quickly as possible," the statement said.

February 19, 2012 0 comment

European Union

EU welcomes first transfers from Camp Ashraf

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Saturday "very much welcomed" the news from Iraq that the first group of residents from Camp Ashraf has moved in a voluntary, orderly and peaceful manner to Camp Hurriya. EU welcomes first transfers from Camp Ashraf

"I congratulate the United Nations – in particular the Secretary General’s Special Representative Martin Kobler – for many weeks of sustained efforts to facilitate this critical first step towards a peaceful solution to the situation of Camp Ashraf," she said in a statement.

She also commended the Government of Iraq, and the Camp residents themselves, for the commitment and flexibility which enabled this first move to take place.

Ashton said she will continue discussing with EU Ministers how best the EU can continue to support a peaceful and durable solution to this humanitarian concern.

Over 30,000 Iranians belonging to the dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) are housed in the Camp near Baghdad.

February 19, 2012 0 comment

UN urges EU countries to take Camp Ashraf residents as refugees

Martin Kobler, Special representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq, on Thursday urged the EU Member States to receive the Camp Ashraf’s residents in Iraq as refugees. "My message goes to the governments of EU Member States because the final purpose of the whole exercise to move people from one camp to the other for them to undergo the refugees’ status determination is to bring them abroad, " Kobler told a press conference in Brussels this evening.

"And so far the answer of (EU) Member States to receive the Camp Ashraf’s residents as refugees, once recognised in their host country, was not that enthusiastic. And my appeal goes also to Member States, then at the end once they are refugees, to take them into their countries and to give them a live and freedom and liberty in their countries," he added. Camp Ashraf is a camp of more than 3000 exiled members of the Iranian People’s Mujahedin dissident group , which is located some 60 kilometres north of Baghdad . Camp Ashraf was until 2009 under the control of the US military, but has since been controlled by the Iraqi Government. On 25 December, the Iraqi Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding organising the transfer of the Iranian dissidents to a transit location near Baghdad Airport, Camp Liberty.

It would allow the Iranians to undergo the refugees’ status determination with the assistance of UNHCR. On his part, Hugues Mingarelli, Managing Director for the Middle East and Southern Neighbourhood in the EU, stated that the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton will continue to raise the issue with EU Member States in order to look to possibilities to relocate some of the residents of Camp Ashraf.

Ashton has called on the Iraqi government to refrain from all violence and to fully respect the human rights of the camp’s residents. Ambassador Dan Fried, US Special Advisor for Camp Ashraf told the press conference that people from Camp Ashraf need to be considered individually. "And to make determinations about any specific individual we need to know more about them and such information can be obtained only after they moved to Camp Liberty and participate in the UNHCR status determination process, " he added.

February 4, 2012 0 comment

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq to deport Mujahideen Khalq by year end

The Iraqi government has decided to deport the Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) by end of this year, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said Monday.

The government reaffirms a previous commitment to deport MKO members, who are based on the New Iraq Camp, by end of this year, he said in a statement.

The government "underscores importance of getting MKO out of the Iraqi territories by all means, including political and diplomatic, and in cooperation with the UN and international organizations, while taking into consideration wishes of MKO members to select the country they wish to live in, " said Dabbagh.

Dabbagh made the remarks after security forces guarding Ashraf Camp, which houses MKO, were exposed to stones’ attack from inside the camp injuring five of them.

The Iraqi government warned MKO against illegal actions.

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani briefed ambassadors of the European Union, Russia and Turkey Iraq’s position vis-a-vis MKO.

April 13, 2011 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO attempted hijacking aimed to overshadow Hariri visit failed

Thwart attempted hijack of Iranian aircraft -diplomat

Iranian security personnel have thwarted today an attempt for hijacking an aircraft that was heading from Tehran to Damascus and was carried out by one of the elements of Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), a diplomatic Iranian source said here Saturday. The same source said in a statement to Syrian news station (SNS) that the perpetrator of such attack was an Iranian citizen belonging to the Iranian opposition MKO, noting that the attacker was mentally unstable and was currently under investigations. Syrian security authorities in Damascus International Airport were handed over the Iranian citizen — who was equipped with a knife — from the security personnel on the Iranian aircraft following its safe landing without the falling of any incident. Syrian authorities started to cross-examine the suspect to know his motives after he claimed that he planted a bomb in the aircraft and that he intends to hijack it.

However, the guards on the aircraft managed to detain the man after it became clear that is lying and following their accurate search of the aircraft. The Iranian source refused to say whether the purported attacker was returned back or he is still on Syrian territories, asserting that the aircraft — which is operated by the Iranian Airways (Iran Air) — was searched by concerned bodies, then return to Tehran without detecting any explosives on it.MKO is engaged in a conflict with the Iranian government since the former was established in 1965 when it targeted first to topple Shah’s regime, then aimed its sight at the Islamic government which took the helm later, though the outfit was ousted from Iran at the beginning of 1980s, but the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein allowed it to stay in Iraq, provided support for it, and so its elements established a base in Ashraf camp near to Iraqi-Iranian borders.

Kuwait News Agency (Kuna), 27 November 2010

IRGC Official: Attempted Hijack of Iranian Flight Carried out to Overshadow Hariri’s Visit

Fars News, November 28,2010
A senior official of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that enemies’ failed attempt to hijack the Friday night flight from Tehran to Damascus was aimed at overshadowing the landmark visit to Iran by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Pointing to President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon last month and Hariri’s reciprocal visit to Tehran, head of the IRGC public relations office General Ramazan Sharif said, "The US and Zionist regime of Israel’s officials were seeking to initiate a media campaign (against Iran and Lebanon) through the MKO (anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization) in a bid to overshadow the two visits."
"Since this is a blatant act of terrorism, few people may accept the risk to carry out such an action unless it yields huge interest," the official noted.
The act by MKO members came at a time when the European Union has asked the US to take the MKO off its terror list.
On Saturday, the IRGC announced that the individual who tried to hijack an Iranian plane en route to Damascus on Friday night was an affiliate of anti-revolutionary groups.
Earlier, FNA reported that Iranian security forces had foiled an attempted hijack of a plane bound for the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The plane en route from Tehran to Damascus landed safely at the Syrian capital’s airport after the man threatening to hijack the airliner was arrested by the security personnel on board.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament issued a declaration on Thursday, urging the removal of the MKO from Washington’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The European Union took the MKO off its black list in 2009.
Also efforts in the House of Representatives to press the Obama Administration to remove the group from the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations have accelerated in the past week.
The group started assassination of Iranian citizens and officials after the Islamic Revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.
Many of the MKO members have abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.
Numerous articles and letters posted on the Internet by family members of MKO recruits confirm reports of the horrific abuse that the group inflicts on its own members and the alluring recruitment methods it uses.
The most shocking of such stories includes accounts given by former British MKO member Ann Singleton and Mustafa Mohammadi — the father of an Iranian-Canadian girl who was drawn into the group during an MKO recruitment campaign in Canada.
Mohammadi recounts his desperate efforts to contact his daughter, who disappeared several years ago – a result of what the MKO called a ‘two-month tour’ of Camp Ashraf for teenagers.
He also explains how the group forces the families of its recruits to take part in pro-MKO demonstrations in the western countries by threatening to kill their loved ones.
Lacking a foothold in Iran, the terrorist group recruits ill-informed teens from Iranian immigrant communities in western states and blocks their departure afterwards.

November 29, 2010 0 comment

Iraq

We Oppose MKO’s Presence in Iraq

The head of Iraq’s SCIRI described the Mujahidi Khalq organization as an “illegitimate and unconstitutional one.”

The leader of the Iraqi Ruling Parliamentary Majority Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim told KUNA in an interview that Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi public were determined to maintain good relations with Kuwait. He said Kuwait and the Iraqi opposition forces were on the same side against the former regime. He cautioned against a civil war spearheaded by the takfiris (those who treat their political opponents as infidels to the Islamic faith) and the Saddamists (those loyal to the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein). He said he, “and many Iraqis,” shared the same concerns as US President George W. Bush over the risks of political disintegration in Iraq as a result of continued terrorist attacks. But he said the ruling majority was doing its best to avoid civil war. He said that the issue of turning Iraq into a confederacy would be dealt with at the upcoming session of the National Assembly. He declined to delve into the outcome and make-up of any possible cabinet reshuffle.

Turning to the issue of any shortcomings in the current government led by Nouri Al-Maliki, he said he could not confirm or deny any report of shortcomings in the services sector. He praised the current trial of Saddam Hussein over the Al-Anfal massacres of Iraqi Kurds. “This trial is one of the best in the world in so far as its standards of fairness are concerned,” he said.

On the issue of the dialogue called for by the ruling majority between the US and Iran over Iraq, he said that the call was made and it was unfortunate that the dialogue did not materialize so far.

He described the Mujahidi Khalq organization as an “illegitimate and unconstitutional one.”

KUNA – 2006/08/24

August 17, 2006 0 comment