blogs%WP_TITLE_SEP%Los Angeles Times

U.S. plans to move Iranian exile group out of Iraq hit snag

a State Department official told Congress on Wednesday that the group’s[MKO/MEK/PMOI] leadership was not cooperating in the departures, despite the risks to the members’ lives in Iraq.Beth Jones, acting assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs, told a House foreign Affairs subcommittee that although U.S. officials have worked hard to persuade the group’s leadership to cooperate in the departures,”very few have been allowed to move.”

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The hypocrisy of American bluster toward Iran

… Ros-Lehtinen also supports the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a group by the State Department as a foreign terrorist group. Leading up to the Iraq war, in October 2002, Ros-Lehtinen circulated a letter in Congress expressing support for the MEK. She continues her support…A U.S. representative who accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism has a track record of supporting terrorists herself

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LA Times : Iraq says raid on militant group’s camp wasn’t Iran’s idea

The Iraqi government refuted suggestions today that Iranian pressure had prompted a raid on a camp belonging to an Iranian opposition group, saying that Iraqi security forces are merely seeking to extend sovereignty over all Iraqi territory…The Mujahedin Khalq (MEK), a militant group that has long opposed the Iranian government, claimed that seven of its members died in clashes with Iraqi security forces after Iraqi police attempted to

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Seven plead guilty to raising funds for Terrorist MKO

Members of a group that for the last few years has sought donations from travelers at LAX on behalf of what they said was an Iraqi-based charity pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization[PMOI/MKO/MEK/NCR]. In a plea agreement that came just as a jury was being selected for trial, the seven defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and one count of actually providing material support to the group.

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Europe may find itself providing refuge for MKO Terrorists

The European Union on Monday announced the removal of a high-profile Iranian opposition group from its list of terrorists, a victory for a movement that European governments have described as a dangerous sect and prosecuted on terrorism charges…Analysts said European leaders probably acted out of diplomatic expediency because of the impending expulsion from Iraq of nearly 3,000 members of the opposition group’s military wing, who once fought against their homeland on behalf of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

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The UK adopts a cautious approach in de-proscription of MKO

The case involves the People’s Mujahedin, also known as the Mujahedin Khalq, which over the years has carried out bombings, assassinations and cross-border attacks aimed at unseating Iran’s government. The group maintains that it has abandoned violence and is working to promote democratic transition, but it says it cannot effectively carry out its political activities when it is banned

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Financing terrorists is not about speech

Under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, it’s a crime to knowingly provide material support to an organization that appears on the State Department’s list. The defendants in the Los Angeles case are accused of soliciting donations for MEK/PMOI in Los Angeles and of wiring at least several hundred thousand dollars to an MEK bank account in Turkey.

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High Court Denies MKO’s Appeal

The Supreme Court refused Monday to block the trial of seven Los Angeles residents charged with raising money for an Iranian opposition group that was designated a”foreign terrorist organization”by the U.S. government. Lawyers for the seven had argued the charges were unconstitutional because they had a free-speech right to raise money for a political group. …

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