Envoy says Mojahedin Khalq leaders must be extradited to Iran
Baghdad,Those Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) leaders who masterminded terror operations inside Iran must be extradited to the country to stand trial, Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazemi Qomi has said.
Iran has presented Iraqi officials a list of the MKO leaders who must be handed over to the country, he told the Mehr News Agency.
MKO members immigrated to Iraq in the 1980s and fought alongside Iraqi forces against Iran in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
The ambassador also said, “The Iraqi government has been serious about expelling the terrorist organization members.”
Kazemi Qomi noted that Baghdad has officially informed the MKO members that they “can not choose” between staying or leaving the country, warning that they will be expelled from Iraq.
There are reports that 1,031 MKO members have so far decided to leave Iraq either by acquiring citizenship or by obtaining passport and so they will leave the country or those countries that have granted them citizenship will have to take them out of the Iraqi soil, he pointed out.
The MKO has claimed responsibility for carrying out numerous terror attacks against Iranian nationals and officials, and has also been accused of assisting former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi civilians in the 1990s.
http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=834384
Mehr News Agency
TEHRAN, June 18 (MNA) – Iraq is seeking to expel the Mujahedeen Khalq Organization, the largest armed Iranian dissident group for interfering in Iraq’s domestic affairs and inciting terror acts against the Iraqi nation.
“Baghdad regards the MKO as Saddam’s accomplice” and is opposed to its presence in Iraq, an informed official who requested anonymity told the ISNA news agency.
The MKO was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the country’s revolution but soon launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran.
The group, supported by Saddam Hussein’s regime, moved to Iraq in the early 1980s where it fought Iran’s new ruling system until the U.S.-led invasion against Iraq in 2003.
“The Iranian government has repeatedly called on Iraq to prevent the activities of Iranian dissident groups and the MKO is among them,” said the official.
“The MKO has also got tired of the so-called U.S. supports and is seeking to leave Iraq… its case is now being pursued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,” he added.
The Iraqi administration on Tuesday issued a statement designating the MKO as a terrorist organization and calling on the U.S. to stop supporting the militant group, London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh as saying.
“The cabinet decided to ban any dealings with this organization by any Iraqi or foreign individual, organization or party,” the statement said on Tuesday.
It also warned that those who violate the order will face charges under the anti-terror law.
Baghdad is determined to fully monitor the MKO’s activities until its full expulsion from the country, al-Dabbagh added.
Mehr News, June 18, 2008
http://mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=702005
TEHRAN, Jan. 12 (MNA) — In a letter released on Saturday, Iran’s Union of Islamic Students Association (UISA) in Europe has thanked the European Union for its decision to keep the terrorist Mojahedin Kalq Organization (MKO) on the blacklist of terrorist organizations.
The letter, a copy of which provided to Mehr News Agency, is addressed to Francisco Javier Solana Madariaga, the European Union foreign policy chief, EU countries, and members of the European Parliament.
“We would like to convey our seasonal greetings on the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, a messenger much revered by both Christians and Muslims who is a propagator of peace and unity for both our Abrahamic religions. Furthermore we wish you all a great start to 2008 and a blessed year to come. We hope that 2008 bears witness to substantial strides towards strengthening worldwide peace via measures taken by influential international bodies.
“The recent decision by the EU to preserve the MKO on its terrorist organization blacklist, which demonstrates the intellectual and humane standards of this Union, is a move fully appreciated by the UISA, the most reputable Iranian student body within Europe.
"The 28 year old history of the Islamic revolution in Iran is tainted by the violent victimization of a sovereign nation via organized terrorist factions aiming to inflict an immobilizing blow to the dignity and morale of the Iranian people. Through a doctrine of fear and assassination such terror attacks have claimed the lives of some of the greatest and most admirable people of this nation, from religious scholars to university lecturers and from distinguished public servants elected by the people to ordinary members of society pursuing their daily lives. The use of highly sophisticated weapons including chemical armaments in assaulting the peaceful people of Iran is so horrifying in nature that the bitter memory of these losses will forever be engrained in the minds of every Iranian.
“One must ask why a unique democratic movement such as the Iranian revolution has been the target of a continuous wave of organized terrorist attacks for the past 28 years. Hitherto the query of how these terrorist groups are supported both speculatively and financially for their inhumane conduct still remains unanswered for the Iranian nation.
“We believe that, in concordance with section 3 of resolution 1483 issued by the United Nations (approved in the 4761 UN general session, on May 22, 2003), it is time for the leaders of MKO — which is an inherently criminal group — to be prosecuted in international courts for cooperating with the Ba’thist regime and performing criminal acts against the two oppressed nations of Iran and Iraq. Furthermore, we express our gratitude towards the EU for their appropriate stance on the enforcement of this ruling across all the European countries so that none of the members of this terrorist group are authorized to seek refuge anywhere within Europe and exert their inhumane terrorist acts.
“Considering the aforesaid group is known as one of the most abhorrent terrorist groups by the Iranian nation, undoubtedly any strides from the respected union to prevent their terrorist activities can be alleged as an evident support of conforming the human rights, human dignity, and admiration at the threshold of honoring the sixtieth anniversary of the issuance of the worlds human right manifesto which with no doubt resides in peoples minds as a worthwhile memento.
“Since a court in the United Kingdom has recently eradicated this criminal terrorist group from the terrorist blacklist, it has offended the Iranians public opinion as the rights of hundreds of innocent people who were martyred by this group is neglected.”
The statement says that the union is expected to make arrangements to have the British government respecting the decision made by the EU in order to include and preserve the MKO on its terrorist organization blacklist.
“Ultimately we would like to once more express our greetings for the arrival of the New Year and inform you that as Iranian students abroad we appreciate your prudent and judicious decisions and will reflect your positive conducts to the Iranian nation. We hope that the collective efforts of politicians, parliamentary representatives, and intellectuals amount to the obliteration of terrorism in all shapes and forms resulting in a state of harmony and global security. Surely even the smallest stride towards this humanitarian goal is in itself a significant achievement and shall leave behind a distinguished mark on the pathway to international safekeeping.”
According to Mehr News Agency, Iran has rejected alligations made by Proscribed Terrorist cult, Mojahedin Khaq Organisation (aka: National Council of Resistance) that Iran is constructing a secret underground nuclear facility. according to Mr. Javad Vaidi, deputy chief for international relations of the Supreme National Security Council, the repetition of the base less lies by Associated Press (AP) broadcasted at the same time as the start of negotiations of permenant security council members in New York is no more than a failed attempt to disturb the positive atmosphere created by the cooporation between Iran and the Atomic Energy watchdog IAEA.
Link to full report by MEHR NEWS (Persian)
http://iran-interlink.org/fa/?mod=view&id=3243
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Press TV also reported the story:
MKO fueling Iran-West tension
Press TV, September 28, 2007
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=24867§ionid=351020104
The terrorist group MKO has alleged that Iran is constructing a secret underground nuclear facility for military purposes in central Iran.
The group claimed on Thursday that the new underground military facility is located near the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
The MKO made the allegations at a news conference in Paris and said it has passed its information, which it claims came from sources inside Iran, to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, but has so far not received a response.
The group gave no evidence to back up its claims.
The People’s Mujahadeen Organization of Iran (MKO) has long been placed on Washington’s and the European Union’s lists of terrorist organizations. It is accused of assisting Saddam in the massacre of thousands of innocent Iraqis, as well as carrying out countless terrorist attacks inside Iran
In his weekly press conference and in response to question "whether he believed Interpol’s decision to pursue MKO leaders was a positive outcome of Baghdad talks?", Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Seyed Mohammed Ali Husseini said:
"This is not new. The order was released in 2006 and it was renewed this year like other orders".
Mehr News – 2007/09/04
As the Interpol issued arrested warrant for the members of MKO by the request of Iraqi government, Iraqi people are also increasingly calling for detention of these people
Iraqi newspaper al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah wrote: "The Organization for Protection of Iraqis’ Rights" asked the Iraqi government to bring the leaders of terrorist MKO to justice. Stressing the fact that terrorist MKO had been involved in killing more than 780 Iraqi citizens, the organization also asked the families of the victims to file a complain in special court."
The Iraqi newspaper also reported that the Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, the leaders of the terrorist MKO. The Interpol has accordingly sent the warrant to all its offices around the world.
"Iraqi government delivered documents and evidences on MKO’s involvement in killing Iraqis during 1991 uprising to the court that’s trying former Iraqi authorities."
Meanwhile, a number of Iraqi newspapers had reported of some MKO leaders’ escape to Jordan due to fears of being arrested and tried.
Last week, the prosecutor of Iraqi High Court Jafar al-Mousawi, said in an interview with Mehr News that arrest warrant had been issued for 150 MKO members including Massoud and Maryam Rajavi and that they would be prosecuted.
On the reasons of issuing ruling against the members of terrorist MKO, he said: "The fact is that Iraqi High Court pursues criminals and takes them to justice even if they are out of the country, there would be measures taken to bring them back; for instance, their hosting countries would be asked to extradite them to Iraq."
Also, on the documents proving MKO’s involvement in crimes, he added: "We investigated about the crimes of the former regime that had been done with the assistance of other groups. During the process, we found documents that proved MKO’s involvement in the inhumane crimes during 1991 uprising in northern and southern Iraq."
Mehr News Agency- 2007/08/22
Solidarity convention against terrorism was held in the city of Mashhad and was joined by Iranian as well as Iraqi judiciary officials and the families of terror victims.
In an interview with Mehr News in Mashhad, Habilian Association’s Executive Director, Mohammed Sanavi said: "The convention was mainly aimed at discussing the issue of terrorism in Iran and Iraq, providing solutions for this phenomenon, exposing the crimes of terrorist MKO and revealing the involvement of MKO leaders in Saddam’s atrocities against Shiites and Sunnis."
"More than 40 Iraqi authorities and officials, including three university professors, five attorneys and two judges, joined the convention."
"At the end of the convention, participants signed a petition praising Jafar al-Mousawi’s serious reaction to the trial of MKO; they also showed their hatred towards terrorist activities of the occupiers in Iraq," he said.
The chief prosecutor of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal (ISCT), Jaafar al-Mousavi, has said there is evidence to suggest that terrorist Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) had a hand in murdering Iraqi citizens.
About 150 MKO members, including the ringleaders Maryam and Mas’oud Rajavis, are currently under arrest warrant, al-Mousavi told the Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.
“The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunals will prosecute and put into trial criminals all over the world,” al-Mousavi stated, adding that in case such criminals have left Iraq, their countries of residence will be asked to hand them over to Iraqi courts.
"We have made probes into crimes that the former regime committed with cooperation of various groups, and during the investigations we have collected documents that prove the complicity of Mojahedin-e-Khalq in inhumane actions in southern and northern Iraq in 1991, the so-called Sha baniyyah Revolution,” he noted.
“The crimes fall into two categories, the first is about murder, torture and (illegal) detentions,” he said, adding there are documents that prove the terrorist organization was involved in the murder, torture, and detention of Iraqi national in the Iraqi Kurdistan.
The second category includes the waste of Iraqi national wealth, al-Mousavi said.
The MKO was a complicit in wasting the Iraqi wealth and they even had a share in the Iraqi oil, he explained.
The SICT bases it work on UN Security Council Resolution 1483, he said, explaining that the resolution, which came into force on May 22, 2003, emphasizes that all those who committed crimes in the Baathist regime should be brought to justice, al-Mousavi explained.
The MKO was founded by Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saied Mohsen and Ali-Asghar Badizadegan in Tehran in 1965. It is blamed for carrying several terrorist attacks against Iranian citizens.
The organization transferred its headquarters to Iraq in 1986. The organization received all of its military support and most of its financial assistance from Saddam’s regime until the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Near the end of the 1980-1988 war with Iran, Baghdad armed the group with military equipment and sent it into action against Iranian forces.
The Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal is a body established under Iraqi national law to try Iraqi nationals or residents accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other serious crimes committed between 1968 and 2003. It has organized the trial of Saddam Hussein and other members of his Baath Party regime.
Mehr News Agency – 2007/08/16
Police spokesman in Karbala announced that police forces in the province have arrested 3 men in connection with MEK who carried documents on political and religious figures of Karbala.
According to AFP, Rahman Mashavi, police spokesman in Karbala, said that they were arrested after police received intelligence on their entrance to the city in Al-Husseinieh area, 20 Km north of the city.
The spokesman didn’t reveal the identity of these three men. "Searching the detainees, police found documents on Karbala’s political and religious figures; the documents relate them to the group of Mojahedin-e khalq," he added.
Mashavi said: "The three are being interrogated in order for identifying their supporters."
According to the report, Iraqi government has accused the MEK of interfering in Iraq’s internal affairs and has asked its members to either return to Iran or to another country
http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=521615
Neocon impulses of Bush administration have largely evaporated
TEHRAN, May 25 (MNA) — Diplomats from Iran and the United States are scheduled to meet in Baghdad on May 28 to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. It is the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that officials from Iran and the U.S. will be meeting face to face.
Even though Iranian and U.S. officials have stated that the security situation in Iraq is the only topic on the agenda of the talks, some analysts say that the meeting provides a good opportunity to discuss other differences between the two countries, particularly the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Bahram Rajaee, the director of international and external relations for the American Political Science Association, told the Mehr News Agency in an interview on Tuesday that he believes the most important goal of the planned talks between Iran and the U.S. should be to “establish a direct avenue of communication regarding regional affairs.”
Following is the text of the interview:
Q: What do you think of the planned Iran-U.S. negotiations on Iraq? Do you think the negotiations will only focus on Iraq or will the discussion be expanded to include other subjects as well?
Rajaee: Given that the security situation in Iraq has deteriorated markedly since 2003, I believe U.S.-Iran talks on Iraq are long overdue. The Bush administration is facing increasing domestic pressure to demonstrate it can demonstrate progress, and engaging Iraq’s neighbors such as Iran in a bid to tamp down the violence in Iraq is one way of doing so. From my perspective, it is highly likely that the talks will focus heavily on Iraq. Officials from both governments have already said that this will be their focus, and this is probably a good thing as dragging other issues into the process now may be premature and serve to undermine mutual confidence. I believe the most important goal, aside from working to reduce instability in Iraq, is for the U.S. and Iran to establish a direct avenue of communication regarding regional affairs.
Q: What points will be discussed in the negotiations?
Rajaee: Most likely, the immediate points of discussion will be Iran’s alleged support for various Shia militias, or alleged ties to other insurgent groups, and its intelligence/counterintelligence/military operations presence on the ground. In addition, Iran’s intentions regarding Iraq’s future government will also likely come into play. For its part, Iran will likely question the duration of the U.S. presence in its neighbor, allegations of U.S./Israeli cross-border operations into Iran, U.S. intentions regarding the Iraqi Shia, and the future of the MEK (the terrorist group Mojahedin Khalq).
Q: Some analysts argue that moderates in the Bush administration are winning over the dwindling ranks of neoconservatives. What is your view?
Rajaee: I agree that it is abundantly clear the “neoconservative” impulses of the Bush administration have largely evaporated under the costs of their own actions and heavy domestic political opposition. Even if this worldview were still in place, virtually the entire political universe around the president has shifted since 2003 in a way that makes acting on this perspective nearly impossible. Simply put, the American public and most American politicians have come to realize the very heavy costs the president’s ideology has imposed on them — with no end in sight. The case of Iran is one instance where this shift is gradually becoming apparent, but North Korea is another. In both cases, while there is still significant pressure to use greater force, the administration has opted for a diplomatic path for now. Again, this may well be more a belated recognition of their political inability to achieve their goals than a true shift in perspective, but nevertheless this is the political reality of Washington today.
Q: What do you think of the combined influence of Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on the Iran-U.S. dialogue?
Rajaee: I think the roles of these individuals in the process of adopting a different approach to U.S. foreign policy is instrumental, but I would draw a clear distinction between Sec. Rice and Sec. Gates. Rice has been part of George W. Bush’s inner policy making circle since 1999/2000 and was intimately involved in the post-9/11 response as well as the planning and execution of the Iraq war. She also apparently shares the president’s predilection for viewing the world in black-white terms (“good vs. evil”) and even as she has chosen or been forced into being more of a diplomat recently, she will not be able to escape this past. However, I understand that she is increasingly relying on experienced senior advisors in the State Department (such as Nick Burns) who arguably favor diplomacy over the use of force regarding Iran — but tough diplomacy that aims to achieve U.S. objectives.
Robert Gates has a quite different background and arguably his entry into the administration — and the departure of Rumsfeld — was a huge turning point and major step in the erosion of the neoconservative hold on U.S. foreign policy. He is a well-known pragmatist and moderate. I think his ability to encourage more flexible approaches in both Bush and Rice will serve the U.S. well — both in these upcoming talks with Iran as well as larger deliberations on U.S. regional policy.
Mehr News, May 25, 2007
http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=492100