blogs%WP_TITLE_SEP%The Time

The late Iraqi dictator did kill many thousands of people—but very few were terrorists

thousands of terrorists called Iraq home, and their organizations had the blood of Israelis, Turks, Iranians and Europeans from numerous countries on their hands. Among the killers were members of the Palestine Liberation Front, the Arab Liberation Front, the Kurdish PKK, the Iranian Mujahidin e-Khalq and the Abu Nidal Organization. Saddam promised to pay the families of suicide bombers …

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Could the MEK be evicted from Camp Ashraf?

… Although the camp was disarmed in 2003 by the U.S. military, both Baghdad and Washington consider the MEK aka MKO/PMOIa terrorist organization. Washington has blacklisted the group for its attacks against U.S. interests in the 1970s and ’80s. Iraqi officials have frequently said the Iranian exiles are”illegal aliens”with no legal right to remain in the country and that they must travel to either Iran or another country. They have repeatedly warned that they will close the camp, which was under U.S. military protection until 2009,..

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In Iran Crisis, Paris Exile Group Plays Disputed Role

the reality described by Iran experts. Diplomats, academics and intelligence officials say most people inside Iran want nothing to do with the NCRI or its primary member organization, Mujehadine-e-Khalq (MEK) — whose bloody attacks on the Iranian regime in the 1980s and ’90s landed it on the U.S.’s terrorism list. Experts say the NCRI’s support in Iran is now tiny and its international base is shrinking. ..”..the supporters in [Iran] … have all mostly vanished,”says Olivier Roy

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An Anti-Iranian Enclave in Iraq Fights to Stay

Most of the time there’s nobody outside Camp Ashraf to hear the members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), ..the Iraqi government has made it clear it’s withdrawing the welcome mat extended to the MEK/PMOI/MKO by Saddam Hussein,.. in recent years the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has helped more than 250 members enter Iran from across the Iranian border..former members claim that the MEK is a cult, one that isolates adherents from their families, seeks to control them by limiting access to outside information.

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Iran Group in Iraq Poses Thorny Issue for U.S.

many years, the roughly 3,500 members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI/MKO) living quietly in Iraq drew little attention… The simmering issue of the MEK’s fate flashed into the open earlier this month when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unexpectedly declared that the group would no longer be allowed to remain in Iraq…The E.U. move, which came after a long lobbying campaign by the MEK’s supporters in Europe, sparked an outcry in Tehran. About 300 people were gathered around noon on Wednesday in front of the British Embassy in Tehran

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Iranian Resistance Group a Source of Contention in Iraq

During his speech on New Year’s Day to celebrate the official transfer of Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone to Iraqi control, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared Jan. 1 the”day of sovereignty”and congratulated his compatriots for having waited so long. He also warned that an Iranian resistance group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI/MKO), would no longer be able to have a base on Iraqi territory. ..The group is a source of contention for Iran and the U.S., Iraq’s two biggest allies, who are increasingly vying for influence as Baghdad’s post–Saddam Hussein Shi’ite government asserts its independence

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Mujahedin Khalq out of Iraq, into Britain

Mr Brown has ordered Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to ban the PMOI’s military wing instead, The Times has learnt. The Prime Minister is said to be keen to take on the courts following the decision to free the radical cleric, Abu Qatada, on bail.

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Britain accused of failing to outlaw banned terror groups

The countries include Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Iran has also voiced criticism. America, Britain’s closest ally, is known to have serious reservations about the Government’s commitment to enforcing the law. The Terrorism Act 2000, which was introduced by Jack Straw, now the Justice Minister, was supposed to prevent London becoming an important terrorist hub, where groups were able to raise funds, distribute propaganda and plan terrorist operations.

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The West cannot take the Mojahedin seriously

In an article by James Graff,”Are The PMOI Iran’s last Hope For A Peaceful Solution?”, TIME Europe has discussed the position of the MKO in the west. Graff wrote:
“…But there are also reasons why Western governments remain wary: among them are the group’s ideological origins in a mixture of Marxism and Islam, the aid they offered to and received from Saddam Hussein, and charges, which they deny, implicating them in terrorist acts in Iran….

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