Western Bloggers

US “War on Terror” Not About Terrorism

Pope Benedict XVI’s recent commentary suggesting religion is being exploited to fuel continuing wars is a concept familiar to award-winning author Reza Aslan.

Aslan, 35, who spoke Monday before a packed audience at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco to promote his latest book How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror, discussed religious ideology and extremism and its destructive impact on the world.

According to Aslan, the former Bush administration’s self-proclaimed “War on Terror” was never about terrorism. If it were, Aslan argues, the war would have included terrorist groups like ETA (Basque separatists), or the Iranian group Mujahideen-e-Khalq, for example. Instead, the US war on terror is specifically targeting Islam and Muslims, in areas of the world where the US has oil and gas reserve interests.

“That is what it is. The war on Islam,” Aslan said. “That is how it was deliberately conceived and it was how it was consciously propagated.”

ByFanny Dassie – Fogcityjpournal

May 16, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Terrorists living among us

Terrorists living among us: The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) – Also called MEK by Iranians

MKO was founded in September 1965, by three graduates of Tehran University Terrorists living among us: The Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) - Also called MEK by Iranians involved in religious-nationalist political activism, namely: Mohammad Hanifnezhad, Saied Mohsen and Asghar Badizadegan.

The central ideology of MKO was based on revolutionary armed struggle as being the only viable opposition against the U.S. backed and supported government of the Shah in Iran. Their ideology relied heavily on an interpretation of Islam as a revolutionary message compatible with modern revolutionary ideologies of Marxism.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq (also known as MEK inside Iran) means People’s Advocates, yet more than 90% of their intended targets and almost 95% of their casualties have been Iranian civilians.

After completing its primarily efforts on developing a revolutionary ideology and training its members in urban guerilla warfare, thirteen MKO members traveled to Jordan and Lebanon in 1970, and received 4 months of military training inside Palestinian Liberation Organization camps.

Prior to carrying out any armed activities, the MKO planned to develop its ideology further and built an infrastructure and train new recruits. However, this strategy was thwarted by the emergence of a competing Marxist guerilla group, the Fadaian Khalq Organization.

On February 8, 1971, members of the Fadaian launched their first operation by attacking a police station in the village of Siahkal in the northern province of Gilan. This incident marked the emergence of armed struggle against the Shah’s government.

The MKO’s leadership, surprised by the Siahkal incident, decided to expedite their plans for armed operations by organizing a spectacular bombing attack against the electric power grids in Tehran. At this time, the government was in the midst of promoting a large-scale celebration marking 2500 years of Persian monarchy in Iran.

During their efforts to acquire explosives, the MKO were infiltrated by the SAVAK security forces who tracked their activities and arrested thirty-five members of the MKO on August 23, 1971, just days before the scheduled onset of their first operation.

MKO’s remaining members who escaped detection by the security forces continued to recruit new members as well as carrying out a number of armed operations against Iranian government and, in particular, targeted American personnel and tourists in Iran since they regarded the U.S. support for the Shah as his Achilles Heal.

There were about 40,000 American citizens and military personnel living and working in Iran. MKO assumed that if they could stop U.S. support for the Shah, his control over the country would collapse. During these attacks against Americans many more Iranian civilians also died (a ratio of 25 to 1).

There is no doubt that the MKO is a terrorist organization and has long been on U.S. government’s terrorist list. European countries have detailed records of countless numbers of terrorist activities, planning, and funding initiated in Europe (although not targeting European citizens) against Iranian government officials and citizens including a bombing that maimed current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. However, MKO states that they target civilians because that is the only way to overthrow governments in Iran by putting pressure on the people.

When Nixon was supposed to visit Iran in 1972, MKO launched time bombs in more than ten Iran-U.S. centers in Tehran where Americans and Iranians would be gathered to welcome Nixon during his visit. These centers included: Association of Iran-US, Office of US Information, Iran-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Offices of Pepsi Cola and General Motors in Tehran.

From 1972 to 1975, Mujahedin Khalq Organization continued bombings and damaged some targets like the offices of Pan-American Airlines, Shell, Du Pont, and EDS.

In 1975, U.S. State Department concluded that 4 American citizens were murdered by MKO to pressure the U.S. to stop its support for the Shah of Iran and leave the country. During the same year, there were more than 40 attacks against American tourists in Iran. There were many American casualties in Iran directly contributed to MKO and they promptly claimed credit for all at the time.

Lt. Col. Lewis L. Hawkins, Col. Pal Shiffer, Lt. Col. Jack Turner, Donald J. Smith, Robert R. Grengrad and William C. Catrel from Rockwell International were victims of MKO attacks against U.S. interests in Iran.

It was shocking for the U.S. to lose six of its senior officers in a country which had closest ties with the U.S. in the Middle East. MKO’s deliberately targeted and planned sabotaging operations against US personnel and interests in Iran.

The Shah of Iran and his Israeli trained security forces (SAVAK) conduced a sweeping operation and many of MKO leaders and planners were arrested and imprisoned. The list included: Masoud Rajavi (the current leader of MKO), Hadi Roshanravani (top Intelligence official) , Mohammad-Ali Jaberzadeh Ansari (high ranking theorist), and the frequent FOX News guest, Alireza Jafarzadeh, the group’s spokesperson. The other key figures arrested included of: Reza Qaremi, Saied Mohsen, Mohammad Hanif-nezhad, Abdelreza Nikkbin called Abdi, Ali Asghar Badi Zadegan, Mahmoud Asgarizadeh, Rasoul Meshkinfam and Ahmad Rezaim and Lotfollah Meisami. All had taken part in assassinations, bombings, and planning operations against U.S. personnel.

One of the consequences of the Islamic Revolution was the freedom of all political prisoners, including Masoud Rajavi, and all the other senior operatives and senior members. Although the revolution was Islamic in nature, Marxist members of Leftist groups and also Marxist-Islamist members of MKO were also among the freed and subsequently merged.

Once regrouped the MKO was stronger than ever before. In November 1979, MKO officials asked for interrogating embassy staff. Thankfully, it was refused by "Revolution council".

After the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, MKO claimed that all the violence and ‘muscle’ against the Shah was directly attributed to the MKO and hence it deserves (it claimed) that it should be given political and economic control of Iran. When the new government of the Islamic Republic refused, MKO launched terrorist operations against Iran and joined Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-88). The group is also known to have carried out order by the former dictator Saddam Hussein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

After leaving his wife Ashraf Rabii, who was later killed in an armed clash by the Iranian security forces in the company of Moussa Khiabani the head of the MKO inside Iran, Masoud Rajavi remarried his current wife, Maryam Uzdanlu, now known as Maryam Rajavi who is now the co-leader of the MKO.

Her first decision was to change the name from MKO to National Council for Resistance (or NCR) which was Maryam Rajavi’s most important contribution to the MKO in decades. This allowed the MKO to stay on the political scene in Europe and America and not be treated as a terrorist organization. Its main use was to deceive the Americans and Europeans against thinking that this is the same Mujahedin responsible for assassinating American citizens in Iran.

Once the NCR started campaigning for money and influence in Washington for assistance against the Iranian Islamic government, the U.S. politicians and the Israeli lobbyist ignored their origins and their past activities against American civilians. The new face and spokesperson of the NCR became Alireza Jafarzadeh, the frequent FOX News "Iran Analyst". Mr. Jafarzadeh was comfortable in Washington’s power corridors, much like Ahmed Chalabi, the exiled Iraqi who provided much of the now-discredited information on Iraq’s weapons program.

Fox News now introduces Jafarzadeh as either their employee, or Iran Analyst, or as the head of a consultancy company. But as recently as 2002 the same man was interviewed by Fox News as the MKO’s representative in the US Congress. And, it doesn’t help the U.S. image overseas or the cause to unite against terrorism when Gen. McInerney publicly called for the U.S. government to support MMKO terrorist organization to carry out deadly bombings in Iran.

“This group loves the United States. They’re assisting us in the war on terrorism; they’re pro-U.S.,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) in an interview. But not everybody agrees.

Middle East scholars widely dispute the assessment that the MKO is a legitimate democratic alternative to the Iranian regime. “That’s patently nonsense,” said the Neo Conservative Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute, who is often against Iran and supports military actions against the Islamic government.

“I know about support on Capitol Hill for this group, and I think it’s atrocious,” said Dan Brumberg of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I think it’s due to total ignorance and political manipulation. There’s not much debate [about the MKO] in the academic circles of those who know and understand Iran and Iraq.”

Elahe Hicks of Human Rights Watch said that “many, many Iranians resent” the MKO/MEK. “Because this group is so extremely resented inside Iran, the Iranian government actually benefits from having an opposition group like this,” she said. The families of those civilians that lost their lives as a result of MKO bombing are staunch opponents of the MKO in Iran.

James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation agreed. “When they sided with Iraq against Iran in the [1980-88] war, that was the kiss of death for their political future. Even Iranians who might have sympathized with them were enraged that they became the junior partner of their longstanding rival,” he said.

“Some of their representatives are very articulate,” Phillips continued, “but they are a terrorist group. They had a longstanding alliance with Saddam Hussein, and they went after some of the Kurds at the behest of Saddam Hussein and performed with precision brutality and catastrophic results. Many Kurdish people died and many others maimed for life. They regularly performed torture on behalf of Saddam. ”

Now MKO’s once 30,000 strong members are living with their families throughout Europe and some here in United States, almost all on refugee status collecting benefits paid by taxpayers to live outside Iran and avoid being prosecuted for bombing civilians to achieve political goals.

While the MKO and Fox News and their friends are weaving a web of deceit, Richard Perle is giving aid and comfort to MKO terrorist, the same terrorists who wanted to interrogate our people being held as hostage. MKO has blood on their hands from their wanton acts of violence. Now the “Conservative” TV network (FOX) takes a MKO spokesman and pays him to consult with us on Iran. It is indeed tragic.

I don’t know if I’m disgusted or saddened or heart-broken by our government’s indifference to the presence of this terrorist organization in our country despite being on U.S. State Department terrorist list.

As an American who served in Gulf War I, whose father served in Vietnam, and grandfather had served in the Second World War, I am bewildered that these individuals are allowed to stay near our families and live in our cities and towns.

Writers views.com By Charles Kent

April 30, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Hosted by terrorists?

An organization in Ottawa’s bad books wined and dined Canadian politicians

Eight current and former Canadian parliamentarians attended a conference and rally in Paris last summer that was organized by the political wing of an Iranian opposition group that Canada and the United States have designated as a terrorist organization. At least four had some of their expenses covered by supporters of the banned group. The visit shows how difficult it can be for Western politicians to navigate the confusing waters of Iranian politics, where even those opposed to the theocracy in Tehran can be tainted by accusations of violence and human rights abuses.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran staged a massive rally in Paris last June to support its now-disarmed military wing, the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or simply the People’s Mujahedeen. The group invited hundreds of politicians from around the world, and Maryam Rajavi, “president-elect” of the NCRI, met with many of them at her home outside Paris. Canadian politicians who attended included: Liberal MPs Carolyn Bennett, Yasmin Ratansi and Raymonde Folco; Bloc Québécois MP Meili Faille; Andrew Telegdi and Tom Wappel, who were Liberal MPs at the time but are no longer; and Liberal Senator David Smith. David Kilgour, who sat as both a Progressive Conservative and Liberal MP before leaving politics as an Independent in 2006, was also there. Bennett and Telegdi were given a little less than $2,000 each toward transportation, accommodation, and meals. Wappel’s bill for the same totalled $3,780. Smith says he was put up free of charge in a hotel.

The People’s Mujahedeen was officially designated as a terrorist group by Canada’s Liberal government in May 2005. The Conservatives upheld this decision in November 2008. The U.S. State Department considers the People’s Mujahedeen and the NCRI as simply different names for the same organization. Despite numerous requests by Maclean’s, officials with the Department of Public Safety would not say whether Canada distinguishes between the two.

Based in Iraq but with supporters all over the world, the People’s Mujahedeen seeks the overthrow of Iran’s theocracy. It has carried out numerous bombings, military raids, and assassinations in Iran since its founding in 1965. These included the murder of American military personnel and civilians in Iran during the 1970s, as part of its efforts to help overthrow the shah in 1979.

The group found safe haven in Iraq under Saddam Hussein during the 1980s and allied with Iraq in its war against Iran. Shortly after a ceasefire between the two warring nations was announced, in July 1988, the People’s Mujahedeen invaded Iran from Iraq, believing that the Iranian government was on the verge of collapse. The invaders were easily repulsed, and Iran executed as many as 5,000 political prisoners soon afterwards—most of whom were supporters of the People’s Mujahedeen. People’s Mujahedeen fighters based in Iraq also reportedly took part in the Iraqi Republican Guard’s bloody repression of Kurds and Shia Arabs in 1991.

The group has not been linked to any violent acts since 2001 and was recently removed from British and European Union lists of terrorist organizations. The National Council of Resistance of Iran says its goal is the establishment of a secular democracy in Iran. Its supporters include Iranian expatriates, as well as many Western politicians. People’s Mujahedeen members inside Iran appear to be well organized and have passed on intelligence to the United States, despite the official American position that the group is a terrorist organization. This reporter encountered little support for the People’s Mujahedeen among ordinary Iranians during a visit in 2004—though one Iranian political prisoner, in a personal letter, has since praised the kindness of People’s Mujahedeen members with whom he is jailed.

Mohamad Tavakoli, a professor of history and near and eastern civilizations at the University of Toronto, says most Iranians have never forgotten that the People’s Mujahedeen joined forces with Saddam Hussein and invaded their country. “Iranians will not forgive them for that,” Tavakoli says. “Even secular Iranians who have been in opposition to the Islamic Republic, they do not forgive the People’s Mujahedeen and the National Council of Resistance for their collaboration with Saddam Hussein. The mujahedeen and the National Council of Resistance doesn’t have credibility with the Iranian people. It does have some hard-core supporters. But that’s it.”

Critics, including other Iranian opposition groups as well as the U.S. State Department, describe the NCRI as a personality cult built around Maryam Rajavi and her husband, Massoud, who hasn’t been seen in public for years. Several of its supporters, including at least one Canadian, have set themselves on fire during public protests. A 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the People’s Mujahedeen of severe human rights violations at its sprawling “Camp Ashraf” headquarters in Iraq, before the camp was disarmed by American forces in 2003. These violations included subjecting dissident members who wished to leave to years of solitary confinement, abuse, torture, and, in two cases, murder. (The future of the camp’s 3,500 residents, who include scores of Canadians, is unclear. The Iraqi government wants them out of the country. People’s Mujahedeen members fear they will be jailed or worse should they return to Iran.)

The Canadian delegates to Paris appear to have been aware that they would be attending NCRI events. Wappel described the purpose of his trip to the ethics commissioner as “to meet with representatives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.” He told Maclean’s that he supports the removal of the People’s Mujahedeen from Canada’s list of banned terrorist groups. According to a press release from the NCRI’s foreign affairs committee, Wappel, Folco, and Ratansi all attended a meeting hosted by Rajavi, where they also pledged to work at getting the People’s Mujahedeen removed from Canada’s list of terrorist groups.

Tavakoli, the University of Toronto professor, says he can understand why Western politicians might want to support the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The current regime in Tehran is illiberal and often brutal. And supporters of the NCRI present themselves as the only viable alternative. “I beg to differ,” Tavakoli says. “They present themselves as a democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic, with the hope of overthrowing the regime. But democratic involvement is really being involved in building grassroots organizations, and they are not interested in that. They view themselves as a vanguard political organization, and vanguards do not have patience for doing the dirty work of democracy. I don’t think the National Council of Resistance, with any kind of stretch of imagination, represents the Iranian diaspora community and their democratic aspects.”

Bennett, Wappel and Telegdi told the ethics commissioner their expenses were covered by the “Iran Democratic Association.” Reza, a spokesperson for the group who asked that his last name not be printed to protect relatives in Iran, describes the association’s members as “supporters and sympathizers” of the NCRI but not formally part of the organization. “As far as I’m concerned and my colleagues are concerned, we believe that this group can realize what our goals are—a nuclear-free, secular Iran,” he said in an interview with Maclean’s. “There is no other alternative that stands against the barbarity of the Iranian regime.”

Carolyn Bennett, in an interview with Maclean’s, acknowledged the People’s Mujahedeen’s violent history but says it has evolved. “Obviously, some people who were involved in it in the past have been accused of, you know, acts we wouldn’t want,” she said. “But like so many of these resistance movements, whether you’re in Northern Ireland or South Africa, there are people who are victimized and who are now fighting for democracy.” David Smith, the senator, also described the People’s Mujahedeen’s terrorist designation as “a complete and utter bum rap.” Yasmin Ratansi incorrectly claimed that the People’s Mujahedeen has not been armed for more than 20 years. In fact, when Camp Ashraf was disarmed in 2003, the People’s Mujahedeen relinquished more than 2,000 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and heavy artillery pieces.

Although no Conservative MPs attended the NCRI’s rally and meetings in Paris last summer, the group has drawn Conservative support in the past. Paul Forseth, a Conservative MP until his defeat in the 2006 election, has previously attended an NCRI rally in Paris and remains a strong supporter of the group. And in April 2006, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, then the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister for multiculturalism, spoke at a small rally on Parliament Hill held by apparent supporters of the People’s Mujahedeen. A photo of Kenney addressing the group appeared on the website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. Kenney later claimed he had been invited to give a speech by a group calling itself the Committee for Human Rights in Iran and said he had no idea the group was linked to the People’s Mujahedeen.

Denis Coderre, the Liberal defence critic, didn’t accept this explanation and called on Kenney to apologize and denounce the People’s Mujahedeen: “A terrorist group is a terrorist group,” said Coderre. “Jason Kenney, who likes to play politics and who’s as subtle as Barney Rubble in politics, he should do better than that.” Maclean’s called Coderre’s office to find out how he felt about his Liberal colleagues attending a People’s Mujahedeen rally and taking money from supporters of the group, but he did not respond to a request for an interview.

by Michael Petrou, Macleans.ca

March 28, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO; Iran Exile Group in Line for Huge Cash Windfall

US-Protected Iran Exile Group in Line for Huge Cash Windfall

"The MEK can use some of that cash to pay legal settlements with former members that they tortured, as well as the families of Iranians they killed when they fought on the side of Saddam against Iran."

The controversial Iranian exile organization MEK, which the United States calls a terrorist group, could soon see a windfall of tens of millions of dollars as the result of the European Union’s decision Monday to take it off its list of terrorist organizations.

If so, it will mark dramatic turnaround the group’s fortunes.

The MEK, shorthand for the Mujahedin-e Khalq, and also known as the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, looked like it was on the ropes only days ago, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he wanted its U.S.-protected military base near the Iranian border closed within two months.

The MEK can use some of that cash to pay legal settlements with former members that they tortured, as well as the families of Iranians they killed when they fought on the side of Saddam against Iran. But the E.U.’s Jan. 26 decision not only unlocks untold millions of dollars frozen in European banks, it allows the militant anti-Iran organization to go public with appeals for millions more, perhaps catapulting it into a leading role in the Iranian opposition abroad.

The MEK could claim $9 million held in France alone, along with "tens of millions of dollars" worth of assets locked away in other EU countries, its spokesman told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

What will it do with the windfall?

"Set off car bombs around Iran," jibed former CIA operative Robert Baer, whose pursuit was dramatized by George Clooney in the 2005 movie "Syriana."

The group says it has renounced violence, but the MEK has carried out dozens of terrorist attacks and assassinations against Iranian targets both inside and outside of the country. Some of those were launched from its base in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, before the 2003 U.S. invasion.

MEK leader Maryam Rajavi said the unfrozen millions "will be used to increase our political activities … including to further disclose the mullah regime’s secret nuclear weapons sites."

Since Hussein’s overthrow, the 3,000 MEK fighters in Camp Ashraf, as it’s called, have been under the "protection" of U.S. troops, even though they’re still officially labeled terrorists by the State Department.

The seeming anomaly can be at least party explained by frequent reports that the MEK has been secretly helping the CIA run operations against the Islamic regime from its base in southeastern Iraq.

Its terrorist label was earned before the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution, when the group, which bills itself as Marxist-Islamist, targeted Americans working in Iran. Indeed, 30 years ago this month the group helped overthrow the U.S.-backed shah and take 52 American hostages.

But eventually it turned against the religious regime. In 2001 its sustained opposition to Iran, its supposed renunciation of violence, and its portrayal of itself as a "progressive" political force won it admirers in the Bush administration and pro-democracy groups in Europe. Of no small note, it has also played a major role in exposing Iran’s nuclear activities.

Walid Phares, a scholar on terrorism and American of Lebanese descent, called the closing of Camp Ashraf "a significant Iranian victory."

"Ashraf was the only base for the MEK against Iran’s regime," he said by e-mail. "If it is shut down, they will lose the only base they have."

"More than a military base of the opposition against Tehran," he added, "Ashraf was a political base for broadcast and political outreach to the opposition in the inside."

On the other hand, the E.U.’s decision will conceivably allow MEK fighters entry into Europe, at least temporarily solving the problem of what to do with them once Ashraf is closed.

That, and the new money, can only add to the MEK’s political clout, which was put on display last year when the group drew 85,000 people to an anti-Iran protest outside Paris.

To date, exile communities have been divided over the MEK because of its attacks on Iranian troops from Iraqi soil during the two nations’ 10-year war. Some call the organization a puritanistic "cult,” because of its iron-fist leadership by a husband and wife team who have been accused of violating the human rights of their own followers.

But the E.U.’s decision could give the MEK a big boost over its rivals, Phares suggests.

"Once they are decertified [as a terrorist group] they will act as an international NGO [non-governmental organization] and will most likely receive even more donations from Iranian exiles," said Phares, a senior fellow at the hawkish Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.

"De-certification by itself will strengthen the group within the Iranian diaspora," he continued. "Will they access to frozen funds in EU banks? This is another issue and will have to be negotiated. But certainly they will have a legal base. They will spend it to widen their base, and on strategic communications regarding Iran."

All things considered, it’s not hard to suspect a hidden American hand in the E.U. decision, or at least acquiescence in it, since it so neatly finesses the eviction notice served on Camp Ashraf by Prime Minister Maliki.

In any event, it keeps MEK alive — and more — despite the threatened closing of its longtime base in Iraq.

The Iranian regime reacted sharply to the E.U. move, accusing the union of a "double standard" on terrorism. It also said it was drafting a plan to put MEK members on trial, "either in the Islamic Republic or outside the country,” according to Press TV, an Iranian news service.

CQ Politics By Jeff Stein

March 4, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Should the MEK Stay or Should it Go?

This is what Maryam Rajavi – head of the People’s Mujaheddin of Iran (PMOI, or MEK, or MKO) stated in Brussels on January 27, 2009 while standing in front of her many supporters, right after the decision of the ECJ (European Court of Justice) to put her movement off the list of terrorist groups:

"My fellow compatriots, Friends of the Resistance,

The MEK is still on the list of terrorist groups of the United States, because its fundamental values are anti-western and violent The obstacle of the terrorist allegation has crumbled. The spell has at last been broken. With perseverance and determination, you courageously rose above the flames of injustice and rendered law and justice victorious…This marks a decisive turning point on the course of democratic change in Iran."

Although, the US State Department’s report on terrorist organizations states the following:

"The MEK advocates the violent overthrow of the Iranian regime and was responsible for the assassination of several U.S. military personnel and civilians in the 1970’s. MEK leadership and members across the world maintain the capacity and will to commit terrorist acts in Europe, the Middle East, the United States, Canada, and beyond.

The MEK emerged in the 1960s as one of the more violent political movements opposed to the Pahlavi dynasty and its close relationship with the United States. MEK ideology has gone through several iterations and blends elements of Marxism, Islam, and feminism".

Funny, cause if you head your browser toward the official website of Maryam Rajavi, each time you’ll read a sentence like this one: "Our aim is not to attain power at all costs. Our aim is to guarantee freedom and democracy at all costs, even at the cost of sacrificing our own existence." It all sounds much more like a Ghandi’s statement that the one of a terrorist inspired by Marxism, Islamism and Feminism.

Who’s right?

The MEK is still on the list of terrorist groups of the United States, because its fundamental values are anti-western and violent. The group took part in the 1979 revolution against Reza Palahvi’s the pro-western government, helping the present Iranian government to take power in Iran. Although, once the main target has been hit (French revolution anyone?), the winning coalition starts an internal power struggle, with which the real leader will be chosen. This is what happened to MEK, at odds with Islamic Republic. The leadership of the PMOI attempted to overthrow the newly formed IRP (Islamic Republic of Iran) but failed. Ayatollah Khomeini, in response, started a crackdown on the MEK militia and the group was forced to move to France.

In "The Persian Puzzle", Kenneth Pollack describes these events as following:

"…the MEK had made itself a primary target of the IRP. It decided that the best defense was a good offensive and tried to decapitate the IRP leadership in the hope of either toppling the regime or forcing a compromise. On June 28, 1981, a massive explosion inside the IRP headquarters succeeded in killing much of the party’s top leadership. …

…Two days later, a bomb narrowly missed killing Hojjat-ol Islam ‘Ali Khamene’i as he delivered the Friday sermon in Tehran. Sensing that this was their last chance to survive (let alone take power), the Feda’iyan-e Khalq, the Communists, and other leftist groups also joined in the bloody campaign. Thereafter, the MEK and its leftist allies launched a sustained terror campaign that assassinated roughly two hundred government officials by the end of August. Then, on August 30, the MEK pulled off another dramatic coup, smuggling a bomb into the prime minister’s offices and killing President Raja’i (who had succeeded Bani Sadr in blatantly rigged elections), Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar (who had in turn taken Raja’i’s old office), and three other senior officials. 23 Naturally, the regime reacted with concomitant ferocity. …"

Are we talking about holy water or the devil itself? The Council on Foreign Relations has a detailed description of the MEK:

"…Experts say that MEK has increasingly come to resemble a cult that is devoted to Massoud Rajavi’s secular interpretation of the Koran and is prone to sudden, dramatic ideological shifts."

The MEK, in fact, also has a political arm, called The National Council of Resistance of Iran headed by Maryam Rajavi’s husband, Massoud. No one really knows where Massoud Rajavi is living now, but an interview to a former MEK member appeared (briefly) online on February 2, 2009. If you google for the words "mek" + cult the interview will come out.

Only, if you click on it, you’ll be redirected to some other piece of news not related to the subject. The only thing you can read is the title of the article – Ex-member says MEK, ‘is like a cult’ – and a few other words.

Of course, the fact that the EU removed the MEK from the list of terrorist organizations sparked the reaction of Tehran’s government: "The European Union must realize that a political approach to terrorism, which threatens the lives and security of people around the world, is totally unacceptable for the global public opinion." Iran’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaei, wrote to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"The EU’s politically motivated decision will not change the terrorist nature of the group. It will not ‘turn the page’ of history on the cult’s terrorist activities and massacre of innocent civilians, nor will it cleanse the terrorist group of its criminal past," he added.

It sounds like a power struggle between the EU and the IRP (of course there’s also a war going on between Teheran and the MEK itself). And it seems as if the MEK is being used as a leverage tool here. But this is just a superficial analysis. The truth is far from being exposed, and this could easily be a question of money. Several well informed sources claimed that the MEK leadership has been paying some major politicians and judges to get the sentence they wanted: their group out of that European black list as soon as possible. Of course this is just an assumption and there is no legal evidence to support the thesis of corruption.

On the contrary, it seems unlikely that the European Union could be so easily corrupted, even though they say that the MEK has a lot of money to spend. The fact that Saddam handed over the money he got from the "Oil for food" program to the PMOI, for example, is common knowledge.

Anyhow, the People Mujaheddin of Iran (this is the extended version of the name) may not be considered a terrorist group in the EU but it is still considered a terrorist organization in the US, should it stay there? According to Paulo Casaca, no: "I think this issue has several angles – he told us – all of them quite important. First: it raises the question of the rules, principles, methods and proceedings of terrorist lists. This is a very important question that I addressed in conferences and books; Second: it shows that only after four strong sentences the Council decided to act ‘better late than never’, but the lack of respect of the Court by the Council is scaring for all of those who believe in a "State of Law"; Third: the EU, as the US, are fully engaged in an appeasement policy that did not and will not work, .."

Casaca is a member of the European Parliament for Portugal’s Socialist Party and a supporter of the MEK. A very well informed journalist (anti-MEK), who has researched and written on the matter, told us that she cannot confirm allegations of corruption that have been made in the media. In her opinion, though, the real problem now is the MKO’s Ashraf camp in Iraq. The camp must be closed in two-three months from now.

"The Iraqi government has every right to send these people [the MKO members that are in the camp Ashraf] out, now the question is, where are they going? It will be easier to return to their country in Europe, now that the ECJ ruled them out from the list of the terrorist groups. They are more or less 2.000 brainwashed people, it will be a humanitarian crisis!"

The Iraqi National Security advisor, Muwafaq al-Rubaie, told the press that "the only choices open to members of this group are to return to Iran or to choose another country… Some of the MKO members have expressed interest to return to Iran and we are making the arrangements for this….We are acting under international humanitarian regulations and international laws. These people will themselves choose where they want to go."

So, someone thinks that the MEK (or MKO or PMOI) is a blood-thirsty terrorist cult that only wants to put its paws on Iran, whatever it takes. Someone else thinks that this group is the only democratic and legal alternative to the radical anti-western and corrupted Islamic Republic of Iran. It is very hard to give an answer here, but there are some good questions at least: what will the Obama administration do about the Ashraf camp and the MEK? Will the US State Department remove the group from the black list? Is the MEK going to play a role in the future of Iran?

hudsonny.org By Andrea Loquenzi – Italian Journalist and Research Fellow, The Magna Charta Foundation

March 2, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Anti-Iran Group Seeks Base in Egypt

An anti-Iranian organization is seeking to base its new headquarters in Egypt, a move that could further sour relations between Tehran and Cairo.

The People’s Mujahidin of Iran, also known as the Mujahidin Khalq Organization (MKO), is an Iranian opposition movement outlawed in Iran.

The movement has had camps in Iraq since the early 1980s and sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. Its leaders fled to France during the 1980s.

Today, Baghdad seeks to expel MKO members from the country and MKO leaders are looking for alternative bases in the region.

Egypt recently agreed to accommodate the MKO on its soil, Iraq sources told the Iranian Mehr news organization.

Last month, European states removed the organization from its list of banned terrorist groups. However, the United States State Department still designates the MKO a foreign terrorist organization.

If Egypt accepts the MKO on its territory, this would strain already tense relations between Egypt and Tehran.

Iran cut its diplomatic relations with Egypt following the late president Anwar Sadat’s signing of the Camp David peace agreement with Israel in 1979.

Sadat’s welcoming of the shah of Iran following the collapse of his regime in 1979 sharpened the tensions between the two countries.

This was compounded when Iran named a street after Khalid Al-Islambouli, the man who assassinated Sadat in 1981.

More recently, Egypt and Iran have expressed willingness to restore diplomatic ties.

Analysts say any thaw in these relations would be subtle rather than drastic, so as not to jeopardize Egypt’s delicate relations with the United States.

Tension recently surged between Iran and Egypt over the latter’s involvement in the Gaza crisis.

If Egypt indeed agreed to host the MKO on its soil, this would signal the end of any reconciliation efforts between the two countries, said Walid Kazziha, a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.

“This is a militia that has been antagonizing the regime in Iran since its inception,” Kazziha told The Media Line. “I imagine Egypt will not allow them as an armed band because Egyptians are very sensitive about this. But if they allow them political refuge here, the result will be eternal enmity with the Iranian regime and the question is whether this is in Egypt’s national interest.”

Written by The Media Line Staff

February 23, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

MEK; Controversial freedom fighters

The Iranian resistance group “mujahedin khalq” as fifth column against Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war

Since the end of the Saddam era, it plays a very ambiguous role.

Behnam Sanati (name changed by the author) could have had a quiet life in Paris, where his parents after the Islamic revolution in Iran, emigrated in 1979. But in the mid-90s, he made the mistake of his life. He fell in love with a young Iranian girl who convinced him, to join “mujahedin khaq” (the word means “holy warriors”),and then become a militant for Iraqi ex-dictator Saddam Hussein who supported the group formed to overthrow the regime in Tehran.

In 1998, the MEK sent him to Ashraf Camp in Iraq, 100 kilometers from the Iranian border. Later he was supposed to launch an attack on a senior military officer in Tehran. “The mission was not successful,” says Sanati cool and emotionless. But the failure of the action

meant that he eventually swallowed a cyanide capsule and then – because the poison had not killed him – he blew up a hand grenade in the air. Here he lost his left hand, but he was received in an Iranian military hospital and survived. He followed five years in prison.

Today he is stunned sitting in a small Parisian bistro and shaking his head. Last week was in fact the struggle time

for the status of mujahedin khalq, a three-year dispute to an end: the group was removed by the EU, like the British model, from the terror list. And last December, Europe tipped the Supreme Court for the EU’s decision on dismissal of the organization’s assets freezing. “This is hopefully not the last word in this matter. Just because the ruling of European Court against the successful listing as a terrorist organization in the European Union has sued, does not alter their crimes in the past,” says Behnam angrily.

Divided opinions

He is right. The contradiction continues, because the EU states are divided in the assessment of the Iranian opposition movement. France wants to appeal the decision of the EU’s Court of appeal. States such as Austria, Ireland, Denmark and Luxembourg, however, argue that the Iranian opposition group after the decision of the EU judges could not stay on the terrorist list.

This list, via a unanimous decision made by all 27 EU member states is renewed every six months. Benham hopes that soon MEK will be on the list again. “mujahedin was founded in 1965 and acted against Shah mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was supported by the west the until the Islamic revolution in 1979. In their worldview, the first supporters demanded an obscure mixture of revolutionary Marxism, guerrilla struggle ethos à la Ho Chi Minh and Shiite Islam, as the protest movement against class exploitation and state violence. The armed struggle from the outset was MEK’s favorite tool to its anti-American and anti-monarchist propaganda with the necessary efficiency to lend, “he explains.

Behnam knows the history of the movement by heart: “MEK planned their first major attack in 1971, when the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy was celebrated. They wanted to blow up E-factory in the capital Tehran what Pahlavi’s security forces prevented. Waves of arrests were the result, Rajavi who now leads the MEK authoritarian was imprisoned. After the Islamic revolution the MEK broke out with the Iranian regime that had originally supported and consequently Rajavi fled to France. MEK led the remaining members in home launch bombings, murders, and attacks on Iranian interests.

Exile in Iraq

The emigrants were not only in the West, where a large number of Iranians live in exile, but also in neighboring Iraq. In 2003 the US-led military coalition toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and made mujahedin disappointed because he had granted them shelter since 1980’s as mercenaries in the first Gulf and war against Iran. Also in the repression of Kurdish and Shiite uprisings, they were involved, what finally shattered the support of the Iranian people of their mother country, “said Behnam. He continued:” This sect has perpetrated attacks on Iranians! How can you shoot to your own compatriots? How could I just join? ”

Behnam takes out a photo from his pocket and shows it to us. “They are from Austria but then they are interested in here,” he says. It shows the ex-Mujaheddin fighters Golzar Farid (name changed by the author). ” In 1984, Farid graduated from the University of Vienna began in 1985 in Austria by the Mujahedin recruited. He flew with Austrian Airlines to Baghdad and came first in a warehouse to Kurdistan. During the Iran-Iraq war, he fought mainly against pro-Iranian Kurdish units. Shortly before the end of the war, the leader of the MEK, Massud Rajavi, moved a tactic to change his group as an army into battle against Iran. As in the UN Resolution 598, July 1987 peace plan that ended the Iran-Iraq war was decided, Rajavi was before his group and stated that their credibility was under question if they would not hit. On July 18th, shortly after Iran signed the ceasefire agreement 7000 MEK fighters began the operation “Eternal Light” for the disastrous failure: at least 1315 fighters were killed.

The organization now shifted its activities to terrorist attacks inside Iran: In 2001, Farid Golzar with antitank missiles and a Kalashnikov sent to Tehran in order to execute an attack. “He was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 2005, he was released from prison,” says Behnam. “Why there were no death sentences, why he came and Golzar released too early? ’’, We want to know. “Iran’s government began to change in the era of President Mohammad Khatami its policy towards the MEK. With mild penalties and the possibility of reintegration, the 4000 fighters who are still in Camp Ashraf could be, to be convinced to return to Iran,” Behnam said.

Dissatisfied with the news about the MEK is also an employee of the Iranian Center for Strategic Studies: The 35-year-old complains about the unwillingness of the United States, to hand over the camp in Iraq to Iraqi government. “That’s a double morality of the West. How they claim to fight against terror, while they remove a terrorist group from the list,” he asks angrily.

Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Resistance of Iran (NCRI), provides as legal representative of the exiled opposition group that is completely different. “The decision is a valuable beginning. Now, the U.S. should follow the European example and delete MEK from the list too” she asks. Although they proclaim that their organization for several years has had no longer militant operations, it should be considered as serious that they can not deny that the role of the political orphans of mujahedin in the eventful history of the Middle East.

Joker militant U.S.

After the fall of Saddam there is no use from the cult-like militia, the U.S. is wary of them, because even killings of U.S. soldiers during the Shah’s time go to their account. The hawks in the Pentagon, would still like to be militant Joker against Iran. It was this group that in 2002 uncovered the existence of the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and the heavy water reactor in Arak, is regarded as evidence of their importance.

On the other hand, the former weapons inspector Scott Ritter says, Israel’s secret service had been the source. For “PR reasons” – Israel itself has nuclear weapons and refuses to acknowledge the NPT to sign – he did the group fed with information. Iraq wants the fighters to get rid of any event and suspected them to cooperate with extremists.

Before Behnam goes, he raises the finger warningly and says: “I will only find my peace when all can live Mujaheddin in the Iranian society, and none of them longer is forced to live in camps where violence and dictatorship prevail.”

Wiener Zeitungat By Arian Faal, born 1977, lives as a journalist and university lecturer in Vienna and Paris.

February 22, 2009 0 comments

Iran

Iran angry over EU exclusion of MKO from terror list

Iran has condemned the removal of the MKO terrorist group from the European Union’s terror list.
Earlier today, Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Naser Hamidi Zare’ said that exclusion of the group from the list was a new Western trap for the Islamic state, accusing the West of operating a policy of double-standards in dealing with terrorist groups.
The Ambassador claimed that EU politicians made the decision to leave the group, the Mujahedin Khalq Organization, off the list was because of intense lobbying from the ‘Zionist’ lobby.
The decision to leave the group off the list is a sensitive for Iran, because the MKO has been blamed for the mass killings of Iranians over the last 30 years.
Tehran has now complained at the EU decision to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
Zare’ said that the removal of the terrorist organization from the EU terror list had happened after the Iraqi government decided to expel members of the criminal cult who were stationed in Iraq by former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi government announced in early February that Baghdad would soon close the file of the terrorist organization and expel them from the country.
According to Zare’, the EU made the move when Baghdad had confirmed its decision to expel MKO members from Iraq.

Religious Intelligence By Nick Mackenzie

February 15, 2009 0 comments

Iran

MKO too weak to create problems for Iran

Iranian Intelligence Minister: MKO too weak to create problems for Iran
Intelligence Minister underlining his affiliated ministry’s capability to monitor Mojaheddin Khalq Organization (MKO) activities inside or outside Iran, said that MKO is too weak to create any problem for the country.

In a ceremony here Monday evening, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejeie told IRNA that both the intelligence and the foreign affairs ministries are monitoring MKO’s moves inside and outside of Iran’s international borders.

Regarding providing security for the presidential election period, the minister noted, "we are closely monitoring all events in a bid to prevent any move against country’s security.

Replying to a question about the latest situation of espionage and groups seeking to overthrow the Islamic system, the intelligence minister said that their dossiers are under survey at courts of justice.

ISRIA

February 12, 2009 0 comments

Belgium

Belgian MP: PMOI is a sect

G.P. Put on line 27/01/2009 – For Josy Dubié (Belgian MP), there is not a doubt that PMOI is "a sect". The Belgian senator draws from his memories Josy Dubié :"They[PMOI/MKO] are still as sectarian as before", international reporter to the RTBF to affirm it. At the end of the Iraq-Iran war, they are the combatants of this organization which Saddam Hussein had sent like "flesh with canon" at the time of the battle of Mehran, in 1989. The treatment that Moujahidine held for their own troops, the women like the men, and that they applied to their Iranian prisoners were abominable, explains in substance Josy Dubié. "I know them from inside" , continues the senator, " and I can say to you that their behavior is to be brought closer to that of the members of Scientologie". Didn’t they evolve since the Eighties? Josy Dubié does not believe in it at all. "They are still as sectarian as before", he ensures. "However, there is in Iran an opposition much more democratic than that of Moujahidine of the people, the laic opponents, the members of the Communist party Toudeh, the sympathizers of the former Prime Minister Mossadegh ". And Josy estimates that one should not count on OMPI, which " do not represent anything the whole in Iran".

Lalibre.be

January 31, 2009 0 comments

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