News

Al-Mutlak standing with the oppressed Mojahedin Khalq

Salah al-Mutlak, the newly-banned Iraqi politician had an interview (in Arabic) in Sot al-Iraq (Voice of Iraq). Mutlak says the decision to exclude him from the March 7 parliamentary elections is political, designed to avoid what he calls a”sweep”by his Iraqi coalition. He calls the de-Ba’athification commission a”political body,”rather than a judicial body.

He says he has no involvement with the Ba’ath Party, but he defends what he calls the”oppressed”members of the Ba’ath party, and the Mujahedin-e Khalq, whose members residing in Camp Ashraf are waiting to be relocated to a desolated camp as decided by the Iraqi Government.

In answer to a question concerning his visiting camp Ashraf and contact with designated MKO he did not reject it and claimed it has had its impact on his exclusion by the involvement of Iranian regime: “Yes my visit to camp Ashraf affected Iran, and my relationship with MKO never change. They are real Mujahids and I will continue my contact with them and respect them and I think they are oppressed; and I am naturally standing with the oppressed. I stood with Shiite when wronged at a time, and I will stand with the oppressed regardless of being Ba’athists or MKO and whoever is at home or abroad”.

Reported by Mojahedin WS

January 18, 2010 0 comments

The MEK; Baath Party Accomplice

Iraq Finds Evidence of MKO’s Involvement in Public Massacre

Different Iraqi groups in a statement announced that they have found substantiating documents on the massacre of 25,000 Iraqis by the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) during Saddam Hussein’s despotic rule over the country.

"In the documents found at Iraq’s intelligence ministry and other security offices after the toppling of Saddam, the leaders of the terrorist organization have announced that they slaughtered 25,000 Iraqi people on different occasions and over various issues," different Iraqi groups in the eastern province of Diyala said in a statement released to the country’s Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki.

Addressing the Iraqi government in their statement, the groups urged an immediate expulsion of the MKO members from their province and from the country.

The statement has been signed by various groups and people from different walks of life, including university professors, elites, tribal leaders, religious figures, artists, poets, sportsmen and sports federations, influential figures, students’ union and city councils of the Diyala province.

The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s. The Iraqi government and parliament have also underlined on different occasions that they would not tolerate the group anymore and that they are seeking to expel the group from the country in the near future.

The anti-Iran terror group has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by many international entities and countries.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

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.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the Islamic Revolution in Iran 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 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.

The MKO was put on the US terror list in 1997 by the then President, Bill Clinton, but since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group has been strongly backed by the Washington Neocons, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

January 18, 2010 0 comments

Mojahedin Khalq lobby clutching at straws

Written answers and statements, 13 January 2010

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass (Crossbench)
To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead on 16 December 2009 (WA 246), whether their position on alleged injustices against residents at Camp Ashraf by the Iraqi authorities takes account of their representations to the Government of China in the case of Akmal Shaikh

Lord Brett (Government Whip (technically a Lord in Waiting, HM Household); Labour)
The UK opposes the death penalty and takes action in all cases to try to prevent UK nationals being executed. Akmal Shaikh was the first EU/British national to be executed in China in 50 years. Twenty-seven high level representations were made to the Chinese authorities dating back to November 2008 by my right honourable friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers. The basis for these representations mainly centred on Mr Shaikh’s mental health. Mr Shaikh’s mental health was a crucial aspect of evidence that the Government believed the courts should have considered before they delivered the sentence.

Camp Ashraf is part of a sovereign and democratic Iraq and the situation there is a matter for the Government of Iraq. We regularly discuss Camp Ashraf with the Iraqi Government, including with the Iraqi Prime Minister and Ministers for Human Rights, Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs. We continue to underline the need for the Iraqi authorities to deal with the residents of Camp Ashraf in a way that meets international standards.
There is no link between the two issues.

House of Lords, London

January 16, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO confirms arrest of members in Tehran

The anti-Iran terrorist group MKO has confirmed that five people arrested after last month’s riots in Tehran are members of the organization.

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization has told Amnesty International that the five were detained in the Iranian capital after the Ashura day riots on December 27.

The group says they had come from their one remaining base in Iraq.

On Friday, Tehran’s public prosecutor announced that five people detained in connection with the recent riots in Tehran are members of the terrorist group.

MKO members fled to Iraq after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. They then carried out a series of attacks across Iran, in which a large number of civilians and officials were killed.

The MKO is designated as a terrorist organization by many countries, including the United States.

January 13, 2010 0 comments

USA

MKO still deserves its terrorist listing

Terror Group Swears It’s Changed Its Ways. Scouts’ Honor

WASHINGTON-The People’s Mujahidin is sick and tired of being called a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. So leaders of the terrorist group settled on a uniquely American strategy for handling this problem: They sued.

Yes, the group has done its share of assassinations, bombings, embassy attacks and killings of U.S. troops. But that was long ago, and now the People’s Mujaheddin wants to let bygones be bygones. It says it has devoted itself to democracy and nonviolence, and it would like very much to be taken off the State Department’s list of international terrorist groups.

Friends of the People’s Mujaheddin Organization of Iran-a k a MEK, a k a Mujaheddin-e Khalq, a k a National Liberation Army of Iran, a k a National Council of Resistance, a k a Organization of the People’s Holy Warriors-assembled Tuesday at the U.S. courthouse here to hear Andrew Frey of the firm Mayer Brown plead their case.

"Today’s PMOI is unique among foreign terrorist organizations," the lawyer told a three-judge appellate panel. "The organization has foresworn violence. We walk the walk. There have been no terrorist acts by PMOI for eight years."

But couldn’t the attacks resume? "The fact that terrorist activities are bad if they happen could be said of the Girl Scouts," Frey reasoned.
The People’s Mujaheddin as Girl Scouts. Only in America.

People’s Mujaheddin fighters were old-school terrorists who once battled the shah of Iran. They then went to Iraq and, with Saddam Hussein’s help, attacked the ayatollahs. They allegedly killed hundreds of people, but now they call themselves a nonviolent Iranian opposition movement. About 3,400 of them and their family members still live at Camp Ashraf in Iraq-and they have plenty of friends in the United States, including former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who watched Tuesday’s proceedings from the front row.

The government’s lawyer, Douglas Letter, wasn’t about to negotiate with "an organization that for at least 30 years has been involved in terrorism, violence, assassination, et cetera."

He admitted the public record was not sufficient to demonstrate that the group still poses a threat, but he said "it was the classified material" that made it clear that the group still deserves its terrorist listing.

Here the People’s Mjuaheddin has a problem: The group is allowed to respond to the classified evidence but is not allowed to see it. "Due process," Letter explained, "is a flexible concept."..

But if the proceedings seemed stacked against the People’s Mujaheddin, consider this: How many other countries would allow a terrorist organization to sue the government for name-calling?

In a bonus for the group, it had its day in court on the same day a grand jury in the very same courthouse was hearing from two hairstylists about their conversations with Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the White House state dinner crashers. A bank of television cameras stood sentry outside the courthouse-not for the terrorists, but for the stylists, who arrived in a Hummer limousine.

An overflow crowd was in the courtroom, where some men standing in the back passed notes in what looked to be Farsi. The clerk called up case 09-1059, <I>(ital) People’s Mujaheddin Organization of Iran v. U.S. Department of State, et al</I> . (end ital) She struggled with the pronunciation, starting with "People’s Mooha" before correcting herself.
Frey assured the judges that his client "rejects the sharia," or Islamic law, and renounced its Marxist past. He said the group is "totally committed" to a democratic and secular Iran.

Judge Karen Henderson asked if the lawyer could provide "affirmative evidence that supporters who may be anywhere in the world have foresworn violence."
"I can’t speak to individual members," Frey admitted.

Frey was asked about the accusation that the group was behind plans for bombing in Baghdad. "That kind of thing does not constitute substantial evidence," he replied. And the accusation that the group was training women to be suicide bombers? "Utterly implausible," he said.

"We’ve got eight years, I believe, of a clean record," he pleaded, citing such "powerful evidence" as the "disbanding of the National Liberation Army."

Maybe so, but it will probably take more than a lawsuit to solve their image problem. In the hours before Tuesday’s hearing in Washington, a bomb went off in Tehran, killing a nuclear scientist. Iranian authorities, naturally, blamed the United States, Israel-and the People’s Mujaheddin.

Dana Milbank

January 13, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

MKO members to be transferred to Al-Khazra region

The deputy head of the council of Dyala governorate said the Mojahedin-e Khalq members will be transferred from Ashraf Camp to “Al-Khazra” region in near future.
MKO members to be transferred to Al-Khazra region
Based on a report by Justice Supporters’ Association, visiting Karbala city, “Sadegh Al-Hosseini told the reporter of Iraqi website “Al-Nun”: the MKO members have resorted to a new kind of dangerous weapon in order to remain in Ashraf Camp. This new weapon is hunger strike, hitting each other by knife or having poison.

He continued: the time of their move is so close and thus they make use of these strategies to prevent it.

According to Al-Hosseni Iraqi government intends to transfer the Mojahedin members to a region within Al-Khazra area in Baghdad. The decision made since none of the Iraqi provinces accepted the residence of the cult members in their territory.

January 12, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

Mojahedin Khalq have no place in Iraq

Iraq FM: Baghdad has taken series of measures to establish sovereignty over Camp Ashraf

TEHRAN, Jan. 8 (MNA) — Iran and Iraq have made three important agreements for resolving the disputes over their borders, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Thursday.
Iraq FM: Baghdad has taken series of measures to establish sovereignty over Camp Ashraf
Mottaki made the remarks during a joint press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad.

“Border guards will meet within one week. Secondly, the technical groups will hold a meeting in the border city of Qasr-e Shirin within two weeks, and thirdly, a different technical committee on the two countries’ water borders will hold a meeting in Khorramshahr within three weeks,” Mottaki stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the Iranian and Iraqi border forces are stationed at “their places” near the Al-Fakkah oil field and expressed hope that the technical committee would start erecting the fences along the border to help everything revert to normal.

He went on to say that Tehran-Baghdad relations are friendly and based on respect.

Those who seek to benefit from undermining these relations will get nowhere, he added.

He made the remarks in response to the recent propaganda by some U.S. and Arab media outlets, which claimed that Iranian soldiers had crossed the Iraqi border and seized an Iraqi oil field.

However, Iran rejected the claims and announced that the well in question is not located in Iraqi territory.

The Al-Fakkah oil field is one of the many joint fields that Iran shares with Iraq. Iranian and Iraqi officials have concluded agreements over the past few months to develop the Paydar, Paydar-Gharb, Naftshahr, Azar, Dehloran, and Azadegan joint wells and other joint wells.

The two countries also recently agreed to set up an arbitration commission to clear up the misunderstanding over the borderline well.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari said, “We have agreed to normalize the border situation between the two countries and return to the previous situation.”

He described Mottaki’s visit to Baghdad as an “indication that there is an honest desire to find solutions to the border dispute.”

He went on to say that Baghdad is determined to expand its ties with Tehran.

On the Iraq-based terrorist group Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), Zebari said Baghdad will never allow any armed group to use Iraqi territory as a base to attack its neighbors.

He added that Baghdad has taken a series of measures to establish its sovereignty over Camp Ashraf, where the terrorists are currently being held.

The MKO has been listed as a terrorist organization by many international organizations and countries, including the United States.

The terrorist group targeted Iranian government officials and civilians in Iran and abroad in the early 1980s. The MKO also attempted an unsuccessful invasion of Iran in the last days of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in 1988.

In addition, the MKO was involved in massacres of Iraqis under the direction of the Baathist regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

During a separate meeting on Thursday, Mottaki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani discussed ways to improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

January 11, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

MKO terrorists , a serious problem for Iraq

In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister, Iraqi Prime Minister referred to Mojahedin-e Khlaq terrorist organization as a serious problem for Iraq which needs to be solved by taking serious measures.

Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranian foreign minister left Iran at the head of a diplomatic body for Baghdad Thursday morning. Meeting Iraqi prime minister, “Nouri Al-Maleki, emphasized on the existence of friendly relations between the two countries. He also stresses on the importance of elections as the means for stabilizing peace and security in the country.

Nouri Al- Maleki pointed out that the brotherly relations of Iran and Iraq in beneficial for both nations and region and requested for holding more meetings among the different technical committees.

At the end he also asserted that the presence of Mojahedin-e Khlaq in Iraq, which has caused too much harm for both Iranians and Iraqis, is considered as a serious problem and must be solved.

10. 01 . 2010 – edalat society

January 11, 2010 0 comments

Iran

No one can harm Iran, Iraq relations

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, after a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, stressed that Tehran’s relations with Baghdad is cordial and based on mutual respect.

Those who want to benefit from damaging Iran and Iraq relations will fail, Mottaki said after a meeting with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in Baghdad.

Mottaki’s remarks came in response to the recent hype by some American and Arab media outlets which claimed that Iranian soldiers had crossed into the Iraqi territory and seized an Iraqi oil field.

Iran rejected claims that its armed forces had taken control of the oil well within Iraqi borders, stressing that the well in question is not located on Iraqi soil.

The Fakkeh oil field is one of the many joint fields that Iran shares with Iraq. Iranian and Iraqi oil officials have concluded agreements over the past months to develop joint wells including Paydar, Paydar-Gharb, Naftshahr, Azar, Dehloran and Azadegan. The two countries have recently agreed to set up an arbitration commission to clear up the misunderstanding over the borderline well.

Mottaki went on to say that Tehran and Baghdad will hold talks on border demarcations from next week.

"There will be a meeting within a week between the two countries about the borders," Mottaki told a news conference in the Iraqi capital.

He noted that Iranian forces are stationed in "their original places" at the border, adding that the oil field offered an "opportunity for joint investment."

"The border forces of the two countries returned to their places and after the meetings of the technical committees … everything will revert back to normal," Mottaki added.
On his part, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari emphasized that Baghdad is determined to expand its ties with Tehran.

He added that Tehran and Baghdad agreed to "normalize border conditions and put back things as they were."

Regarding the Iraq-based terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), Zebari said Baghdad has no tolerance for any armed group using Iraqi soil to attack Iraq’s neighbors.

He added that Baghdad has taken a series of measures to promote its sovereignty over Camp Ashraf, where the terrorists are based.

The MKO has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by many international organizations and countries including the United States. The terrorist group targeted Iranian government officials and civilians in Iran and abroad in the early 1980s. The group also attempted an unsuccessful invasion of Iran in the last days of the Iraq-Iran war in 1988.

The MKO was also involved in the massacre of Iraqis under the Ba’athist regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Mottaki is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and other senior leaders during his one-day visit to Baghdad.

January 9, 2010 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

UK blamed for provoking violence in Iran

Alleged supporters of the Iranian opposition have asked the British government to stop the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorists from provoking violence in Iran.

Head of the Middle East Strategy Consultants in the UK, Massoud Khodabandeh, called on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to stop the MKO from fomenting violence by sending supportive messages to Iran’s opposition movement.

"We would expect that you act immediately to prevent the incitement to violence by the terrorist [MKO] from inside the UK," Khodabandeh, a former MKO member, wrote in a letter to Brown.
"In doing so you would remove from Iranian hard-liners their main excuse for crushing the people’s legitimate protests to bring about change in their own country."

Iran has blamed Britain, the US, the Zionist regime and the MKO of masterminding and supporting the riots that erupted after the presidential election in June 2009.

Tehran has also strongly condemned the interference of foreign countries in its internal affairs after the US and Britain praised the group of people who held anti-government protests on the Shia Muslim religious event of Ashura when people commemorate the 7th century martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson, Imam Hussein (PBUH).

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters who damaged public property, set trashcans on fire, and clashed with security forces.

In his letter to the British prime minister, Khodabandeh said that Britain’s tacit support of the MKO would endanger the government and its interests, UPI reported.

"Britain, following Washington’s lead, has put herself in a position where she is seen to support terrorism," he wrote. "This is not in our interests."

January 9, 2010 0 comments

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