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Zebari: Iraq has fulfilled its obligations to the UN over MKO removal

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari , said the United Nations needs to speed up the resettlement of the residents of Camp Liberty (formerly Ashraf ) out of Iraq, saying that the Iraqi government has fulfilled all its Zebari: Iraq has fulfilled its obligations to the UN over MKO removal obligations in this respect.

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said that “Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari today received Jane Holl Lute, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to resettle the residents of Camp Liberty outside Iraq, who was accompanied by Georgi Euston, Deputy Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations ( UNAMI ), in Baghdad. The statement noted that “during the meeting, the two sides reviewed the UN’s efforts through UNAMI to speed up the resettlement of the residents of Camp Liberty outside Iraq.”

In the statement Zebari emphasized “Iraq’s support for all efforts in this area and the Iraqi government’s provision of all humanitarian facilities”, emphasizing also the importance of “speeding up the resolution of this issue and putting an end to their presence through their resettlement in other host states, and the importance of continuing with communication and consultation with all parties until the issue is resolved.”

Zebari noted that “the government has fulfilled all its obligations towards the UN and recently made a financial contribution of half a million dollars to a trust fund proposed by the UN Secretary-General to cover costs relating to the transfer of the residents of the camp to third countries; a material declaration of the government’s position on the issue of removing all the camp residents from the country ” .

Alsumaria News, Translated by Iran Interlink

February 20, 2014 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Al-Motallebi denounced as dishonourable Western politicians who get paid by MKO

Iraqi political analyst condemns MKO supporters

An Iraqi political analyst and advisor to the country’s prime minister denounced some countries’ support for the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, a.k.a. MKO) as “dishonorable”. Iraqi political analyst condemns MKO supporters

Referring to the delay in MKO’s expulsion from Iraq, Sa’ad al-Motallebi told Habilian’s correspondent in Iraq that the reason for this delay is the lack of commitment of those countries who had previously expressed willingness to take them in their countries.

He also made a reference to the politicians supporting the MKO and said, “Some politicians who have received money from the MKO not only supports the group but they also act on their behalf.”

The political expert said the reluctance of countries to accept these individuals in their countries may be due to the fact that these countries regard MKO members with suspicion.

Al-Motallebi underlined the necessity of the UN’s assistance in this issue, adding, “the UN has committed to lend a hand to Iraq in the expulsion of this group.”

He finally asserted that MKO members are not eligible for asylum in Iraq and Baghdad has the right to “expel them wherever in the world.” “But Baghdad has agreed to do the job in cooperation with the UN due to humanitarian issues.

February 19, 2014 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Families demanding, relocate the bodies to Iran

Mojahedin Monitor has learned that there are negotiation going on, on behalf of the families of late MEK and the Iraqi government. The goal of the negotiation is to return the bodies and remaining of dead MEK Families demanding, relocate the bodies to Iran members from Camp New Iraq formerly known as Ashraf military base of MEK.

Sources close to the families of foot MEK say that they are demanding the return of bodies and remaining of the group members into Iran .Ex Mek members believe that some 100 bodies are left Inside the camp in its graveyard and elsewhere.

This is the first time that MEK family members who have lost a loved one in Iraq are demanding the return of the body. One family member who lives in Iraq has told us, we were not there when he was injured and died. Now we want our son`s body back and that is our legal right. We are going to pay for any expenses.

In recent years families of many MEK members have traveled to Iraq and demanded visit with their children who are still in kept by MEK. Although according to the rules of MEK any family visit is taboo and is prohibited. MEK leaders not only didn’t allow their members to visit their families but also had some of their high rankings to throw stones to these families and call them spy.

Another family member of a late MEK from North America has told Mojahedin Monitor, We don’t know how our lovely brother was killed. We never received any official documents or truth about it. An MEK Official called us and just told us that he was killed during the bombings of Iraq. Now we don’t want his remaining body to be in Iraq where before was camp Ashraf. We want his body to be returned to Iran and to be close to our family where we can visit him. I don’t think that he rests in peace in Iraq.

According to ex members of the group some members of MEK are killed under torture or disappeared because they were not agreed with the policies of the leaders of the cult like group. Whereabouts of their graves and more information about their cause of death demands cooperation of Iraqi government with the families.

February 17, 2014 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Parliament asks government to expedite the MKO expulsion

Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee asks government to expedite the expulsion of Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) – blames UN for the delay

Iraq’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee asked the government to expedite the expulsion of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and to finally close the file on them, and indicated that the United Nations has been responsible for the delay until now.

Committee member Imad Yohana said, “The decision to deport the MEK from Iraq should also be examined by the government and parliament, because in the situation that they are deported without a place to go, this will affect the international reputation of Iraq.”

He explained that “the existence of the organization on Iraqi soil until now is the United Nations’ fault; because they cannot find alternative solutions to house them in other places as they have promised.”

The government evacuated Camp Ashraf in Diyala province in the summer of 2013 and has transferred more than 3,000 troops to Camp Liberty in the west of Baghdad.

The government took the decision to finally terminate the existence of this organization on Iraqi territory in the past year as it is a terrorist organization.

Iraqi Media Network , Translated by Iran Interlink

February 15, 2014 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

While the French try to expel MKO, US changes law to save their terrorist cult

[Iran Interlink: ] On 26th January a demonstration and picket was organised in front of the mayor’s office in Auvers sur Oise, just outside Paris, demanding the expulsion of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq organisation from the country. At first, the mayor, who is a long term supporter of the MEK, tried to stop the picket. But he soon backed off when he realised there were many local dignitaries among the protestors. He then tried to play it down and act innocent about the MEK’s presence. Demonstrators carried placards and banners and distributed leaflets pointing out the past and present violent nature of the MEK in Iran, Iraq and the EU including France. The Peace Association, a French association, has gained momentum since then and many French citizens have joined since the picket at Auvers and it has become a nationwide movement as French people are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of having this group on their soil, particularly as the MEK is now being expelled from Iraq, and the French do not want their headquarters in their country. The demonstrators were confronted by aggressive MEK security members who issued death threats and violence. Police are investigating several complaints.

In another development, Obama has announced that he will use his CEO powers to bypass others in order to allow the likes of the MEK and Al Qaida to gain visas and freedom of movement to his country. News before this suggested that the Americans were bending over backwards to find a closed camp in Romania to replace Camp Liberty in Iraq so that the MEK can be kept together. The UN, which is in charge of this issue, has announced that the problem with moving this group out of Iraq is the insistence of the MEK leaders and their backers on keeping the group intact and their refusal to recognise the individual rights of the members. Journalist Mark Glenn had an interview with Press TV which exposes the dark side of this decision by the US Administration.

Obama use of CEO powers, a dark question mark: journalist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Glenn, author and journalist, Idaho about President Obama using his executive powers to ease rules for potential asylum seekers in the US who support or fond of terrorist groups.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: I’d like to get your views on this recent decision, which in a way gives asylum and refuge to those complicit with terrorist organizations.

Glenn: Well, I think we can be rest assured that this is going to be a case of selective decision making in terms of who’s allowed in and who isn’t.

Certainly anybody who had given any kind of support to Hezbollah or Hamas or to any groups that are deemed the wrong type of terrorists as far as American foreign policy and of course Israel’s designs in the Middle East are concerned will not be given asylum. That’s the first thing to know.

The second thing, obviously as you pointed out in your run-up to the question, organizations such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO), to al-Qaeda and to all of these other groups, the United States has been supporting in terms of material, in terms of training, funding and all the rest of it.

This is a very dark question mark that is left on this equation here as to why Barack Obama at this point would actually be circumventing the power of Congress and using executive orders in order to bring something like this about, given the fact that the United States now because of its direct support for terrorist groups such as those operating in Syria, I cannot imagine something like this is going to augur well for the American people.

Press TV: There is also as some observers of this situation see a bit of inconsistency with the United States’ decisions of this sort. I recall just a few weeks back, high-ranking intelligence officials expressed concern about insurgents and those who are involved in insurgency for example overseas in Syria would actually be a threat to national security and US citizens on their soil – and now this.

Glenn: Exactly.

We had not only the Director of the FBI, but also the head of national intelligence I believe who was test-firing in front of Congress saying that these groups in Syria posed a direct threat to the national security of the United States.

And now we have the president himself threatening to use his powers as Chief Executive Officer of the United States to allow those who supported these people into the country.

At this point as I said, we don’t know exactly what the secondary ramifications of this are and what these people are planning to do in bringing about political decisions like this, but it certainly cannot be good.

Press TV, February 11 2014

February 13, 2014 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US may give asylum to MEK, Al-Qaida terrorists

US eases rule for asylum seekers who support terror groups

The Obama administration has unilaterally eased the rules for would-be asylum-seekers and refugees who the United States says have given “limited material support” to terrorist groups.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department now say people with links to terrorists or terrorist groups are no longer automatically banned from entering the United States.

The DHS said in a statement that the rule change, made last week and not in concert with Congress, gives the administration more discretion on immigration.

Under the new rules, people seeking refugee status, asylum and visa, and those who want to expand their visa, still will be checked to make sure they do not pose a threat to national security, the department said.

The move marks one of President Barack Obama’s first steps towards altering immigration rules since promising to take more executive actions in his State of the Union address last month.

A provision in immigrant law, enacted since Sept. 11, 2001, had affected anyone considered to have give support to terrorists.

The new decision could pave the way for networks like the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), and al-Qaeda-linked foreign insurgents fighting in Syria to seek asylum in the US.

The US government has already taken the MKO off its terror watch list.

February 12, 2014 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Rajavi’s Pal, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen helped fugitive embezzlers

Miami – A Republican US congresswoman known for supporting terrorists also helped a pair of Ecuadorean brothers convicted of embezzlement as they attempted to establish United States residency.

The Daily Beast reports Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), while acting as chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to federal agencies on behalf of William and Roberto Isaias, who once ran the Ecuadorean bank Filanbanco before being convicted in absentia in Ecuador of embezzling more than $100 million as the bank collapsed. The brothers never spent any time in prison because they fled to the United States, where they remain today even as the threat of extradition grows. But the Isaias brothers have friends in high places. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who is being targeted by an FBI investigation for alleged corruption related to the case, made phone calls and sent letters in support of their residency request.

Members of the Isaias family have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of numerous lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. While the fugitive brothers cannot donate directly because they are not US citizens, their American relatives can and have given generously to Ros-Lehtinen, Menendez and others. In addition to Ros-Lehtinen, who received $20,000 from the family, and Menendez, who got $10,000 for his 2012 campaign. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) received at least $7,500 in 2012, according to FEC records. Both Ros-Lehtinen and Menendez deny any quid pro quo with the fugitive brothers.

“As a member who represents the area where the Isaias brothers live and during my tenure as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I sent letters to US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State, as I do for many constituents,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Daily Beast in a statement. “The Isaias family contacted my office and, as is standard practice, we forwarded the constituent’s concerns to the appropriate federal agencies.”

This is not the first time Rep. Ros-Lehtinen has helped a convicted criminal enter or remain in the United States. She is a staunch supporter of Cuban terrorists exiled in South Florida, including some who have carried out deadly attacks against innocent civilians. Orlando Bosch, now deceased, and Luis Posada Carriles masterminded, among many other deadly attacks, the 1976 bombing of Cubana Airlines Flight 455, which killed 73 innocent passengers and crew, many of them teenagers.

According to the US Justice Department, “for 30 years Bosch has been resolute and unwavering in his advocacy of terrorist violence… He has repeatedly expressed and demonstrated a willingness to cause indiscriminate injury and death.”

But to the fiercely anti-communist, anti-Castro Ros-Lehtinen, Bosch and Posada Carriles are heroes, freedom fighters worthy of the official ‘Orlando Bosch Day’ celebrated in Miami in 1982 in honor of the convicted terrorist. Ros-Lehtinen, then a state senator running for Congress, made the campaign to free Orlando Bosch (he was arrested after escaping from a Venezuelan prison and entering the US illegally) one of her signature election issues. She turned to her campaign manager, a well-connected young real estate developer named Jeb Bush, to get Bosh out of jail. Bush, in turn, lobbied his father, President George H. W. Bush, and Bosch was released for “humanitarian reasons” and allowed to live in Miami.

Ros-Lehtinen has also publicly voiced her support for Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK), a then-State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization of Iranian dissidents who once assassinated numerous US officials and carries out attacks inside Iran with US and Israeli assistance. She also backs the brutal, conservative Honduran regime, now led by President Juan Orlando Hernandéz, which has been slammed by international human rights groups for its widespread murder, violence, terrorism, corruption and other abuses.

Brett Wilkins, Digital Journal

February 8, 2014 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq, UN, EU agree to move 3164 MEK to Romania

Iraq has reached an agreement with the United Nations and the European Union to move the remaining members of the Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) to the Romanian territories as soon as possible. Iraq, UN, EU agree to move 3164 MEK to Romania

The Iraqi Government had discussed with the European Union Ambassadors, the agreement between Iraq and the UN to move the remaining MEK members in Liberty camp (located near the capital Baghdad) to a third country, as it became impossible for the MEK to remain in Iraq after having information regarding their involvement in cooperating with Saddam Hussain in oppression of 1991 revolution in Iraq.

MP from the State of Law, Foud al-Duraki said in a statement to PUKmedia that the third country had been agreed on by Iraq, UN and EU which shall be Romania. “the Iraqi Government do not want MEK members to stay in Iraq, as they participated in oppression of 1991 revolution in Iraq with the former regime” al-Duraki added.

The Iraqi Government had designated $500 thousand to transport the MEK members from Iraq, Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Muhammad al-Shaya’a announced. Another € 22 million (EUR) from the European Union shall also be designated to transport MEK members out of Iraq.

3164 members of the MEK, had been transported to Huriya camp under the supervision of UNAMI to be moved to a third country (Romania).

Reported by Nazik Muhammad from Baghdad,PUKmedia

February 6, 2014 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Report Discloses MKO’s Ties with French Counterintelligence

The terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) has been reporting its activities and operations in Iraq as well as the status quo in the country to the French counterintelligence agency every two weeks for years, a report revealed on Monday.

The MKO leaders were called to the headquarters of the French counterintelligence agency every two weeks to present their intelligence on the situation in Iran, Habilian Association – a human rights NGO representing the families of 17,000 Iranian terror victims – said quoting a report from the Lebanese al-Nahar daily.

“We have had good relations with the French government since 2002 and had regular contacts with the French counterintelligence agency, interior ministry and president’s office,” Spokesman of the MKO in France Afshin Alawi told the AFP according to al-Nahar.

“The counterintelligence agency had some meetings with us at its headquarters so that we present our reports on the events in Iran,” he added.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution 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 the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by the 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.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who eventually took the MKO off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September 2012, one week after the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

February 4, 2014 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Senior Politician Voices Pleasure over MKO Expulsion

A prominent Iraqi politician described the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) as a big cancerous tumor being cut off from his country.

“The MKO is like a cancer that Iraq has been afflicted with, but uprooting it is nearly complete and it has reached its final days,” former Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie told FNA on Sunday.

He pointed to meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs as one of MKO’s goals, and said, “This grouplet should have been driven out from Iraq and its members should have been handed over to the Iranian government many years ago.”

Al-Rubaie reiterated that there is no other option left for Iraq, but to expel the MKO members.

In January, Iraqi Prime Minsiter Nuri al-Maliki underlined his government’s resolve to speed up efforts to expel the MKO members from Iraq.

Speaking in a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad, Maliki blamed the UN for prolonging the presence of the MKO members in Iraq.

“We have again repeated our demand from the UN on the necessity for transferring the members of the MKO from Iraq since their remaining entails huge costs for Iraq,” he said.

“The presence of the MKO members is illegal based on all criteria and standards and the Iraqi people are dissatisfied with their presence,” Maliki underlined.

Earlier, Ban Ki-moon appointed a former US Homeland Security Undersecretary as his special advisor for relocation of the MKO members from Camp Liberty in Iraq.

According to Habilian Association, Jane Holl Lute’s appointment came after two years of quite fruitless painstaking efforts of the UN’s refugee agency and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq for the resettlement of MKO members in third countries.

“Holl Lute will work with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular the (UN) Member States, to assist in relocating the camp residents,” read a statement from Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, adding that she will also collaborate with Nickolay Mladenov, the UN representative in Iraq.

Also last month, the UNHCR said 1,400 MKO members in Iraq are ready for relocation to third countries.

Former UN Special Representative had formerly asserted that finding homes for the MKO members “is the most difficult part of the story.”

The last group of MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf, now called Camp New Iraq, was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join other members of the terrorist group in the former US-held Camp Liberty, now called Camp Hurriya, near Baghdad International Airport where they are awaiting relocation to other countries.

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.

February 3, 2014 0 comments

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