The Iraqi lawmaker said that Baghdad is trying to find diplomatic ways to expel the group, and added,”If the US stops interfering in the expulsion process, the Iraqi government knows several peaceful ways to expel the group.”…A member of the Iraqi parliament on Wednesday blasted Washington’s political games in the region, including its support for the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) as a pressure lever against Iran.
Iraqi security forces have detained six members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in Camp Ashraf located north of the capital Baghdad.According to the Iraqi government, the MKO members were taken into custody for interrogation during Friday’s clashes with security forces.The Iraqi parliament has passed legislation, under which the government is obliged to expel members of the terrorist organization.
A spokesman for the UN High Commission on Refugees, Andrej Mahecic, said residents of Camp Ashraf could apply individually for refugee status, which would help them find a permanent home.But before that could happen, they would have to renounce violence as a means of achieving their goals, which some have refused to do, he added.Shahin Gobadi, a PMOI/MKO/MEK spokesman based in Paris, said the camp residents would be willing to move to the US or EU member states willing to grant them asylum.”We have no intention of staying in Iraq, but there has been no response,”he told the Reuters news agency.
..Iraq has ordered the exiled Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedeen of Iran [MKO/MEK/PMOI] to leave the country by the end of this year”We’re prepared to help the government of Iraq develop and execute a negotiated plan ..,”State Department spokesman Mark Toner said….When asked whether the plan could include having the camp’s members transferred to a third country where they would not be tortured or abused, Toner replied:”Conceivably, yeah.”
President jalal Talabani informed the European Union, Russian, and Turkish ambassadors in Iraq with the Iraqi stance toward the Mujahideen Khalq Organization and its presence in Iraq now.A presidential statement mentioned that political developments, regionally and internationally, were discussed during the meeting.
..Iraq’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it would probe claims that 34 residents of an Iranian dissident[MKO/MEK/PMOI] camp[Ashraf] died during an Iraqi military operation last week and suggested some may have been killed before troops moved in… Iraqi authorities have said three people were killed at Camp Ashraf on Friday when security forces responded to rock-throwing and threats by residents during an operation to reclaim land from the camp and return it to farmers. ..
The Iraqi government has set the deadline for members of Iranian dissident group being housed at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province to leave the country, stressing that they will be removed from the country by the deadline using”all means”available…ndicating that the Iraqi government was”taking into consideration the wish of the PMOI members to choose the country in which they wish to reside,”Dabbagh added:”We have to find a nation where they can go, and we will look to the U.N. to help.”
Iran called for the European Union (EU) to reform its approach towards terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO).”We expect all international organizations and countries, which claim they back human rights, to condemn terrorist acts without resorting to any dual-track political behavior,”said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday in his weekly briefing session with reporters.
The government reaffirms a previous commitment to deport MKO members, who are based on the New Iraq Camp, by end of this year, he said in a statement.The government”underscores importance of getting MKO out of the Iraqi territories by all means, including political and diplomatic, and in cooperation with the UN and international organizations..
Minister of State and Official Speaker of Government, Ali Dabbagh, said,”The Council of Ministers asserted its earlier decision to liquidate the presence of the Iranian Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), by the end of the current year.