News

Demonstration to reject the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents

Demonstration to reject the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents to maintain peace and security

Muthanna – Hundreds of residents of Muthanna province met in the city of Samawah on Thursday to reject the transfer of the population of”Camp Ashraf”to their province, while local officials have renewed their rejection of the order and demanded the Iraqi government refrain from any decision to transfer them to the province.

Hundreds of demonstrators from the citizens and staff as well as school students, met in the concert hall (central Samawah) in the presence of the Governor and the President and members of the Al Muthanna Council, in addition to a number of tribal leaders and dignitaries in the province.

The protesters carried placards that carried dozens of expressions of condemnation and rejection of the idea of transferring the members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (the inhabitants of Ashraf camp) to Al Muthanna, and chanted clan songs to express their refusal to meet what they described as “murderers and thugs”…

Aswat al Iraq, Muthanna – Translated by Iran Interlink

December 13, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Media invited to witness MKO transfer from Camp Ashraf next Tuesday

The Government of Iraq has decided to move the residents of Camp Ashraf, all of which residents are members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, to another location which has not yet been disclosed.

The Government has invited the media to attend Camp Ashraf on the fifteenth day of December to cover the transfer of residents to the place allocated to them.

The issue of the MKO has been subject to protracted negotiations between the Government of Iraq and the U.S. over the fate of this organization which is classified as a terrorist group by both sides. The former Saddam Hussein’s regime gave it full protection and provided a camp, said to be the base for its [terrorist] activities. The organization’s members participated in military operations in favour of Saddam’s regime until its demise in 2003.

Wasat online, Baghdad, translated by Iran Interlink
http://www.wasatonline.com

December 13, 2009 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

US tells Iraq to treat MKO terrorists ‘with dignity’

MKO is notorious for its operations during the Iran-Iraq war and helping Saddam in the massacre of Iranians and Iraqi Kurds.

The United States urges Iraq to "act humanely and with respect" with members of an anti-Iranian terrorist group responsible for numerous bombings and assassination attempts against Iranians.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Friday that Washington hopes the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) will be treated humanely and do not end up in a country where they could be harmed following their removal from their bases at Camp Ashraf.

Camp Ashraf, is situated in the northern Iraqi province of Diyala near the Iranian border, to the southern province of Muthanna.

"What we would do, first and foremost, is to urge the Iraqi authorities to conduct any such relocation with the residents of Camp Ashraf, that it is done in a lawful and humane way," he said.

"The government of Iraq has assured us that they would not deport any of these citizens to any country where they would be having a well-grounded fear of being treated inhumanely," he added.
Kelley said he will further discuss the importance of this matter with the Baghdad government in future meetings. "We’re making it clear that we would expect… that the residents to be treated well and with respect."

His comments come after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday that his government has decided to relocate the terrorist group to a remote area in the southern part of the country before expelling them once and for all.

“Moving them to Nuqrat al-Salman (prison) is a step towards expelling them,” Maliki wrote in a question-and-answer session posted on a state website, Reuters reported.

“Their presence at Ashraf is a major risk because of the historical ties with some groups and political powers in that area, especially the [remnants] of the former regime and al-Qaeda,” he added.

The Mujahedin Khalq Organization, which blended elements of Marxism, Stalinism, and Feminism, took refuge in Iraq after they were exiled from Iran in the 1980’s on charges of terrorism.

They resided in Camp Ashraf in northern Baghdad for the past two decades and were lucky enough to receive protected status following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

However, control of the camp was handed over to Iraqi forces earlier this year and the Baghdad government stepped up efforts to expel the anti-Iran terrorists.

The Baghdad government had been warning for months that its patience with the grouplet was wearing thin.

In Iran, members of the Mujahiden-e Khalq organizations are regarded as traitors for siding with the Ba’ath regime during the Iraq-imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

The group became especially notorious after they masterminded a torrent of terrorist operations inside Iran, one of which was the 1981 bombing of the offices of the Islamic Republic Party, in which more than 72 Iranian officials were killed.

In Iraq, MKO is seen as “brainwashed cult from a high-trained terrorist organization” which assisted the Saddam regime in oppressing the Iraqi nation.

December 13, 2009 0 comments

USA

U.S. respects any Iraqi decision on MKO members

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said this week that members of the PMOI would be relocated from their Camp Ashraf U.S. urges caution with PMOI in Iraq
Washington respects any Iraqi decision regarding members of the dissident group People’s Mujahedin of Iran but urges caution, the U.S. State Department said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said this week that members of the PMOI would be relocated from their Camp Ashraf enclave in Diyala province first to Baghdad and then to a desert outpost in the Shiite south of the country.

The PMOI opposes the clerical regime in Iran. Washington lists the group as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of opposition, though the group surrendered is weapons in 2003 and now claims its policy is based on peaceful dissent.

Iraqi forces stormed the Camp Ashraf enclave when U.S. combat forces pulled out of major cities to their military bases earlier this year. Several Ashraf residents died during the raid.

The group claims Iraqi authorities are acting out against its members under pressure from Tehran.

Amnesty International said Baghdad gave the group until Tuesday to leave the camp or they could face deportation to Iran.

Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Friday that while Washington recognizes Iraq’s sovereign right to exercise authority over group, human rights should be observed.

"Diplomatically, we respect Iraqi sovereignty," he said. "But of course, we’re making it clear that we would expect the residents of Camp Ashraf to be treated well and with respect."

December 13, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq resolute to oust anti-Iran terrorists

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Baghdad is serious about forcing members of a terrorist anti-Iranian group out of his country.

Maliki said the Mujahedin-e Khlaq Organization (MKO), which have the blood of thousands of Iranian citizens on their hand, will be quarantined in a far-fetched region south of Iraq before leaving the country.

MKO members have to pack up and leave the camp to Noghra al-Salman in southern Iraqi province of Al-Mosana, the Iraqi prime minister said. Iraqi security forces raided Camp Ashraf, the terrorist group’s camp granted by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, two months ago and has called for their ouster.

MKO members have to pack up and leave the camp to Noghra al-Salman in southern Iraqi province of Al-Mosana, the Iraqi prime minister said.

Maliki said the transfer is a step forward towards their complete expulsion.

He said the group’s presence poses security threats to Iraqi as they can team up with members of Saddam’s Baath party.

MKO is known for their bloody, untargeted operations against Iranians after the victory of the 1979 Revolution.

December 13, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Washington backed MKO death threat for Iraqi network head

The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), an anti-Iran terrorist group based in Iraq, has threatened to assassinate the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), Hassan Salman.

The Board of Trustees has decided to take legal action against the MKO in an Iraqi court, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the IMN Board of Trustees has shown unanimous support for Salman. They urged the network’s legal department to take the threat seriously and file a lawsuit against the terrorist cult.

Salman has been an outspoken critic of the MKO, often airing his views openly on Iraqi television live broadcasts.

The MKO terrorists are especially notorious for taking sides with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.

The group masterminded a slew of terrorist operations in Iran and Iraq — one of which was the 1981 bombing of the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, in which 72 Iranian senior officials were killed.

Thousands of MKO members are now illegally residing in Iraq’s Camp Ashraf.

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Board of Directors ask Judiciary to investigate criminal Mujahedin Khalq

Following the death threats by the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist group made against the life of Mr. Hassan Salman, Head of Iraqi Media Network (IMN), the IMN Board of Directors have officially asked the judiciary to launch an investigation into the criminal activities of the Mojahedin Khalq (aka: Rajavi cult).

Board of Directors ask Judiciary to investigate criminal MKO

Head of Iraqi Media Network (IMN), the IMN Board of Directors have officially asked the judiciary to launch an investigation into the criminal activities of the Mojahedin Khalq

Translated by Iran-Interlink

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Nuri al-Maliki: Iraq to move Mojahedin Khalq to remote south

BAGHDAD – Iraq plans to uproot an Iranian exile group that has become a headache for the Baghdad government and move the activists to a remote southern area until it can expel them, the prime minister said this week. Moving them to Nuqrat al-Salman is a step towards expelling them (from Iraq)," Maliki

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to oust members of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition movement that the United States considers a terrorist organisation, from a camp northeast of Baghdad where they have been living for two decades.

Their clamor for greater rights within Iraq and aggressive international outreach has been an irritant for a government seeking to nurture its fragile relationship with Tehran.

Maliki did not say when officials would try to move the exiles from Camp Ashraf to the southern province of Muthanna.

"Moving them to Nuqrat al-Salman is a step towards expelling them (from Iraq)," Maliki wrote in a question-and-answer session posted on a state website. He was referring to a remote area that is home to a well-known prison. The entry was dated Dec. 7.

Iraqi forces clashed with residents in late July when they forcibly took control of the camp, which had been protected by U.S. troops since Saddam Hussein’s ouster in 2003.

The Iraqi government, which sees the camp’s 3,500 residents as enemies who enjoyed Saddam’s protection for years, is keen to force the PMOI out of Iraq but wants to avoid being seen as trampling the exiles’ rights or endangering their lives.

The PMOI began as an Islamist leftist group opposed to Iran’s late Shah, but fell out with Shi’ite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution and was crushed.

Mujahideen guerrillas carried out attacks against Iranian targets and collaborated with Baghdad in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Iran executed a large number of PMOI prisoners at the end of the war.

Maliki suggested the exiles would be less troublesome in largely Shi’ite Muthanna than they were in Diyala, an ethnically and religiously mixed province that remains volatile.

"Their presence at Ashraf is a major risk because of the historical ties with some groups and political powers in that area, especially the remains of the former regime and al-Qaeda," the prime minister said.

He dismissed objections to the move from local officials in Muthanna. "The province is a part of Iraq and it must assume its responsibility," Maliki said.

Reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Missy Ryan, editing by Paul Taylor

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to transfer Iranian dissident group to Baghdad

Iraq to transfer Iranian dissident group to Baghdad Iraq will move exiled Iranian dissidents based at a camp close to the border between the two countries to Baghdad, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

"We will move residents of Camp Ashraf to buildings in Baghdad on Tuesday," he said, without giving details.

The members of the People’s Mujahedeen have lived at Camp Ashraf, a refugee base in Diyala province north of the Iraqi capital, for more than 20 years.

Iraqi security forces launched an operation to take over the camp in July.

The group was founded in 1965 in opposition to the shah of Iran and subsequently fought the clerical regime that ousted him in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

About 3,500 Mujahedeen and their families have lived in Ashraf since former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the Iranian opposition to set up bases on his territory during his 1980-88 war with Tehran.

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, American forces disarmed the Mujahedeen in Ashraf and placed the residents under protection.

Iraq’s increasingly independent government has moved to take charge of the site.

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Al Rubaie: MKO members will be expelled

al Rubaie: Baath, al Qaeda want to show Iran as enemy

Former Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al Rubaie said the former Iraqi Baath ruling party and al Qaeda want to show Iran as enemy to find justification for their activities.

Al Qaeda and Baath party have always sought to make Iraq unstable and draw attention away from the fact that they are responsible for terrorist activities and killings in Iraq, he told ISNA.

“Baath party and al Qaeda are trying to show Iran as enemy of Iraq, in line with policies of Baath party, to have a justification regarding their measures in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.”

Also regarding the issue of Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group, he said Iraq still insists that members of the group should not stay in Iraqi territory and they need to be expelled based on determined standards.

Iraq wants the members of the group to be either returned to a third country without use of force or to Iran, he added.

Elsewhere, regarding Iraq-Iran borders, he said the borders are secure.

December 8, 2009 0 comments

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