The Iraqi government has ordered main members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) currently residing in Iraq to leave the country.
Baghdad announced in a statement on Sunday that MKO members at Camp Ashraf must close their training ground and leave in a”non-forcible”manner.
“Staying in Iraq is not an option for them,”the statement said.
The Iraqi government intends to take charge of the security of the terrorist training camp.
The MKO has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union. It was involved in terrorist operations against Iranian and Iraqi nationals following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and during the Iraq-Iran war from 1980-88.
After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, reports surfaced that Washington had long employed the MKO in launching espionage and violence-related activities in the region. The US fueled speculation on the issue by bringing the camp under its umbrella of protection.
[IMG] In recent months, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group. The White House disarmed members of the camp and seized more than 2,000 MKO tanks, armored personnel carriers and other weaponry. The MKO and anti-Iran lobbyists have been using claims that the group has been disarmed to demand the removal of the group from blacklists worldwide.
Iraqi government officials believe the terrorist group is playing a significant role in fueling violence and insecurity in their country. They have banned dealing with members of the MKO and have called on the US to end its support for the group.
Among the various terrorist activities carried out by the MKO is their massacre of Iraqi Kurds for their opposition to the last dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein — from whom the organization received financial support.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has long called for the expulsion of the MKO from Iraq.
In its recent statement, the Iraqi government warned MKO members residing in Camp Ashraf against carrying out activities whether legal or illegal”against any neighboring country”.
“Iraq will treat those in the camp in accordance with Iraqi law, Islamic values and international order,”the statement, issued by a delegation headed by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, concluded.