Iraqi Justice Minister: Saddam used MKO mercenaries to suppress Iraqi people but we don’t address them out of revenge
Iraq’s Minister of Justice and his Iranian counterpart sign four judicial memoranda of understanding in Tehran
Iraq’s Minister of Justice Hassan Shammari, and his Iranian counterpart Morteza Bakhtiari, signed four judicial memoranda of understanding in Tehran.
Iran’s Mehr news agency today reported that “the Minister of Justice Morteza Bakhtiari, announced during their meeting that four memoranda of understanding with the Iraqi side had been signed. The first three memoranda of understanding, on judicial cooperation in civil affairs and human rights, on judicial cooperation in criminal cases, and the extradition and transfer of convicts, as approved by parliament, and a fourth memorandum of understanding covering the transfer of convicts which remained, awaiting authentication by the Islamic Shura Council.”
Bakhtiari pointed out that during the past year, 40 memoranda of understanding and close cooperation have been agreed with the Iraqi government.
During the meeting, the Minister of Justice thanked the Iraqi government for having the measure of the members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) opposition. He said, “Iran has had 12 thousand victims of [MEK] terrorism during the past 30 years, and the Iraqi government’s decision gives satisfaction to the families of the victims of the terrorist acts committed by the ‘monafeqin’ (hypocrites) [Mojahedin]. Through our knowledge of the ‘monafeqin’ we know they deal deceitfully with the Iraqi government and the United Nations.”
For his part, the Iraqi Minister of Justice said, “We have a special view of the Mojahedin. Saddam used them to suppress the uprising of the Iraqi people, and after the fall of Saddam, the organization continued its provocative practices. Even so, we do not address them out of revenge, and our actions are completely legal.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister of Justice replied to a question from an Iraqi Mehr News Agency correspondent on the number of Iranian prisoners in Iraq, saying that there are “400 Iranian prisoners in Iraq and all of them were arrested on charges of illegal entry into Iraq.”
Translated by Iran Interlink