Regarding the position of Dyala province in Iraq’s developments, one can understand why Saddam Hussein settled the MKO in this province.
One of the advantages of this province is that it houses Baath forces and pro-Saddam tribes who also work as a protective circle around MKO.
This advantage has been maintained and that’s why terrorists’ headquarters, and even the shelter of Zarqawi, is located in this province.
Hebheb region, where Zarqawi lived, is one of Baqubah districts next to Camp Ashraf. MKO was in touch with this region, and kept the contact even after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
After the ouster of Saddam, this region witnesses several events, the reason of which can be understood now.
After an increase in insurgency, Iraqi intelligence services and interior ministry focused on Diyala and Baqubah in particular. This focus was suspicious since most of insurgency took place in Fallujah and Al-Ramadi. However, Iraqi officials were looking for the roots of the problems in this region due to the intelligence.
This emphasis was so strong that even an analyst said he believed that pro-Iran Shiite forces were active in the region because of the presence of MKO in the same region!
On the other hand, influential figures from SCIRI, Interior Ministry and other units were assassinated in this province so that the intelligence war between Iraqi officials and Al-Qaeda members overtook military war.
Anyway, directing the US forces towards the shelter of Zarqawi and killing him, which was the result of months of intelligence operations, clarified many issues.
In this regard, Mojahedin-e khalq repeatedly tried to disrupt the operations of Interior Ministry in the province.
Once (in 2005), Mojahedin prepared a bulletin about the intelligence operations of Interior Ministry in Iraq and exposed all intelligence efforts for tracking Al-Qaeda members in Dyala only with this excuse that they considered these operations as threat for their organization!
They even went further and proposed the formation of a special security unit to control the province!
It’s notable that the brutal gang of Al-Qaeda, who kills everyone- from men and women, kids and … to Iraqi and non-Iraqi reporters and even the workers of Camp Ashraf (only because they were being escorted by coalition forces) – has done nothing against the residents of Camp Ashraf or the guards who protect it!
Zarqawi appreciated MKO officials for their efforts against Shiites and the forces of interior ministry and considered them as a potential army in the war against Iran; he conveyed satisfaction from MKO through Baathists.
Irandidban, June 19, 2006