Countdown for MKO Departure from Iraq

German authorities protest over MKO relocation in Koln

German media reported of an order issued to relocate a number of members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization from Iraqi Camp Liberty to Germany. The United Nation representatives and German government agreed to transfer 97 resident of Camp Liberty.

German newspaper, Kolner Stadt –Anzeiger published in Cologne reported that German government has ordered the city officials to receive 77 people of the refugees.

The 97 Liberty residents are among those who have already had refuge files in Germany. They had been sent to Iraq by the group during Saddam’s regime, according to the German daily.

The report adds that the city officials including Mr. Guido Kahlen the director of Cologne city council seriously protested the decision. They consider the presence of those people with records of military, terrorist and cult-like activities as a risk security of Koln citizens.

Based on the agreement signed by Iraqi government and the UN, members of the MKO who are currently residing in Camp Liberty near Baghdad, are supposed to be received by third countries as refugees. So far Albania has agreed on the relocation of 210 members of the group. About 80 of these residents have been already transferred to Albania.

October 2, 2013 0 comment

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Baghdad Determined to Expel All MKO Members

Commander of Iraqi Army First Lieutenant General Ali Ghaidan who is visiting Iran at the head of a military delegation said on Wednesday that Baghdad is determined to expel the remaining members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist organization. Ghaidan made the comment in a meeting with the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour in which the two top commanders also talked about joint combat against terrorism and border security.

The Iraqi commander who accompanied the Iraqi defense minister on his trip to Iran, referred to the recent clashes in Camp Ashraf — in which at least 50 MKO members were killed — and said his country is determined to get rid of MKO members for good.

He also praised the Islamic Republic of Iran’s progress in various field, particularly in military warfare and defense industries.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 13 thanked the Iraqi government for its measures to close Camp Ashraf, the main training base of the MKO terrorists, and called on Baghdad to expel the remaining members of the group.

On September 1 some 52 MKO members were killed in clashes at the camp, which the Iraqi authorities blamed on infighting among the camp’s 100 residents.

The notorious camp, which in its heyday housed thousands of MKO terrorists, was fully evacuated by the Iraqi authorities from its much-hated residents on September 11.

Camp Ashraf’s residents have been relocated to Camp Liberty, near Baghdad’s international airport, under a United Nations-brokered deal that wants them resettled in other countries. A total of 162 MKO members have been resettled abroad so far, mostly in Albania.

MKO members were involved in many terrorist activities in Iran before they went to Iran in 1986, where they found a true patron in Iraq’s deposed dictator Saddam Hussein who gave them shelter and arms.

They fought along Saddam forces in the war it had imposed on Iran (1980-1988) and later turned their guns against the Iraqi citizens who had revolted against the ruthless dictator in 1991.

September 28, 2013 0 comment

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq set to deport Mojahedin Khalq

The Iraqi government is planning to deport Iranian dissidents of an opposition movement in exile that had led a guerrilla campaign against the US-backed Iranian Shah during 1970s, which included attacks on US targets

BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi government is reportedly planning to deport Iranian dissidents of an opposition movement in exile, known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK), which had led a guerrilla campaign against the US-backed Iranian Shah during 1970s, which included attacks on US targets.

The UN called on the Iraqi government earlier to do all it can to protect the Iranian exiles left in a camp north of Baghdad after confirming that 52 people were killed there.

Iraq’s government wants to shut down the facility known as Camp Ashraf (Liberty) and transfer thousands of Iranian exiles living there to another camp out of the country as it is growing impatience with a UN coordinated effort to resettle them abroad.

Undersecretary of the Iraqi National Security Falih al-Fayyaz said the Iraqi government ran out of patience as there were no international efforts to resettle them outside Iraq.

“Iraqi government will put an end to this issue soon,” Fayyaz said. “We want concrete solutions to transfer them to different countries”.

The Iraqi government had moved 3,400 MEK members to Camp Liberty in Baghdad in 2012 under an agreement with the United Nations.

Anadolu Agency,

September 24, 2013 0 comment

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq to set deadline for the MKO expulsion

Faleh Fayyaz, the National Security advisor of the Iraqi government and head of the Iraqi committee for the closure of MKO case, visited US Ambassador and a group of European representatives on Sunday and Iraq to set deadline for the MKO expulsion informed them of the Iraqi government’s objection towards the MKO’s presence in the country.

Al Fayyaz reiterated: the MKO terrorists has no place in Iraq and the international society must be serious on their expulsion.

He added: the foreign organizations do not cooperate with Baghdad and at the special state meeting, Baghdad will set deadline for the group to leave.

Al Fayyaz underscored that during their presence in Iraq, mujahedin had no benefit for the country . “They should understand that they have no place in Iraq and must leave the country anyway.”

September 23, 2013 0 comment

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraqi MP: Iraqis Have Deep-Seated Hatred towards MKO

An Iraqi parliamentarian called for an immediate expulsion of all members of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from his country, and confirmed that the Iraqi nation has had a long-standing aversion to member of Iraq’s Parliament Abdul Hussein the notorious group.

The MKO terrorists must face trial as soon as possible and should also be expelled from Iraq entirely, member of Iraq’s Parliament Abdul Hussein Abdel-Azim al-Yasiri said, arguing that MKO members “have committed innumerable crimes against the Iranian and Iraqi nations.”

He went on to say that the Iraqi nation’s hatred of the notorious organization dates back to the era of the executed dictator Saddam Hussein, noting that people of the Arab country have been opposed to the presence of the MKO members on Iraqi soil since a long time ago.

His comments came after the notorious Camp Ashraf, which in its heyday used to house thousands of MKO terrorists in eastern Iraq, was fully evacuated from its few dozen residents by the Iraqi authorities.

The official end of MKO terrorist group’s activities in Camp Ashraf took place some days after clashes in the camp left at least 50 of them dead.

The remaining members of MKO terrorists were transferred from Camp Ashraf (now the Camp of New Iraq) to Camp Liberty, near Baghdad airport.

The MKO — listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community — fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, fought on the side of Saddam Hussein during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-88), and was given a camp by Saddam.

The group has been behind numerous acts of terror against Iranian civilians and officials, and was involved in the 1991 bloody repression of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq, and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the country’s north.

September 21, 2013 0 comment

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Zebari – presence of MKO terrorists in Iraq is no longer tolerable

Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari noted that the presence in Iraq of dissident groups and terror militants was no longer tolerable – directly referring to MKO members .

He called on the UN and Western countries to honor their promises and relocate all militants out of Iraq as soon as possible.

In a statement on Saturday, the United Nations office in Baghdad said Iraqi authorities are planning to relocate dozens of the MKO members from the camp (now Camp of New Iraq) where 52 residents were killed last week.

The UN office added that the authorities will transfer the remaining residents of Camp Ashraf in northeastern Iraq to another facility in the Baghdad area.

Also, Ali Mussawi, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, had stressed on Saturday that Baghdad has "the right to order them to leave."

Camp Ashraf houses members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (also known as MEK), which Baghdad says is in the country illegally.

Last week, over 52 terrorists, including top MKO commanders, were killed in an attack on Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s eastern Diyala Province.

The group has accused Iraqi troops of carrying out the assault.

The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has set up a probe into the incident. Iraqi officials say no Iraqi troops entered the camp.

The Iraqi officials said the violence began with infighting among camp residents. Others suggest explosions at the camp were triggered by mortar fire.

Some 3,000 MKO members were relocated to Camp Liberty on the outskirts of Baghdad last year but some 100 people stayed on at the camp.

In December 2011, the United Nations and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq.

The MKO is considered as a terrorist group since it has been behind many cases of bombings and assassinations against the Iranian officials and people

September 14, 2013 0 comment

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis demand expulsion of MKO remnants

On September 1, 2013, over 70 MKO terrorists, including top MKO commanders, were killed during an attack by a group of Iraqi people on Camp Ashraf.

Expulsion of the remnants of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq is a serious demand by the Iraqi nation, an Iranian lawmaker says.

“This shows that the Iraqi people’s patience is wearing thin and they seriously call for the expulsion of the remaining members of this grouplet from their homeland,” Mohammad-Saleh Jokar said on Monday.

Jokar, a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, was referring to the Sunday attack by a group of Iraqi people on MKO’s notorious terror Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s eastern Diyala Province.

Over 70 terrorists, including top MKO commanders, were killed during the incident.

Jokar noted that the Iraqi people are likely to wage more similar attacks on Camp Ashraf to take revenge on MKO for its atrocities in the country.

Although most MKO terrorists were forcibly transferred from Camp Ashraf to the former US-held Camp Liberty near Baghdad months ago, around 100 members had remained in the camp.

This is while the Iraqi government has repeatedly expressed its desire to expel all the terrorists from the country, but it came under intense pressure by the US and the United Nations to remain their host until a third country offers to accept them.

The MKO — listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community — fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s then-dictator Saddam Hussein and set up a terror camp near the Iranian border.

The group is notorious for carrying out numerous acts of terror against Iranian civilians and officials, involvement in the 1991 bloody repression of Shia Muslims in southern Iraq, and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the country’s north under Saddam.

In December 2011, the United Nations and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to Camp Liberty — a former US military base near Baghdad International Airport.

Tehran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the terrorist group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.

September 5, 2013 0 comment

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

The MKO has no way but to leave Iraq

Referring to the pressure from MKO leaders on their group’s members to stay in Iraq, an Iraqi parliamentarian said the MKO has no way but to leave the country.

As reported by Habilian Association, accusing the terrorist MKO group of undermining their expulsion process, Qayda Kambash, Iraqi parliamentarian of Al-Iraqiya list said: "The reason of delay in expulsion of MKO members from Iraq is the pressure from MKO leaders on their members."

Ms Kambash also accused MKO leaders of misusing their group’s members as human shields and a pressure leverage to remain in Iraq.

The Iraqi Parliament member added: "The Mujahedin e-Khalq Organization has no way but to leave Iraq." She continued: "MKO leaders’ fear of devastation of their group has led them to use Ashraf and Liberty residents as human shields to protect their own lives. That is why the group has resorted to lies, deception and suppression of own members."

The UN has frequently criticized MKO leaders for their pressure on group’s members to stay in Iraq and also for the lack of cooperation in finding a way for them to leave the country.

August 4, 2013 0 comment

MEK Camp Ashraf

The Future of a Terrorist Bastion

The military and cult bastion of the terrorist MKO is nearing the end of its days as one of the most controversial spots in Iraq. The last remaining group of the members, a total of 100, will be forced out sooner or later and leaves the camp in the hands of the local authority in Diyala Province. The province’s administration has unveiled a recent judicial decision by Baghdad courts to empty Camp Ashraf and hand it over to the local administration who have announced on several occasions the intention to turn it into a tourist attraction and a large commercial exchange center between the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Baghdad.

In a latest press conference, Uday AlKhadran, Khalis Mayor, told that an Iraqi court has transferred the authority of the site to the local administration of Khalis which plans to build a mall in there once all MKO terrorists are expelled from the Camp.

“The Camp of New Iraq (Ashraf) still accommodates 100 members of the MKO members, and the rest have already been transferred at the order of the UN to the transient facility in Camp Liberty in Northern Baghdad during the last year in preparation for housing them in other countries”. He further pointed to “the suspicious political activities of Ashraf residents who refused to sell the property of Camp Ashraf in accordance with their earlier agreement with the Iraqi government, despite receiving attractive offers from Iraqi and foreign traders and companies”.

It has to be pointed out that not all the claimed properties and assets in Camp Ashraf have a function of legal and civil purpose and many of the vehicles, instruments and machineries allocated to the group by the ousted dictator belong to Iraqi army and people living in the vicinity. In fact, the group brought nothing when it came to Iraq and all it claims to possess is out of the bundles of dollars Saddam allocated to it from the pocket of the Iraqi people when they needed the sums more than any other time.

Since the fall of Saddam, the Iraqi lawyers have filed complaints on behalf of Iraqi people and particularly by farmers living in Diyala province whose crop lands have been occupied by the group. In fact, the closure of Camp Ashraf was a legal demand by the Iraqi government and the local people, to whom the lands belong. Naturally, MKO as the occupier is reluctant to return what it had seized under the direct order of the ousted Saddam.

July 23, 2013 0 comment

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Kurdistan region opposing MKO’s presence in Iraq

A senior Iraqi Kurdish politician underlined the need for the expulsion of terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, NCRI and PMOI) from Iraq.

“The government in Erbil is in agreement with the central government in Baghdad over the expulsion of the MKO (from Iraq) and it opposes their presence of any kind in Iraq,” Secretary of Iraqi Kurdistan’s Democrat Party (affiliated to Masoud Barezani) Fazel Mirani told Habilian Association.

“Removal of the MKO from US list of terrorist groups is not tantamount to Iraq’s willingness for their continued presence in the country; the Kurdish people have sustained many sufferings from the group under the previous regime,” Mirani said.

He noted that Iraq’s Kurdish lawmakers support the central government’s decision for ending the MKO’ presence in Iraq with the coordination of the UN.

The MKO group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly-established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar and Judiciary Chief Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who eventually took the MKO off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September 2012, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

In September 2012, the last groups of the MKO terrorists left Camp Ashraf, their main training center in Iraq’s Diyala province. They have been transferred to Camp Liberty which lies Northeast of the Baghdad International Airport.

July 16, 2013 0 comment

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