The MEK as crisis mongers

French security forces arrest 16 MKO terrorists

French security forces have arrested 16 members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) following clashes with a number of defectors in Paris.

According to a Sunday report published by the Habilian Association, an Iranian human rights NGO comprising a group of families that have lost their beloved ones in terrorist acts during the early years following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, several MKO defectors staged a rally in the Saint-Michel square in the southern suburbs of Paris on Friday to voice their resentment at the terrorist activities of the anti-Iran group.

They were, however, confronted by a number of MKO members wielding knives, snap-off blade cutters, chains and baseball bats.

Police later intervened to contain the violence, detained all 16 MKO members and sent them to judicial custody.

On June 17, 2007, over 50 MKO members attacked a public meeting in Paris at which several people were injured. The attackers filmed their activities at the scene. It was later revealed that the assault had been orchestrated by top MKO leaders.

According to French police, the assailants had been transferred from other European countries to France. None had French documents and some even had false papers.

The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up a camp near the Iranian border.

The group is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and carrying out the massacre of the Iraqi Kurds. It has carried out numerous acts of violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

June 25, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

A Negative Response to Terrorists’ Incessant Preconditions

The State Department is warning MKO not to bargain over the humanitarian issue of relocation

No doubt, terrorism is a common problem and all measures have to be undertaken to lower the level of its threat with a focus on preventive measures. But to see a terrorist group setting precondition for the continuation of its cooperation in a process to fulfill another unconventionally reached agreement with it is a new phenomenon. It appears that even all parties engaged in the process of relocating MKO’s members from its military camp, Camp Ashraf, to the Temporary Transit Location TTL near Baghdad have grabbed the truth that the group is contriving a serious battle against them. That is because so far all efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff are being rebuffed by MKO’s strict set of conditions to resume a negotiation to comply with the already agreed transfer process.

All the parties involved are unanimous that the issue of relocation of the residents in Camp Ashraf is a purely humanitarian issue that should be made as easy and peaceful as possible to accomplish, notwithstanding MKO is blacklisted a FTO. In December 2011, Ambassador Daniel Fried, Special Advisor for Camp Ashraf for the State Department, made the cause clear and promised to monitor the process of the transfer: “Embassy Baghdad will visit former Camp Liberty on a frequent basis to provide robust observation. The US seeks a safe, secure, humane resolution. Our interest is humanitarian”. But MKO is grabbing at the issue as an opportunity to force the State Department to remove it from its terrorist blacklist.

The process has reached a stalemate since MKO stopped convoys of Camp Ashraf residents to TTL after the relocation of the fifth group in early May. Since then, it has minimized its contact with the Iraqi government and other involved parties and has focused on widespread propaganda warfare to impose its set six preconditions to resume the transfer. Amongst these publicly-declared conditions is a call for the State Department to inspect Camp Ashraf, “U.S. will inspect Camp Ashraf as soon as possible”, a task the US has announced to carry out following the complete evacuation of Camp Ashraf in a two month-long span. The result will be instrumental in convincing the State Department to review MKO’s re-designation.

Apparently fed up with MKO’s procrastination and enraged by its sets of preconditions, particularly the one calling for the inspection of Camp Ashraf, Victoria Nuland, the Department Spokesperson, in a statement released on June 18 urged MKO “to resume full cooperation immediately with the Iraqi Government and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)”. The statement adds, “Constructive offers must be met with a constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in dialogue. Recent publicly-declared conditions for cooperation, including calls for the Department to inspect Camp Ashraf as a precondition for further relocations to Camp Hurriya, are an unnecessary distraction.”

MKO considers the court ruling giving the State Department four months to announce its final decision over the group’s terrorist tag as a gained victory to have the upper hand in any dealing. The illusion fostered mostly when some European high-profile personalities congratulated the halfway, unpromising court ruling, as a decisively issued ruling. However, an American official believes that “the group’s leaders may have overinterpreted the U.S. court ruling as a guarantee that it would escape the terrorist list”. In fact, the State Department is delivering a message to MKO forewarning that it is gravely mistaken to strike any bargain with the Iraqi government and the US over the humanitarian issue of the residents; it is warned that it has no other option but to follow through on plans to resume the process of relocation as planned.

June 21, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO Working Through Senate to Sabotage Iran Diplomacy

Washington, DC – Affiliates of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, are claiming to be behind a major letter from the Senate aimed at curtailing U.S. MKO Working Through Senate to Sabotage Iran Diplomacy diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute.

The letter, sent last week by forty-four Senators, calls for President Obama to abandon any further diplomatic efforts with Iran unless stringent preconditions are immediately met. While many assumed that the prominent American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby was behind the letter, MEK-affiliates are now taking some of the public credit.

The lead author of the letter, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), enjoys ties to the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, an MEK-affiliate that released a statement supporting the letter.

The group claimed, “More than 30 Iranian-American communities, associations, organizations and professional entities representing and encompassing tens of thousands of naturalized Iranian-American citizens from across the United States lent their support to the bipartisan letter.”

As a U.S.-designated terrorist group, the MEK cannot technically operate inside of the country. However, a network of affiliate groups that “support” the MEK have operated with relative impunity to lobby Congress and to organize a public pressure campaign to remove the group from the terror list. A number of former U.S. officials who have received payment to advocate for the MEK have been subpoenaed as part of a federal investigation into the MEK’s U.S. operations.

Senator Blunt recently sponsored and participated in a pro-MEK event on Capitol Hill in May, organized by the Missouri group. The briefing featured many of the same former government officials now under federal investigation.

While the MEK’s public efforts have focused largely on pressuring the Obama Administration to remove the group from the terror list, the MEK is also apparently taking a more public role in working to influence U.S. policy regarding the Iranian nuclear dispute.

U.S. officials have also stated that the MEK, working with the Israeli Mossad, is responsible for the recent bombings inside Iran aimed at nuclear scientists.

While the MEK’s terror designation and federal investigations has not curtailed the group’s influence on Capitol Hill, there are indications that the organization has become emboldened by a recent U.S. court decision initiated by its supporters. The court ruled that Secretary of State has until October 1 to decide whether to keep the MEK on the terror list. If Secretary Clinton does not render a decision, the court says it will remove the group itself.

That has prompted the MEK to renege on a deal with U.S. and international negotiators to peacefully relocate out of its disputed Camp Ashraf compound in Iraq, where the group is based. The State Department had suggested the MEK’s cooperation in relocating would weigh heavily on any decision regarding the group’s terror listing. The MEK had finally appeared to accept the terms for relocation, but following the recent court ruling has reportedly stonewalled the process.

U.S. officials say they are concerned that, if MEK does not leave the compound, the Iraqi military will attempt to remove the group by force. U.S. officials have said they are concerned the MEK believes it can now play out the clock and get removed from the terror list without cooperating at Camp Ashraf. The MEK is believed to want to retain the compound to stage attacks inside of Iran and to protect its leadership from prosecution, and has threatened mass suicides by its rank and file members if forced to leave the compound.

June 20, 2012 0 comments

USA

State Department urges immediate full cooperation of MKO

State Department urges immediate full cooperation of Mojahedin Khalq with the Iraqi Govenment and U.N.

Concern about Camp Ashraf

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 18, 2012

The United States remains concerned about the situation at Camp Ashraf and urges the residents of Camp Ashraf to resume full cooperation immediately with the Iraqi Government and United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). The United States also urges the Iraqi Government to intensify its efforts to fulfill its commitments to provide for the safety, security, and humanitarian treatment of the residents.

With almost 2,000 former Camp Ashraf residents now relocated to Camp Hurriya, the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf is achievable, but requires continued patience and practical engagement to be realized. Constructive offers must be met with a constructive spirit, and not with refusals or preconditions to engage in dialogue. Recent publicly-declared conditions for cooperation, including calls for the Department to inspect Camp Ashraf as a precondition for further relocations to Camp Hurriya, are an unnecessary distraction.

The United States has made clear that cooperation in the closure of Camp Ashraf, the Mujahedin-e Khalq’s (MEK’s) main paramilitary base, is a key factor in determining whether the organization remains invested in its violent past or is committed to leaving that past behind. We fully support the path laid out by the United Nations for the peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf along with sustainable solutions for its former residents. The Camp residents and their leadership – both in Iraq and in Paris – should recognize this path as a safe and humane resolution to this situation. Only a peaceful implementation of the Iraqi government’s decision to close the Camp is acceptable, and the Iraqi government bears the responsibility for the security and humane treatment of the individuals at Camp Ashraf.

June 19, 2012 0 comments

Iraq

Iraqi Delegation to Apprise MKO-led crisis

The Iraqi government delegations warn Europe of Mojahedin Khalq’s clear contravention of law

The Iraqi government is reportedly dispatching delegations to Europe to underline facts about MKO’s clear contravention of law and regulations. The delegation expected to have meetings with politicians and reporters in Geneva and Brussels includes deputies from Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Human Rights, police and security departments as well as the committee members tasked to facilitate the relocation of the group’s residents from its main military camp, Ashraf, to a temporary transit center (Temporary Transit Location TTL) near Baghdad.

Unyielding behavior of the terrorist group is turning an issue that is solvable in a peaceful way into a real crisis. The Iraqi government is ultimately decisive to close Camp Ashraf and expel the members of the designated terrorist group. So far more than half of the members housed in Ashraf have been relocated to transitory center but the process has been stalled since the arrival of the fifth group of residents on 5 May. To justify its non-cooperative behavior, MKO is inventing pretexts and imposing unacceptable conditions that underpin a blatant breach of an already brokered compromise.

MKO is uncompromisingly refusing to cooperate in transferring the remainders. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Martin Kobler, has recently expressed his concern about the delay in the relocation of the residents, but what has much concerned him is a possible eruption of violent clashes between the sides. The Iraqi government seeks a peaceful solution to the problem. In contrast, MKO has been, from the very beginning, the antagonist side and the main impediment to the process of relocation. Not only the group prevents the process but also threatens to stand ready for any violent confrontation.

June 19, 2012 0 comments

Terrorist groups and the MEK

Al-Qaida group wants off U.S. terror list

History includes assassinations, breaking oil embargo

Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND.

WASHINGTON – There are increasing indications that the anti-Iranian Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization, known as the MEK or MKO, is working with al-Qaida to topple the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, even though it seeks to be removed from the U.S. State Department’s terror list, History includes assassinations, breaking oil embargo according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

An MKO defector said the group is collaborating with leaders of Iraq’s dissident groups as well as al-Qaida.

While the MEK has been involved in various assassinations, it has mounted a major campaign in the United States to have its name removed from the State Department’s terror list.

In addition to the U.S., other Western countries also regard the MEK as a terror entity.

Ali Hosseinnejad, who recently defected from the MEK and surrendered to Iraqi military forces, said the MKO leadership wants to topple the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki, who is Shiite and sympathetic to Iran.

In addition to continuing ties with the Sunni al-Qaida terrorist group, Hosseinnejad said the MEK is working with remnants of the regime of ousted President Saddam Hussein, who also was Sunni.

The MEK is against the Iranian regime and had worked closely with the security services of the Hussein government against Iran. It still seeks the overthrow of the clerics in Tehran.

Hosseinnejad also has revealed that the MEK earned significant income by smuggling and selling Iraqi oil when the country was under an international oil embargo during Saddam’s regime.

WorldNetDaily

June 17, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Beware of Violence Provocation by Mojahedin Khalq

Mr. Kobler is providing an advance warning of MKO’s potentiality in provoking and waging violence

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler, has recently Beware of Violence Provocation by Mojahedin Khalq expressed his concern about the delay in the relocation of the residents of Camp New Iraq (Ashraf) to the Temporary Transit Location TTL. The relocation process has been stalled since the arrival of the fifth group of residents on 5 May. But it is not the delay and prolongation of the transfer that frets. What is really disturbing Mr. Kobler is a possible eruption of violence;

“I urge the remaining residents of Camp Ashraf to relocate to Camp Hurriya without delay. The relocation process should not be stalled. I am concerned that there will be violence if the relocation doesn’t recommence. Any violence would be unacceptable. I call on the Government of Iraq to avoid any forceful relocation. Each relocation must be voluntary. The United Nations supports only a peaceful, humanitarian solution and stands ready to facilitate.”

Mr. Kobler has a well understanding of the concerned sides, the Iraqi government and MKO, when he expresses his concern. The Iraqi government is ultimately decisive to close Camp Ashraf and expel the members of the designated terrorist group to the last one. It is a constitutional right for the state and the nation to be accomplished. But the other side is a cult with an ideology rooted in violence. MKO has no appreciation for art of peace and has never developed any skill in the field. In fact, the term peace and its derivations are unknown to it and the group has no definition for them in its literature. But when it comes to talk about blood, war, violence and the like, it is an unbeaten interpreter.

Obviously enough, except MKO, the UN, Iraqi government and all concerned bodies will to find a peaceful solution to the problem. It has been, from the very beginning, the antagonist side and the main impediment to the process of relocation. While there are hundreds of insiders with special needs, suffering from disabilities and serious medical conditions among the residents both in Ashraf and TTL, and of course it must be a responsibility on MKO to care about its members and follow a peaceful, humanitarian solution, not only it prevents the process but also threatens to stand ready for any violent confrontation.

Mr. Kobler’s words are a warning; he is sounding the alarm that MKO is already prepared for any violence. It is not a rough, personal calculation but based on facts. He is conscious of Rajavi’s instructions given to residents in his message delivered on May 23. In his message, Rajavi repeatedly calls the remainders of the group at Camp Ashraf the devoted warriors who have to be determined in repelling any resolution inconsistent with group’s demands:

“That would be better if they [the UN and Iraqi government] come in a peaceful fashion and accept the minimum human rights. Otherwise, if they resort to craft and deceptive words, do not grieve; go forward as God suffices you, He is the One Who helps you with that of the believers. … Then, do not be scared of the battle you have to confront, strike. Strike and go forward with confidence. … I want others to know, friends and foes, that today, the power of one thousand Mojahed is beyond that of the regime’s nuclear power they have gathered here in Iraq to negotiate about.“

Mr. Kobler is providing an advance warning of the group’s potentiality in provoking and waging violence. Unless precautionary measures are taken by the UN and the Iraqi government, there might be another human tragedy as occurred in two previous violence provocations by MKO.

June 14, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

MKO Tasks 2 Battalions to Stir Unrests in Syria

The terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCR) has tasked 400 terrorists with stirring unrests in Syria, head of an Iran-based rights disclosed on MKO Tasks 2 Battalions to Stir Unrests in Syria Saturday.

According to Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, secretary-general of the Habilian Association – a human rights group formed of the families of 17,000 Iranian terror victims – the revelation was made by a highly trusted MKO veteran who used to serve the MKO ringleader, Maryam Rajavi, as her highly confided interpreter in top secret sessions with former Iraqi regime officials and US authorities.

Hasheminejad said he had informed Syria of MKO’s meddling during a meeting with Syrian Ambassador to Tehran.

Hasheminejad had told the Syrian envoy late in May that MKO is preparing itself to stage a massive terrorist operation in Syria.

"We hold proof and authentic documents showing an extensive and all-round presence of this terrorist organization in Syria. This terrorist grouplet is using all its possibilities to stage terrorist and sabotage operations in Syria," he said at the time.

During the meeting, Hasheminejad told Syrian envoy that the MKO has been acting as a US mercenary ever since the fall of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein in 2003, and added, "The US and some western countries have been supporting all those terrorists who stage large-scale sabotage operations in Syria."

He reiterated the United States’ destructive role in recent developments in Syria, and said, "The MKO has even produced many video clips against President Bashar Assad on Syrian soil and has been distributing these clips among the people."

June 10, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Procrastination, the Fancied Chance of MKO

There is no formula to banish MKO’s procrastination that has delayed the process of transfer

The best way to get something done as easy as possible is to begin it in due course, but if you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. Everything is ready according to already reached agreements to relocate the sixth group of Mojahedin Khalq Organization MKO/MEK members residing at Camp Ashraf to the Temporary Transit Location TTL near Baghdad. But so far there has been found no magic formula to banish MKO’s procrastination excuses that has delayed the process of transfer. However, MKO has no other option but to get past procrastination founded on ungrounded excuses otherwise it will be swimming against the current it has already set running itself.

There is not plenty of time for MKO and it is well aware of the fact that despite it is procrastinating, it will eventually have to actually submit to the transfer of the reminders. Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the group, in his message addressed to residents before the transfer of the third group, asked them to abide by the promises to be relocated to TTL; however, he never terms it transfer or relocation but “battle”: “today you have fought your first and second battles and two groups have already gone to Liberty. Now we are getting ready to fire the third big shot to send the third group. Congratulations!”

Thus, MKO considers the peaceful and humanitarian issue of relocation another battle that has to be fought to the end. And of course, a battle is not an easy job to accomplish and must be made as hard as possible for those on the opposite front. Asserted by the US officials even before the relocation began, who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, that efforts to peacefully resolve the standoff are being rebuffed by MKO leadership. The US Special Adviser on Camp Ashraf Daniel Fried also said “MEK leadership has impeded a refugee resettlement process and interfered with the UN’s ability to conduct interviews with individuals at the encampment”.

Calling it a battle or anything else, Rajavi has no other option but to let it be accomplished and all the residents be fully relocated to TTL because. Even those the group expects protection from voice that relocation of residents it is a humanitarian issue that should be made as easy and peaceful as possible to accomplish. In December 2011, Ambassador Daniel Fried, Special Advisor for Camp Ashraf for the State Department, made the cause clear and promised to monitor the process of the transfer: “Embassy Baghdad will visit former Camp Liberty on a frequent basis to provide robust observation. The US seeks a safe, secure, humane resolution. Our interest is humanitarian”. And the promise has been kept so far both by the US and UN as well as by the Iraqi government.

Immediately after that announcement, however, MKO advocates argued that the group should be allowed to stay at Ashraf beyond the agreement. And now, it has become evident that MKO is obstructing the process. The big impediment to the process is the group itself that turns a humanitarian issue into a subject for dispute and battle. That is how MKO defines “good will gesture” when Maryam Rajavi, living far from the regional afflictions and hardships of Iraq in the cool, luxurious comfort of her residence in France, agreed to relocate residents as a goodwill gesture.

Some say Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin. That is true from the angle that by refusal of transferring Ashraf residents MKO is assassinating their granted opportunity of regaining their freedom. But the group will also lose the opportunity of the promised immediate post-relocation interests atop of which stands its removal from the terror list. But there is none if MKO is expecting for the better. Although it is acknowledged that the MKO leadership can be helpful in reaching a humanitarian resolution, which he completely disregards, he has unilaterally resisted de-politicization of Camp Ashraf and grabbed at a vague, faint hope that procrastination is the fancied chance to retard the progress of losing members. He just keeps putting off complying to make it hard both for the insiders and outsiders.

June 7, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MKO’s New Row to Dodge Relocation

MKO announced refusal to be relocated until basic living conditions improved in TTL

As with the previous groups, anything is ready for the relocation of the sixth group of Aashraf residents to the Temporary Transit Location TTL near Baghdad but MKO’s leaders. Although MKO’s New Row to Dodge Relocation eccentric, it has become a typically expected behavior of MKO to make new excuses just on the threshold of a decided relocation. As expected, the group’s ringleaders and advocates have started a propaganda blitz announcing that they refuse to be relocated to the temporary facility until basic living conditions there improve. A number of current and former American officials have also joined the group calling for the U.S. government to push for those changes and improvements.

Gathered together in a conference organized by Global Initiative for Democracy (GID), another MKO-founded alias active under a pro-democratic cover, to voice their support for the group and to justify its refusal of relocation, some former officials seemed to be performing the role of partisans and lay figures more ardently than expected and beyond the commanding influence of the group, talking in the position of the ringleaders themselves.

The former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, for instance, stated that “Unless these demands (for improved living conditions) are met, we’re not sending” to Camp Liberty those that remain at Camp Ashraf. He also called on the United States, and the United Nations to inspect the camp for weapons now, “so they can record there are no weapons, so the Iraqis can’t come in and plant weapons after the fact”, a request Maryam Rajavi is already demanding to be accomplished.

The other to repeat ringleaders’ peevish complaints over the living conditions at TTL was Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) who in an attempt to justify the backlash against the relocation said “we should not continue transferring them until Camp Liberty is in a shape to accept them… I will be there with you side-by-side every step of the way to make sure that we finally get freedom for the residents.”

The predicament of residents in Ashraf and TTL has turned into a real problem since no country has yet accepted to receive them on its soil. That is why the concerns about the transformation of TTL into a permanent location have heightened. However, MKO’s American partisans are expected to be the first to solve the problem and a suggestion was offered in the arranged conference by the former State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley who stressed on “the power of our example and the leadership of the United States,” saying, “We are in a much stronger position when we have opened our door, welcomed the first residents of Camp Ashraf to the United States and then say to the rest of the world, we are doing our share, now it’s your turn.”

But MKO will have to submit to relocation despite all the fuss it is making because its lawyers are expanding the struggle fronts to convince, or rather to force, the State Department remove it from the terror list of FTO. Regardless of a variety of court orders, the latest issued on Friday ordering the Secretary of State to decide within four months, the cooperation of MKO in “the successful and peaceful closure of Camp Ashraf will be a key factor in her decision regarding the MEK’s FTO status”. And Hilary Clinton’s words are more promising and legally liable to count on, notwithstanding the high-profile American partisans forge an influential front.

June 5, 2012 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts