Iraq to Shutdown Camp Ashraf

Iraq to expel Mojahedin Khalq by the end of 2011

An official in Iraqi government said that the Iraqi government has done necessary measures to expel Mojahedin khalq by the end of 2011.

He said that the MKO will be expelled from Iraq because of their enmity towards the Islamic Republic of Iran and their crimes against Iraqi people including innocent people of the Kurdistan region.

The Iraqi people had gathered around Ashraf Camp and called on the Iraqi government to deport the MKO members from the country.

The official said that the American officials opposed deport of MKO group and put the Iraqi government under the pressure to allow MKO stay in Iraq.

January 15, 2011 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

US Stumbling Block to Expelling MKO terrorists

Iraqi MP Calls US Stumbling Block to Expelling MKO terrorists

A member of the Iraqi parliament on Monday described the US as the stumbling block to the expulsion of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from his country, stressing that Washington strives to block any move made by the Baghdad government to this end.

"The presence of Monafeqin (the hypocrites, as they are called in Iran) on Iraq’s soil violates the country’s constitution and the US is the main impediment to the expulsion of the terrorist group from Iraq’s soil," Ali Alaq told FNA.

He also underlined that the US is the key supporter and sponsor of the MKO.

"The Iraqi government has several times adopted measures to expel the Monafeqin [MKO]from Iraq’s soil, but unfortunately this (their expulsion) has not yet happened in practice due to the US pressures," Alaq added.

He strongly condemned the interference of the US officials in the internal affairs of his country, and described the US embassy’s support for the MKO as a move in support of international terrorism.

A former Iranian diplomat who accompanied Iranian Foreign Ministry Caretaker Ali Akbar Salehi during his recent visit to Baghdad announced on Sunday that Iraqi officials are resolved to immediately expel the anti-Iran terrorist MKO from their country.

"The Iraqi officials are seeking to expel the Monafeqin (MKO members as they are called in Iran) from the country’s soil as soon as possible," former Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazzemi Qomi told FNA.

Also, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters after a meeting in Baghdad with Salehi on Wednesday that he and his Iranian counterpart had discussed expulsion of the MKO from Iraq at their meeting.

He expressed the hope that Baghdad would expel the terrorist MKO from Iraq soon in future.
Asked about the fate of the MKO, Zebari said the two sides "hope to find a way to close the MKO’s case in Iraq as soon as possible".

"There are some humanitarian commitments to which our government is loyal, but fulfilling these undertakings should not harm Iraq’s national sovereignty," he said.

The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The 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 the 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 also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – last year and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.
The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

January 11, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Open letter in solidarity with the Iraqi and Iranian victims of MKO

Open Letter to President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq on the situation of Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, NCRI) at Camp Ashraf

On Friday 7 January 2010, a large and peaceful gathering of citizens, Council representatives from the Diyala Province and NGOs from all over Iraq, calling for the removal of foreign terrorist group Mojahedin-e Khalq from their country, came under attack by leading members of the group who used bottles, stones and other implements to try to deter the demonstrators. This did not surprise anyone as the MKO had been issuing threats in its western based media in the days running up to the gathering.
Demonstrators, domestic and foreign reporters and Iraqi security personnel at the gates of Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) were all among those who suffered injuries, with some taken by ambulance to hospitals in Baquba and Baghdad. The MEK’s typically violent response to the demonstrators further exposes the group’s weakness and lack of legitimacy. Several members of the group exhibited self-inflicted head wounds as they followed orders to pretend that Iraqi security forces had attacked them.

Over the past year, the group has come under increasing pressure to allow Iranian families of MEK members who have been encamped outside the MEK’s garrison for eleven months, to meet with their loved ones who, they claim, are being held hostage by the group’s leaders. These families have also suffered attacks and abuse by the MEK leaders. It is clear that many inside the camp are disaffected and have been touched by the presence of their families and want out.

There is clear congruence between the aims of the Iranian families of the hostages and all those Iraqis who have lost loved ones, possessions and land at the hands of the MEK during the regime of Saddam Hussein who supported them. The Iranian families have joined the demonstrators as they see their only hope to see their loved ones is through the dismantlement of the camp and opening the gates of a place in which no marriage or childbirth has taken place for two decades and from which there is no means of contact with the outside world.

A major aim of the demonstrators was to alert international public opinion to the views of ordinary Iraqis toward the continued illegal presence of this foreign terrorist group in their country, and in particular in their Province. They describe the MEK presence as a cancer or a nightmare for their society, and fully support your government’s stance on the MEK. It is important for them that the international community hear their voices.

Unfortunately, many in the West, particularly lawmakers, have relied almost exclusively on the MEK’s duplicitous propaganda campaigns as a source of information about the events at Camp Ashraf. As such, we believe that it would be helpful for your new government to invite independent observers from Western countries to visit the camp in order to see for themselves what is happening there.

But our greatest concern is for the ordinary members who remain trapped inside the camp.
As you are no doubt aware, over five hundred former members of the MEK have been active for many years in Western countries in exposing the MEK’s abuses of their own members. In particular many former members have given first hand testimony of their brutal treatment at the hands of the MKO leaders. As well as daily, systematic violations of human rights, punishments and beatings, some were, in the past, even incarcerated by the MEK in the infamous Abu Ghraib, the political prison of Saddam Hussein.

We are now increasingly aware that MEK leader Massoud Rajavi is denying seriously ill members from accessing life-saving medical treatment because he benefits from the publicity surrounding their deaths which – using lies and misinformation in his western media outlets – he seeks to blame on your government.

With this past record, and with the fresh testimony of recent escapees, we are sure you would agree that there is now urgent need for independent human rights investigators to be given free and unfettered access to check on the situation of every person resident in the camp – that is with no interference by MEK leaders – accompanied by security personnel to ensure their protection.

We applaud the wisdom of the Iraqi people and those leaders who brought the coalition government into existence – despite a great deal of interference by the outside world. We thank you for the humanitarian approach and patience that the Government of Iraq has shown in dealing with this unwelcome issue. While it was incumbent on the occupying American forces to resolve this problem many years ago, they unfortunately neglected this duty and it has been left on your hands.

As the people of Iran and Iraq are the most affected by the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Massoud Rajavi and his wife and lieutenant Maryam Rajavi, it is very difficult to see how they can be pardoned in these countries (considering the social problems which come with bloodshed). Therefore it is only fair to ask Europe and America, where we have witnessed extensive favours toward the group, to take and house the remaining aging people trapped in this camp.

Yours sincerely,
Massoud Khodabandeh
Iran Interlink
U.K.

January 9, 2011 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq’s constitution does not allow MKO terrorist in the country

The Foreign Minister of Iraq said Wednesday that the Iraqi constitution does not allow the existence of any "terrorist" organization on Iraqi territory, including the People’s Mojahedin Organization, stressing that the Iraqi government is determined to impose its sovereignty in the country and no other policies will be allowed to be imposed. The Foreign Minister of Iraq said that the Iraqi constitution does not allow the existence of any "terrorist" organization on Iraqi territory, including the People's Mojahedin Organization,

At a press conference with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, attended by "Alsumaria News", Hoshyar Zebari said, "The issue of MEK was discussed by the Prime Minister more than once, and we suffered more than any other party from the evils of armed organizations on our territory," saying that "the Iraqi Constitution does not allow the existence of any armed organization on our land to exercise acts against another country."

Zebari said that "the Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist organization is like many other armed terrorist organizations," adding that "the government is determined to impose its sovereignty and not allow any party to impose its policy orientations."

The civil society organizations from different provinces of Iraq, had organized a demonstration on 11 December last, in front of Camp Ashraf, home to more than 3400 members of the PMOI in Diyala, demanding the Iraqi government to develop mechanisms to remove members of the organization from Iraq.

The Iraqi forces composed of nearly a thousand members from the army and police force moved into Camp Ashraf earlier this year, but elements of the PMOI used batons and knives to prevent security officers from discharging their functions, which led to the outbreak of fighting and injuring about two hundred and sixty people from both sides and the arrest of fifty members of the organization…

Alsumaria News, Baghdad – Translated by Iran Interlink

January 6, 2011 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MKO members hurt themselves to prevent investigation

Mojahedin Khalq leaders claimed that Iraqi forces attacked their hospital inside Camp Ashraf (now Camp New Iraq) on December 25 and injured several MKO members during the operation. A source in Iraq’s Interior Ministry who is familiar with the MKO’s standoff at the camp told Iran-Interlink privately, “Mojahedin Khalq and their backers can claim whatever they like. They can use their propaganda machine in the US and EU as they wish but it is clear to everyone that the Iraqi police neither attack hospitals nor steal equipment from hospitals. I know that during the time of Saddam, the Mojahedin did all sorts of things including many horrifying criminal acts, but we no longer live under the dictatorship of Saddam, we are now open to the world and everything is clear to those who choose to see”.

According to Iran-Interlink’s reports from this camp, the Iraqi police had been informed that criminal activities were taking place inside the camp and had been dispatched to investigate. Unfortunately upon their arrival, the Mojahedin Khalq refused to allow them access and started fighting with them. At the same time some MKO were seen to be deliberately injuring themselves only later to accuse the Iraqi police of using heavy handed tactics.

Three people have died during the past two months as a result of not receiving early medical attention because the MKO has refused them access to proper medical care. One more person has been killed by hanging (the MKO explains this as a suicide in protest at the families coming to visit them!). This situation is unacceptable. There is a right and an obligation to investigate these deaths.

Iran-Interlink is in receipt of reports that the leaders of the cult are preparing to kill or force the terminally sick people to commit suicide only to put the blame on Iraq so that they can continue their criminal activities backed by some in the western capitals.

Iraq is a sovereign country. Iraqi will not allow the Mojahedin Khalq to remain in the country to carry out the dirty work of their backers in the US, EU or Israel.

According to the Interior Ministry source, while the Government of Iraq is committed to the human rights of every individual, including the MKO members in this camp, it is also committed to putting an end to this ridiculous situation of a camp where there is no school, no marriage, no work, no registry, no children, no visiting rights, and so on. This may have been accepted during the time of Saddam or during the Americans being in charge of the camp, but it is no longer acceptable in this new Iraq.

December 30, 2010 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Another failure for the MKO

The Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO) and other Ba’ath remnants in Iraq continue to be upset about the newly re-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. And for good reason—al-Maliki doesn’t like them and doesn’t want them, and this opinion threatens their wretched existence. Nouri al-Maliki’s opinion stems from his recognition of the true nature of the MKO, a terrorist cult who have resided in Iraq for more than three decades. Leadership of the MKO had their members help Saddam Hussein, who was their main financial and military sponsor, exterminate thousands of Iraqis. The MKO took part in the massacre of Shia communities in Iraq’s south and the Kurdish communities in the north. And al-Maliki is appalled at the role they played under the Ba’athist regime. Al-Maliki happens to be a Shia, and naturally—and from a purely religious standpoint—he maintains respect and admiration for the Shia religious leader, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.

This is not good news for the MKO who has about 3,000 resident members currently living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. For these residents and their cult of personality leadership, none of whom are voting Iraqi citizens, and who have wild dreams of replacing the Iranian government with their own people, the re-election of al-Maliki is a total defeat. As far as Iraqi officials are concerned, the MKO’s presence in Iraq has been an issue of contention for a long time; Al-Maliki has been totally opposed, and according to polls, so is the majority of the population. [1] And for good reason—al-Maliki feels friendly relations with neighboring Iran is critical, and those friendly relations won’t include the MKO.

After al-Maliki’s re-election, the Iraqi people are now hopeful that they are going to have a more stable government in which all political factions share the ruling system. In a White House press statement, President Barack Obama said he is “encouraged by the substantial progress that has been made in forging an inclusive government that represents the Iraqi people and the results of this year’s election.”[2] The statement was followed by a meeting where a US congressional delegation, led by US Senator John McCain, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Iraq and the United States discussed”the development of bilateral relations and the ongoing political process,”reported Aswat al-Iraq.[3] Al-Maliki, stated that he “understands the importance of boosting ties with Washington in all fields, and the signed strategic agreement.”[4] It is no coincidence that Senator John McCain led this meeting. Historically John McCain’s track record shows he is well aware of the MKO, who have lobbied US and European politicians strongly for decades.

McCain is no stranger as to why al-Maliki’s holds a strong opposition to harboring the MKO on Iraqi soil any longer. In the record of the US war on terrorism, John McCain’s effort can be traced back nearly two decades when he stood against the MKO, whose name, alongside al-Qaida is firm on the US State Department’s designated terrorist organization list. In June 1993, Senator McCain wrote a letter, among many on the group, to Janet Reno, who was at the time the Department of Justice secretary. McCain called for prompt investigation into the MKO and said they were”a major lobbying group”whose members “solicit political support and funds from the Congress, American citizens, and Iranian exiles on US soil under the guise of being a democratic coalition and human rights advocate when it remains an extreme leftist group whose secret agenda opposes American values and the security of Israel.”[5]

McCain stressed that,”anyone can use the rhetoric of democracy. Anyone can hide behind the flag of human rights.”[6] And that’s exactly what the MKO is still doing. But in Iraq they posit a slightly different rhetoric—a desperate, hostile one—in which they demonize al-Maliki, and praise former Ba’athist Tariq Aziz, who in October 2010, received a death sentence. [7]

Now that the MKO and their strategic container, Camp Ashraf, are under Iraqi sovereignty, the group leaders need to be cooperating with the Iraqi government, but they are not. The fact that they are a known violent terrorist group is bound to create obstacles, and their temporary refugee status has been exhausted.

The MKO commandants, as they continue to lobby US and European politicians, hope to gain full support from the West, and hope to be removed from the State Department’s designated terrorist list. The message the MKO preaches in Iraq, so they can keep their stronghold at Ashraf, is meant to cause division and crisis and the group needs to be watched, as they are acting boldly against the Iraqi government. The few sympathizers they have are old supporters of Saddam Hussein, and naïve Western politicians who believe the MKO is some sort of human rights group.

Perhaps the MKO knows they have used their last shot at surviving in the region. Perhaps they know they are heading toward self-destruction. After all, Camp Ashraf is physically the closest location for them to be near Iran, their desired final destination. As for al-Maliki’s opinion, although he’s a Shia Muslim, it doesn’t mean he takes orders from Iran, nor does it mean that he would judge the nature of the MKO based on how the leadership in Iran feels. Al-Maliki has more than enough reason and documentation established inside Iraq to justify getting rid of the MKO, a dismal group of failing terrorists who no one wants.

References:
[1] Recently, the Iraqi al-Sumaria TV channel website posted a survey on
whether people there are in favor of ousting the MKO. The result of the poll
is still available on the website. About 64% of the audience voted “yes”.
See http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/opinion-polls-iraq-118.html
[2] Allen, JoAnne.”Reuters US Edition.”*Reuters.com*. 11 NOV 2010. Web. 21
Dec 2010. <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1123266420101112>.
[3] Aswat al-Iraq, Al-Maliki meets U.S. congressional delegation
Nov 10, 2010
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=138788
[4] ibid
[5] Proceedings and Debates of the 103rd Congress, First Session, Thursday,
January 21, 1993 SUPPORTING THE RIGHT OPPOSITION GROUPS IN IRAN AND IRAQ (Document
Citation: 139 Congressional Record, page S172-03)
Also found online on the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) website:
http://www.fas.org/irp/congrss/1993_cr/s930629_terror_pmoi.htm
[6] ibid
[7] CNN Wire Staff.”Iraqi court sentences Tariq Aziz to death.”*CNN.com*26 OCT 2010: Web. 21 Dec 2010. <
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-26/world/iraq.aziz.sentence_1_iraqi-high-tribunal-death-sentence-malcolm-smart?_s=PM:WORLD

By Mazda Parsi

December 25, 2010 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraqi organizations demonstrating in front of Camp Ashraf

Thousands of members of civil society organizations from across Iraq, Saturday, gathered in front of Camp Ashraf, home to more than 3400 members of the PMOI in Diyala, demanding that the Iraqi government develop mechanisms to remove the organization from Iraq.

Member of the Organization of Unity for Human Rights in Diyala, Hamid Abdul-Majid al-Obeidi, said in an interview for Alsumaria News, the Iraqi government is to "develop mechanisms to remove the Iranian MKO from Iraq because it is the main reason behind lack of security and stability in the province of Diyala".
Obeidi said that his organization had "a lot of information recorded and submitted to the security forces in Diyala, which confirms the involvement of agents of the MKO in financing and supporting al Qaeda in Diyala."

For his part, lawyer, Zia Karim said that "the leaders of the MKO at Camp Ashraf reject orders made by the Iraqi justice system for the exit of some members of the MKO from the camp at the request of their families."

Karim said that “the leaders of Camp Ashraf and in particular the head of the organisation is being asked to accept the just demands of the ones who want to leave the organisation and to allow them to leave the camp”. He stressed that, “we also demand the government of Iraq to take responsibility to implement the orders of Iraqi officials as well as the Judiciary system and uphold the rule of law in Iraq”.

The lawyer revealed, "I have more than 75 powers of attorney from the Iranian families to take their children out of Camp Ashraf, especially when the children are subjected to torture at the hands of the leaders of Camp Ashraf, because they want to get out of the camp."

He continued by saying, "I will raise a lawsuit against the leaders of Camp Ashraf, where they are accused of preventing some members of the organization from access to their legal rights and do not allow lawyers and non-governmental human rights commissions and neutral bodies to enter the camp and give those individuals the right to decide to stay or leave."

Along with a description of the representative NGOs that participated in the demonstration today in front of Camp Ashraf, Fadel Daami, emphasized the position of the Iraqi government toward the obvious need to remove the MKO from Iraq.

Daami said to Alsumaria News, "The Iraqi government’s position is clear and is not a secret that it wants to expel the members of the Organization from Iraq. He added, “there is pressure on the Iraqi government as in the case of the PKK (the Kurdish PKK in Turkey) as the existence of organized opposition cause embarrassment to the government among its neighbors."

The Iraqi forces, comprising nearly a thousand members of the army and the police force, moved into Camp Ashraf earlier this year. But members of the MKO used batons and knives to prevent Iraqi security officers from discharging their duties, which led to the outbreak of fighting and injuring about two hundred and sixty people from both sides and the arrest of twenty five members of the MKO.

Alsumaria News – translated by Iran Interlink

December 12, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

Iraqi and Iranain Families protest against Mujahedin Khalq in Camp New Iraq

A large number of Iranian and Iraqi families staged a massive protest outside the main training center of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq and called for the freedom of their relatives and children who are under various types of torture and pressure by their ringleaders inside the camp.
The protestors demanded the Iraqi government and all human rights groups and organizations to provide the ground for the freedom of their children from the notorious Camp Ashraf, and urged closure of the terrorist hub.
Among the demonstrators were families of the MKO members, who say their loved ones are being held inside the camp against their will.
The MKO ringleaders are reported to be using torture and pressure on their own dissident members, barring the dissident members from leaving the organization and joining their families.
Earlier this month, an Iraq-based right group unveiled that ringleaders of the MKO have resorted to various forms of mass killing in a bid to bring the group out of the current impasse in Iraq.
According to a report by Iraqi daily Motamar, also published by Edalat (Justice) Society web site – an organ of the families of the Iranian victims of terrorism – the Iraqi right group has sent serious warnings to civil society and human rights bodies as well as the Iraqi government about the ongoing humanitarian disaster in the MKO’s main training camp in Northern Iraq.
The Sahar Family Foundation also said that the MKO’s ringleaders are forcing the dissident members of the group to commit suicide, and if they refuse to do so, the leaders massacre defectors themselves.
The right group called on the Iraqi judiciary system, international court of justice and all international human rights bodies as well as the Iraqi and international media to take urgent action to stop the human catastrophe in the camp which, they said, now looks more like a slaughterhouse.
A November report by the Habilian Association, an Iran-based human rights group, said that under the direct order of MKO’s Ringleader Maryam Rajavi, leaders of the terrorist group in the Camp of New Iraq (formerly known as Camp Ashraf) allow their members to receive medical aids, healthcare and other services in return for given levels of cooperation.
Based on the order, dissident members are deprived of medicine and other medical services or, at least, face much hardship and difficulty in procuring their necessary medicines.
The right group added that the new measure came after protests remarkably increased inside the group, specially in the camp. Right groups are gravely concerned that a large number of MKO members may lose their lives soon if UN, human rights and Iraqi officials do not force the group leaders to end their tortures and pressures against the dissident members.
In relevant development, a report revealed in November that Ahmad Razzani, a veteran member of the MKO, had been killed inside the Camp.
According to an August report by the Habilian Association, the MKO leaders have increased their pressures and control over the members of the terrorist group to prevent possible defection and escape by unsatisfied members.
Reports also said that all exit and entry doors have been locked and none of the members, even those suffering from acute diseases and illnesses, are allowed to leave the camp.
MKO ringleaders have ordered the camp guards to stage snap inspections of the group’s members and their personal belongings under the pretext of finding the lost weapons.
Such behaviors have sparked discontent among a number of MKO members and made them escape the camp and return to their anguished families.
The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a letter last year in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).
The 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 the 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.

December 12, 2010 0 comments

Iraq

Iraqis call for Mujahedin Khalq expulsion

People in Iraq’s Diyala province organized a protest in front of Camp Ashraf where the Mujahidin Khalq terrorist organization or MKO members are residing.
People have been calling on Iraqi officials to expel the organization from their country, and described their presence in Iraq as a chronic disease.

Key individuals turned out for the protest including tribal leaders, clerics and local government officials.
Protesters have been shouting,”leave our country”, and carried anti-MKO slogans to express their intolerance towards the presence of the organization that they say has caused so much pain in their lives.

The tribal leaders stated that they attended the protest to call on the government to respond to public demands to evacuate the camp from the country.

In response to the protest, the MKO members gathered behind the safety of barbwires, throwing insults to the protesters.
Local Iraqi officials say the MKO members who claim they are only guests in Iraq should start acting like guests, and stop showing disrespect to the citizens of this country.

MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s and was part of Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran during that period.

The group is especially notorious in Iran for having sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, US troops disarmed the MKO members at Iraq’s Camp Ashraf, where they were based, and surrounded it until Iraqi forces took over responsibility for the camp in 2009.Download Iraqis call for Mujahedin Khalq expulsion

December 12, 2010 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraq: our soil no launch-pad for MKO against Iran

Iraqi envoy to Tehran said on Wednesday that his county would not allow its soil to be used as a launch-pad for any aggressions against Iran.
We are opposed to their presence in Iraqi soil and, as you already know, Iraqi officials have several times called for their exit from the country," Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh told Al-Alam "We will never authorize any actions against the Islamic republic from Iraqi soil," Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh told Al-Alam.
The Iraqi official also praised his country’s "friendly" relations with Tehran since fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"The Islamic republic is our Muslim and important neighbor, and we urge having strong relations with this country, therefore we do not allow MKO (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq terrorist group) or any other parties to take any actions against Iran," the Iraqi envoy said.
Majid al-Sheikh said also referred to the recent arrest of members of two groups of MKO which attempted bomb attacks in Iran and said his country is opposed to the terrorist group’s presence in the Iraqi soil.
"… We are opposed to their presence in Iraqi soil and, as you already know, Iraqi officials have several times called for their exit from the country," he said.
"They are still in Iraq because no other country is ready to accept them, however, we do not let them carry out any operations or training against the Islamic republic…," he added.

June 19, 2010 0 comments

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