News on the MEK

MKO intervening in Iraq’s internal affairs

Former deputy prime minister of Iraq denounced Mujahedin-e Khalq organization’s (MKO, a.k.a. MEK) media attacks against the Iraqi army’sas intervention in the country’s internal affairs.

“I have no respect for politicians who are supporting an illegal entity in Iraq, Salam al-Zubaie told Habilian’s correspondent in Baghdad,” referring to some Iraqi politicians’ support for the MKO.

“We are against the presence of any group threatening the neighboring countries,” al-Zubaie added.

Asked about the late expulsion of MKO members in Iraq, he said that is because of the incompetence of the Iraq’s government and justice system.

“This issue is none of the MKO’s business and their action is an obvious intervention in internal affairs of the country and we as Iraqi citizens do not allow insult against our army,” the Iraqi politician added, pointing to MKO media’s attacks on the Iraqi army over its offensive against al-Qaeda militants.

The MKO describes the ISIL terrorists as Iraqi tribes combatants who have established the "Tribes Military Council" to confront the Maliki government, while the UN Security Council strongly condemned recent attacks committed by al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq’s western province of Anbar.

“Contrary to belief of some TV channels, Iraqi army has not invaded Fallujah and it doesn’t seek al-Anbar’s occupation. The main responsibility of the Iraqi Army is to protect the citizens and to stand against the groups seeking to destroy the public property and scare people.”

January 18, 2014 0 comments

Iraq

Maliki: Gov’t Struggling to Accelerate MKO’s Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minsiter Nuri al-Maliki underlined his government’s resolve to speed up efforts to expel the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) members from Iraq.

Speaking in a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad, Maliki blamed the UN f Maliki: Gov’t Struggling to Accelerate MKO’s Expulsion from Iraq or prolonging the presence of the MKO members in Iraq.

“We have again repeated our demand from the UN on the necessity for transferring the members of the MKO from Iraq since their remaining entails huge costs for Iraq,” he said.

“The presence of the MKO members is illegal based on all criteria and standards and the Iraqi people are dissatisfied with their presence,” Maliki underlined.

On Sunday, Ban Ki-moon appointed a former US Homeland Security Undersecretary as his special advisor for relocation of the MKO members from Camp Liberty in Iraq.

According to Habilian Association, Jane Holl Lute’s appointment came after two years of quite fruitless painstaking efforts of the UN’s refugee agency and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq for the resettlement of MKO members in third countries.

“Holl Lute will work with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular the (UN) Member States, to assist in relocating the camp residents,” read a statement from Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, adding that she will also collaborate with Nickolay Mladenov, the UN representative in Iraq.

Earlier last week, the UNHCR said 1,400 MKO members in Iraq are ready for relocation to third countries.

Former UN Special Representative had formerly asserted that finding homes for the MKO members “is the most difficult part of the story.”

The last group of MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf, now called Camp New Iraq, was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join other members of the terrorist group in the former US-held Camp Liberty, now called Camp Hurriya, near Baghdad International Airport where they are awaiting relocation to other countries.

The MKO, 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 the 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 the then 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 the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

January 15, 2014 0 comments

USA

McGurk talks directly with Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq

[…]The U.S. Embassy also said McGurk visited Friday with members of Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, the militant wing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, whose camp outside Baghdad came under rocket attack last month. The statement said the U.S. diplomat stressed the urgency of relocating the residents of Camp Hurriya to another country.

The dissident group, which opposes Iran’s clerical regime, joined forces with Saddam Hussein’s forces during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and several thousand of its members were given sanctuary in Iraq. It renounced violence in 2001, and was removed from a U.S. terrorist list last year.

Iraq’s current Shiite-led government, which has strong ties with neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran, considers the MEK’s presence in Iraq illegal and is eager to get rid of them. The refugee camp is home to about 3,100 people.

January 13, 2014 0 comments

UN to evacuate MKO terrorists from Iraq

The United Nations has announced that it will be relocating members of anti-Iran terrorist organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, from Iraq to other countries. The U-N chief says that a former Deputy U-S Secretary of Homeland Security will be in charge of the MKO relocation.

The Mujahe UN to evacuate MKO terrorists from Iraq din-e Khalq Organization (MKO) was declared by the US state department to be a designated foreign terrorist organization in 1997. For decades the group has committed acts of terrorism against Iranians both inside Iran and around the world. During the Iraq-Iran war, the group aligned with former dictator Saddam Hussein, and with Iraqi support, slaughtered countless Iranian civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the MKO is known to torture people, often dragging its victims by ropes from tied around their necks.

The group is currently operating from bases in Iraq. Sunday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that the world body would help MKO members to relocated to other countries, and that former deputy of the US department of homeland security, Jane Holl Lute, would be in charge of the operation. Sara Flounders says the US support for MKO terrorists shows the hypocrisy of America’s foreign policy. The group has a long record of carrying out terrorist attacks. Still, many prominent figures in US politics are speaking on MKO’s behalf, ignoring their crimes, referring to them as "victims" and "dissidents." Former New York City Mayor is one of many US officials who has worked closely with MKO terrorists in the last several years. Many US elected officials have received tens of thousands of dollars for speaking on MKO’s behalf, some even being investigated for it by the FBI. As the UN prepares to move MKO members out of Iraq, questions continue to be being raised about why the United Nations and the United States government are working so hard to protect a group with such a horrible human rights record.

January 8, 2014 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Mojahedin Khalq terrorists, members of international mafia

Many European countries refuse to give refuge to the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorists as most of them are members of the international mafia and wanted by Interpol, says an Iraqi MP.

The Iraqi government has put the MKO on the list of most wanted terror groups and called on the international community to help expel them from Iraq, Adnan al-Mayahi, a member of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, told Fars news agency on Thursday.

However, the legislator added, the United Nations and European Union have turned a blind eye to the request.

The MKO terrorists are responsible for the killing of innocent Iraqi people during the rule of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the legislator underlined.

The group pushed ahead with its crimes after Saddam Hussein’s ouster in 2003 with the support of the US and Western countries, such as France, said the MP, noting that the MKO terrorists have also enjoyed the backing of certain regional states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it had Saddam Hussein’s support and set up Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border.

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 the former US-held Camp Liberty.

The last group of the MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11, 2013, to join the other members of the terrorist group at Camp Liberty and await potential relocation to other countries.

January 4, 2014 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MKO defector reveals mass graves near Camp Ashraf

A defected member of the terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has located several mass graves near the group’s former headquarters of Camp Ashraf, in Iraq’s Diyala Province.

The former member of the terrorist groups said on Monday that one of the graves is located near the Khan Qarafeh village on the Versateh hill, which is about five kilometers from Camp Ashraf.

He said that the MKO leaders are claiming that the people buried in these mass graves are victims of ethnic cleansing in Iraq.

The former MKO member, however, said the victims in the graves come from different racial backgrounds including Iranian, Kurdish and Arabs, adding that some of the victims were eliminated for opposing the MKO leader’s views.

He also said that some of the bodies in the graves belong to Iranian border guards who were captured during terrorist operations by the group near the two countries’ border.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it received the support of Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein and set up camp near the Iranian border.

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. The last group of MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join the other members of the terrorist group at Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport and await relocation to other countries.

January 4, 2014 0 comments

Terrorist groups and the MEK

Iraqi MP Reveals Collaboration between Terrorist ISIL, MKO

A senior Iraqi lawmaker disclosed that the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) have collaborated in a plot to attack the guards of Liberty Camp near Baghdad and project the blame on the Iraqi government.

“There has been an agreement between the MKO and other terrorist groups, specially the ISIL, which are present near the capital, specially in Abu Ghraib, to attack the Liberty Camp and then accuse the Iraqi government of bearing the responsibility,” Mohammad al-Agili said on Sunday after the Iraqi government strongly rejected involvement in the attack.

He underlined that Iraq is opposed to the presence of the MKO terrorists on its soil, and said, “Protecting them is a heavy burden on the shoulders of the Iraqi security forces.”

A rocket attack earlier this week killed three members of the MKO and injured a number of others at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Baghdad denies involvement in the attack.

The last group of MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf, now called Camp New Iraq, in Diyala province was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join other members of the terrorist group in the former US-held Camp Liberty, now called Camp Hurriya, near Baghdad International Airport where they are awaiting relocation to other countries.

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.

January 4, 2014 0 comments

Camp Liberty

Iran dissidents ‘killed in Iraq missile attack’

A rocket attack has killed three members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq, the group and its parent Iran dissidents ‘killed in Iraq missile attack’ organisation say.

They say a number of people from the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) group were injured at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Baghdad has in the past repeatedly denied attacking the group.

MEK members fought with Iraq against Iran in the 1980s, but have since fallen out with the current Iraqi government.

In an emailed message, the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the MEK’s parent group, said dozens of missiles hit the camp on Thursday evening.

It said two residents were killed and a third later died in hospital of his wounds.

The camp is located in a former US military base, near Baghdad’s airport.

The Iraqi authorities have made no public comments on the report. However, one security official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying four rockets hit the camp, injuring two people.

In September, the MEK accused Iraqi forces of attacking Camp Ashraf north-east of Baghdad and killing 52 of the group’s members.

In recent years, Baghdad has been trying to dismantle MEK camps and eject the group.

Iran considers the MEK a terrorist group.

The group was removed from the US state department’s list of terrorist organisations last year.

December 28, 2013 0 comments

Camp Liberty

Wathiq al-Batat claims responsibility for Camp Liberty missile attack

A camp of Iranian dissidents in the Iraqi capital was hit by rockets on Thursday in an attack the group said killed three residents and seriously wounded several others. Wathiq al-Batat claims responsibility for Camp Liberty missile attack

A Shi’ite militia claimed responsibility for the attack on the Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) camp in western Baghdad, which has repeatedly been the target of mortar and rocket attacks in recent months.

The group, which calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders and fought on Iraq’s side during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shi’ite-led government that came to power after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

A Paris-based spokesman for the MEK, Shahin Gobadi, said three people had been killed when “Camp Liberty,” located in a former U.S. military compound, was hit with dozens of missiles.

Several of the wounded were in a critical condition, said Gobadi, adding that more than 50 had been reported injured. The group accused the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of being behind the attack in an attempt to win support from Iran’s government ahead of elections next year.

Iraqi authorities have repeatedly denied involvement in attacks on the group.

In a rare claim of responsibility for attacks on the MEK, Wathiq al-Batat, commander of the al-Mukhtar Army militia, told Reuters his group had fired 20 Katyusha rockets and mortar rounds at the camp.

“We’ve asked (the government) to expel them from the country many times, but they are still here,” he said, accusing the group of communicating with Sunni and Shi’ite politicians he said were linked to al Qaeda.

The U.S. State Department condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.” In a statement, it urged the Iraqi government to take additional steps to secure the camp against further violence and “to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable for the attack.”

Al-Mukhtar Army is a relatively new Shi’ite militia, which has said it is supported and funded by Iran. Batat is a former leader of the more well-known Kata’ib Hezbollah militia.

Shahriar Kia, another spokesman for MEK who lives in the camp he said houses about 3,000 Iranian dissidents, said two men were killed when a rocket fell near their caravan.

“I saw two caravans set ablaze and black smoke billowing,” he said. “We are still taking shelter inside the caravans out of fear of more shelling.”

Police sources confirmed the camp had been targeted by mortars and said four wounded Iranians had been transported to a hospital in western Baghdad.

More than 50 people were killed at a separate MEK camp north of Baghdad in September. The attack drew condemnation from the United States and Britain.

(Reporting by Suadad al-Salhy, Ahmed Rasheed and Kareem Raheem; Additional reporting by Peter Cooney in Washington; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by David Evans and Bill Trott)

December 28, 2013 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

U.S. to move 3000 MKO terrorists to Romania

As it became known from the Romanian Foreign Ministry employees dialogue in a social network “WordPress” http://danamarca70.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/48875763/

Currently the U.S. and the Romanian government are negotiating the deployment about 3 thousand representatives of the terrorist organization “Mojahedin-e Khalq” (MEK) on the territory of Romania. It is assumed that in the case of the Romanian leadership consent members of the group will be compactly settled near the city of Craiova.

According to Ioana Raiciu and Dana Marca, the Romanian Foreign Ministry employees the U.S. State Secretary and the Romanian Foreign Minister discussed the issue of militants migration during the meeting in Brussels in early December. John Kerry’s adviser Jonathan Weiner who deals with the problem of MEK migration is to arrive in Romania with the same purpose.

I turned to the Romanian Foreign Ministry press service for confirmation of these data by phone using the telephone numbers listed on the ministry’s website, but they refused to give any comments, saying this is a too sensitive issue.

Indeed, the disclosure of the information about moving about 3 thousand terrorists to the country is sure to cause a violent public backlash against the government. At the same time, the information leak to the Internet possibly means that Romanian authorities are trying to test the waters before making official statements.

So what sort of an organization the “Mujahedin-e Khalq” is?

“Mojahedin-e Khalq” is an Iranian Islamist terrorist organization in exile, which advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since its inception in the mid 60s, this group has made numerous assassination attempts on the Iranian leadership, murdered the U.S. military personnel and civilians, supported the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 calling for the execution of embassy staff.

In 1981 MEK members killed 70 Iranian officials including the prime minister, the president and the head of the judiciary. A decade later, they organized a coordinated attack on the Iranian embassies in 13 countries. During the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88, the group fought against Iran on the side of Saddam Hussein. In total the organization killed more than 50 thousand people in different countries.

In 1997, the U.S. State Department put the MEK into a list of terrorist organizations. And in 2002, the European Union did the same, but in 2009 the EU crossed it out of the list. And in 2012, the United States followed the example. At the same time, the organization is still considered a terrorist one in Iran and Iraq.

One can hardly say that the MEK has completely abandoned the ideas of terror. According to the American TV channel NBC and other media reports, the MEK played its role in the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists. According to other data, the organization was also involved in the murder of Mojtaba Ahmadi, the IRGC cybersecurity service commander, as well as in a serious accident at the factory for the production of heavy water in Arak in autumn 2013.

According to the American TV channel CNN, a terrorist organization has a strict military structure. The MEK headquarters is based in the so-called Ashraf “refugee camp” in Iraq .

https://dlb.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/CNN-MEK-201312.mp4

to download the video file click here

You can see a straight column in blue and white uniform marching on a spacious area framed by the lion sculptures. According to Michael Ware, the author of the video, back in 2007 Camp Ashraf numbered about 4,000 fighters and was one of the best military bases in Iraq. The MEK has more than 2,000 tanks, artillery, armored personnel carriers and air defense means. The territory is a small town with shopping malls and hospitals, blooming gardens, monuments and fountains, which is totally unexpected in war-torn Iraq.

Moreover the Iranian Mujahideen are considered to be involved in undermining the bus with Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas in summer 2012. The Bulgarian secret services allegedly accused Lebanese Hezbollah but the group rejects all charges despite the fact that it took the responsibility for many terrorist attacks previously.

The terms of an agreement are still unknown. However, the U.S. is likely to use all available means and methods of pressure and persuasion to make Traian Basescu take the right decision. It is obvious that the United States doesn’t really care about the interests of Romania and its people as well as the security in the Balkans.

Delyan Martov, Sofia

December 26, 2013 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts