News on the MEK

Iran arrests MKO ringleader in Isfahan

Iran’s security forces have arrested a ringleader of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), who was seeking to create chaos during the funeral procession of a senior Iranian official in the capital Tehran.

Iranian media reported on Wednesday that the MKO member had been arrested the day before in the central city of Isfahan. The terrorist had been identified by Iranian security forces before entering the country, according to the reports.

The individual had come to Iran with the aim of creating chaos during the funeral of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who passed away on Sunday and was laid to rest on Tuesday.

Huge crowds of Iranian mourners from all walks of life turned out in Tehran for the funeral of the late chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council and two-time president. The funeral was also attended by senior political, military and religious figures.

Mourners take part in the funeral of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran, Iran, on January 10, 2017

The terrorist had reportedly recorded numerous videos for MKO-affiliated satellite channels.

The MKO, the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians, has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials over the past three decades.

Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000 have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

The terrorist group also sided with the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, during Iraq’s eight-year imposed war against Iran in the 1980s. The group also helped Saddam in his brutal crackdown on his opponents.

January 14, 2017 0 comments

Former members of the MEK

Over a hundred MEK members left the group in Tirana

Neda-ye Haghighat reports that over one hundred of the MEK who arrived in Albania have separated from the group.

In an effort to control these desertions, the MEK has promised to pay the defectors and look after them separately from the main body of MEK members in return for their silence.

As long as they do not speak out about their experiences in the MEK as other former members have, the MEK will accommodate them. However, the number of such defectors is growing almost daily and it is clear that the MEK is slowly falling apart.

Iraninterlink Weekly Digest,

October 16, 2016 0 comments

Members of the MEK

Albania: Radicalized MEK member convicted for attempted rape of 11-year-old boy

An Iranian man, Mousa Jaberifard, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Court of Tirana, Albania after being convicted for the offense of sexual harassment and attempted rape of a minor. He was arrested in March this year after the parents of an 11-year-old boy called the police.

Jaberifard arrived in Albania in 2014 as one of the Mojahedin Khalq members from Iraq. A local family became friends with him. The family’s 11-year-old son told police that after going to the market with Jaberifard to buy bread, they arrived back at his apartment where Jaberifard undressed and tried to have sex with him. After many attempts, the boy managed to escape and inform his family who immediately called the police.

Jaberifard is one of over 2500 radicalised Mojahedin Khalq members who have arrived in Albania since 2013. Iran-Interlink warned last week:

“For the local citizens, mystery surrounds their arrival and their lifestyle. Should these secretive and covert neighbours be treated with suspicion or kindness? At a local level, the first thing neighbouring families need to be aware of is that among all MEK members, sexual relations have been banned for over 25 years. This means there are no marriages or children or young people in the organisation. More troubling are the obligatory confessional meetings in which members are required to admit any sexual thoughts or feelings and be punished for them. With this emphasis on sexual matters, it is not known how such people may react when they come in contact with ordinary people and their children.”

Even though the group arrived in Albania under the auspices of the UNHCR, there is no programme to deradicalise members of the group. This means that even if they separate from the MEK, the members remain radicalised and can still pose a threat.

October 13, 2016 0 comments

USA

US Resettles Last MEK Members in Albania

On September 12, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the last 280 members of a controversial Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), had been transferred from Iraq to Albania. Founded in 1965 as an urban guerilla group, it opposed the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The leftist group killed six Americans in Iran in the 1970s. The MEK participated in the 1979 Revolution but later broke with revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini over ideology and direction.

In 1981, the MEK went underground. Members fled to Iraq and supported Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 war with Iran. The MEK helped Hussein’s forces suppress Shiite and Kurdish uprisings after the 1991 Gulf War. It also attempted an attack against the Iranian mission to the United Nations in 1992 and was thought to be responsible for attacks on Iranian officials in the 1990s. The State Department designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. But the MEK renounced violence in 2001.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. forces initially attacked MEK military targets. The group claimed neutrality though. As part of a cease-fire, members were disarmed and confined to their base at Camp Ashraf. The United States later designated them as civilian “protected persons.” More than 3,000 of the camp’s residents were moved to a former U.S. military base near Baghdad known as Camp Liberty in 2012 with the intention of resettling them elsewhere for their own safety. The State Department took the MEK off the terror list that same year, noting that it had not been positively linked to terrorist attacks for more than a decade. During the last few years, the United States has helped to resettle MEK members in several European countries, including Albania.

The following is the full text of Kerry’s remarks on the recent transfer.

Secretary of State John Kerry

John KerryOn Friday of last week, the last 280 members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, or MEK, as they’re known, were moved out of Camp Liberty in Iraq. And their departure concludes a significant American diplomatic initiative that has assured the safety of more than 3,000 MEK members whose lives have been under threat. And as everybody remembers, the camp they were in had on many occasions been shelled. There were people killed and injured. And we have been trying to figure out the way forward.

Well, the last 10 years have been filled with reminders of this challenge. I first became involved in this effort when I was in the Senate, and that is why during my first year as Secretary I appointed Jonathan Winer, one of my longest-serving and most trusted advisers, as our emissary to find a way to help the MEK be able to leave Iraq.

After steady progress over a period of months, I visited Tirana earlier this year and I discussed with the Albanian Government how to assist in facilitating the transfer and the resettlement of the last group of MEK members from Camp Liberty. Albania has a proud tradition of protecting vulnerable communities, as it did during the Kosovo conflict and in sheltering large numbers of Jews during World War II. I am very grateful that in this case too Albania was willing to play an important humanitarian role. I also want to thank the governments of Germany, Norway, Italy, the U.K., Finland, and other EU countries for helping to save the lives of the MEK. And this is a major humanitarian achievement, and I’m very proud that the United States was able to play a pivotal role in helping to get this job done. —Sept. 12, 2016, during a press briefing

Iranprimer.usip.org

September 19, 2016 0 comments

Albania

Albanian Paper: Last of the Mojahedin Khalq arrived to Albania – USA thanks Albania

Yesterday the last 280 Mojahedin members from Camp Liberty, Iraq, arrived in Albania.

Senator McCain welcomed the completion of the mission of transferring the Mojahedin, and thanked the Albanian government.

“In 2003, the United States made a commitment to protect thousands of members of the Iranian dissident organization. Today marks the culmination of this commitment with the safe and successful relocation of all these Iranian dissidents in Albania.

“I express my deepest thanks to the Albanian Government for its hospitality and courage in its efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis. Albania’s readiness to provide shelter for dissidents is a true testament to the spirit and values of the Albanian people”, he said.

The Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) is an Islamic movement founded in September 1965 to oppose the Shah of Iran and later to fight against the Islamic regime which came to power through violent revolution and murder in 1979.

The group moved to Iraq in 1986 and built Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border, after being granted refugee status by the then president Saddam Hussein.

Washington described the MEK as a terrorist organization in 1997 which had killed six Americans in 1970. In August last year, the United States removed it from the list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The decision was taken by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who argued at the time that the Mojahedin had renounced violence and terrorist acts and worked for the closure of Camp Ashraf, after which the MEK engaged in violent protests with Iraqi security forces.

Shqiptarja, Tirana, Albania, Translated by Iran Interlink

—

Vijnë muxhahedinët e funditSHBA falenderon Shqipërinë’Testament për vlerat e shqiptarëve’Çfarë janë muxhahedinët?

Dje kanë mbërritur në Shqipëri 280 muxhahedinët e fundit nga “Kampi i Lirisë” në Irak.

Senatori amerikan McCain ka përshëndetur përfundimin e misionit të muxhahedinëve, ndërsa ka falenderuar qeverinë shqiptare

“Në vitin 2003, Shtetet e Bashkuara ka bërë një angazhim për të mbrojtur mijëra anëtarë të organizatës disidente iraniane.

Sot shënohet kulmi i këtij angazhimi me zhvendosjen e sigurt dhe të suksesshëm të të gjitha disidentëve iranianë në Shqipëri.

I shpreh falënderimet e mia më të thellë të Qeverisë së Shqipërisë për mikpritjen e tij dhe guximin në përpjekjet e saj për të zgjidhur këtë krizë humanitare.

Gatishmëria e Shqipërisë për të siguruar strehim për disidentët është një testament i vërtetë për frymën dhe vlerat e popullit shqiptar’ shprehet ai.

Muxhahedinët (MEK) është një lëvizje islamike e themeluar në shtator të vitit 1965 për të kundërshtuar lëvizjen “shah” në Irak dhe më tej për të luftuar kundër regjimit islamik i cili erdhi në pushtet nga revolucioni i dhunshëm dhe i vrasjeve në vitin 1979.

Ky grup u vendos në Irak në 1986 dhe ndërtuar kampin Ashraf pranë kufirit iranian, pasi i është dhënë statusi i refugjatëve nga presidenti i asaj kohe Adam Hyseni.

Uashingotni e ka cilësuar si një organizatë terroriste pasi në 1997 vranë 6 amerikanë në vitin 1970. Në gusht të vitit të kaluar, Shtetet e Bashkuara të Amerikës kanë hequr nga lista e organizatave të huaja terroriste, një grup muhaxhedinësh iranian të vendosur në Irak (Mojahedin-e-Khalq) ΜΕΚ.

Vendimi është marrë nga Sekretarja e Amerikane e Shtet, Hillary Clinton, i cili u argumentua në atë kohë me faktin se muhaxhedinët kishin hequr dorë nga dhuna dhe nga aktet terroriste dhe bashkëpunuan për mbylljen e kampit Ashraf, për shkak të të cilit ka pasur protesta të dhunshme me forcat e sigurisë të Irakut.

September 11, 2016 0 comments

Albania

Last remnants of anti-Iran MKO terrorists relocated from Iraq to Albania

The last remaining members of the anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) have been relocated from a camp in Iraq to Albania.

According to a Friday statement released by the terror group, the last 280 MKO terrorists were all flown to Albania after leaving Camp Liberty (Hurriya), a former US military base in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

“This final round of departures marks the successful conclusion to the process of relocating members of Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) outside of Iraq,” it said.

The UN refugee agency also confirmed that all the remnants of the group had left the Arab country.

“The international community has now successfully achieved the relocation of all Camp Hurriya residents from Iraq to third countries,” said William Spindler, the spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on Friday.

Back on August 25, another 155 members of the group, including a number of its senior leaders, had fled Iraq for Albania.

Iraqi leaders had long urged MKO remnants to leave the Arab country, but a complete eviction of the terrorists had been hampered by the US and European support for the group.

The MKO, the most hated terrorist group among the Iranians, has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials over the past three decades. Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist assaults since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, about 12,000, including many top officials, have fallen victim to MKO’s acts of terror.

The terror group fled Iran for Iraq shortly after the Islamic Revolution and began receiving support from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, while siding with him in his eight-year bloody war against Iran in the 1980s.

In December 2011, the UN and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala province to Camp Liberty. Another group of the MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government in September 2013 and relocated to the camp to await potential relocation to third countries.

On August 4, Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar said that the Iraqi government with the cooperation of the UN had expelled 65 percent of the MKO terrorists and the rest would be deported in the next 45 days.

There has also been a deep-seated resentment toward the group in Iraq both for its criminal past and its full support for Saddam in the brutal crackdown on his opponents.

The terrorist group, which has built a cult-like following, is also known for the brutal elimination of its own members over dissent.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community.

September 11, 2016 0 comments

Camp Liberty

Final group of Iranian dissidents leaves Iraq camp

BAGHDAD — A camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq was officially closed after the last 280 residents were flown to Albania on Friday, the group said.

FILE – In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 file photo, members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq organization seen inside the Liberty refugee camp in Baghdad, Iraq. The Iranian opposition group said Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 that a camp housing its members in Iraq has been officially closed after the last 280 residents were flown to Albania. The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq has been based in Iraq since the 1980s, when they received arms and support from Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. (Hadi Mizban, File/Associated Press)

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq has been based in Iraq since the 1980s, when they received arms and support from Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. U.S.-led forces disarmed the group after the 2003 invasion and settled them at a base north of Baghdad.

Late Friday night a car bomb targeting a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad killed 11 people and wounded 28, according to police and hospital officials. Three Iraqi policemen were among the dead, the officials added.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the press.

The attack comes as Iraqi ground forces are moving into position around Mosul ahead of a planned operation to retake the militant-held city from the Islamic State group.

The Iranian opposition group, whose members who were flown out of Iraq Friday, was listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department for years over its killing of Americans. The MEK was also accused of taking part in the brutal suppression of a 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam, allegations denied by the group.

The MEK says it renounced violence in 2001. The U.S. military in Iraq signed an agreement with the group in 2004, promising that members would be treated as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The State Department removed the group from its list of terrorist organizations in 2012.

On Friday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau thanked the governments of Albania and Iraq.

“We are grateful to the Government of Iraq for facilitating the departure of the MEK. And we are specially appreciative of the extraordinary efforts of the Albanian Government, the Albanian Prime Mister Rama, to welcome these people who are in need of international protection,” Trudeau said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked member states and international organizations for “the successful resolution of this humanitarian issue,” in statement issued by his spokesman.

Iraqi forces raided Camp Ashraf, the group’s longtime base north of Baghdad, in 2009, shortly after U.S.-led forces handed over responsibility for the camp to the Iraqi government. The group was later relocated to a former military base in the capital.

Armed groups have repeatedly attacked the group since Saddam’s ouster, killing scores of its members.

While the casualty figures could often not be independently verified, the United Nations repeatedly expressed concern about the safety and security of residents of the group’s camps.

The group said last year that more than 20 members were killed in a missile attack on their camp, but the figure could not be independently verified and the MEK has made exaggerated claims to the media in the past.

By Qassam Abdul-Zahra , Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj contributed to this report.

September 10, 2016 0 comments

Camp Liberty

Mojahedin Khalq finally expelled from Iraq

The remaining members of an exiled Iranian opposition group based in Iraq for decades left on Friday for resettlement in Albania following several attacks on their camps in recent years.

More than 280 members of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) living at Camp Liberty, next to Baghdad International Airport, departed from Iraq, the group said in a statement.

Under a deal brokered by the United States and the United Nations refugee agency, almost 2,000 dissident Iranians have been resettled in nearly a dozen European countries since the start of 2016.

Until a few years ago, PMOI, also known by its Farsi name Mujahideen-e-Khalq Organisation (MKO), was listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

The group sided with Saddam Hussein during Iraq’s war with Iran in the 1980s but fell out of favour with Baghdad after he was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

A rocket attack claimed by a Shi’ite Muslim militia in October killed 23 PMOI members.

The group has offices in the United States and Europe.

The remaining Iranian dissidents in Iraq, who seek the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leadership established by the 1979 Islamic revolution, were disarmed after Saddam’s fall and later moved to Camp Liberty.

September 10, 2016 0 comments

Albania

37 more Camp Liberty residents left Iraq

A group of 35 MKO members residing in Camp Liberty, Iraq transferred to Albania during the last week, Neday-e Haghighat Website reported.

In addition, two Camp residents relocated in Canada.

The names are as follows:

Hasan Sanaei
Behrouz Kazemi Aghcheh Kohl
Aliakbar Ghaffari
Morteza Khalili
Aliakbar Seyyedi-nejad
Iraj Alipur
Mohammad Mehdi Morshed
Mohamamdali Shafi-zadeh
Ali gudarzi
Naser Rashidi ( aliases Naser Jaafari Tabrizi )
Mostafa Sanaei
Karim Mohammadi Garavand
Mohammad Chartab
Gholamali Suri
Reza Haratian
Aliakbar Behruzi
Mir-Rahimi Qoraishi Danalou
Reza Salami
Fardin Dabestani
Saadollah Seifi
Rahim Sohrabi
Hamidreza Nuri
Saeid Khoshkerdar
Hafez Nosrati
Isa Golmohammadi
Ali Asghar Kalateh Safari
Mehdi Akbari
Hossein Khoda-Karami
Ezzat Latifi ( the name is fake)
Ahmad Nazem Zommorodi
Saeid Gholamnejad
Ali-Asghar Zamani
Ali Shadbash
Mehdi Mehdizadeh Mollabashi
Aref Diyanat ( aliases Ahmad Soleimani)
Jalil Jaafari Toosi ( transferred to Canada )
Mohammadreza Khaleghi ( transferred to Canada )

September 5, 2016 0 comments

Albania

US charter flight transferred 155 Mojahedin Khalq terror commanders to Albania

At least 155 MKO terrorists flee Iraq to Albania: Reports

At least 155 members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), including a number of the group’s senior leaders, have reportedly fled Iraq to Albania.

A US passenger plane transferred the MKO terrorists, who had been holed up in Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, early on Thursday, Didehban Strategic Institute reported.

Several high-ranking officials of the MKO terrorist group, possibly its ringleader Massoud Rajavi, were reportedly on board the US plane.

An arrest warrant had been issued for the terrorists by the Iraqi government and they fled the country with fake identities and passports.

Didehban also quoted informed sources in Iraq as saying that the US plane had had no other passenger but the MKO terrorists.

There is still no word if any MKO member remains in Camp Liberty but the terrorists’ departure has been reportedly facilitated by the United States, the United Nations and with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia.

There is a deep-seated resentment toward MKO in Iraq because of its criminal past. The group widely supported former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his brutal crackdown on opponents.

The terror group also sided with Saddam during his 1980-1988 war on Iran.

Iraqi leaders have long urged MKO remnants to leave the Arab country but a complete eviction of the terrorists has been hampered by the US and European support for the group.

The terrorist group had to flee Iran shortly after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 after carrying out a spate of assassinations and bombings which took the lives of many top officials and civilians.

In December 2011, the UN and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala Province to Camp Liberty, which is a former US military base.

The last group of the MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government in September 2013 and relocated to the camp to await potential relocation to third countries.

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

August 29, 2016 0 comments

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