News on the MEK

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Washington backed MKO death threat for Iraqi network head

The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), an anti-Iran terrorist group based in Iraq, has threatened to assassinate the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), Hassan Salman.

The Board of Trustees has decided to take legal action against the MKO in an Iraqi court, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the IMN Board of Trustees has shown unanimous support for Salman. They urged the network’s legal department to take the threat seriously and file a lawsuit against the terrorist cult.

Salman has been an outspoken critic of the MKO, often airing his views openly on Iraqi television live broadcasts.

The MKO terrorists are especially notorious for taking sides with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war.

The group masterminded a slew of terrorist operations in Iran and Iraq — one of which was the 1981 bombing of the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, in which 72 Iranian senior officials were killed.

Thousands of MKO members are now illegally residing in Iraq’s Camp Ashraf.

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Board of Directors ask Judiciary to investigate criminal Mujahedin Khalq

Following the death threats by the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist group made against the life of Mr. Hassan Salman, Head of Iraqi Media Network (IMN), the IMN Board of Directors have officially asked the judiciary to launch an investigation into the criminal activities of the Mojahedin Khalq (aka: Rajavi cult).

Board of Directors ask Judiciary to investigate criminal MKO

Head of Iraqi Media Network (IMN), the IMN Board of Directors have officially asked the judiciary to launch an investigation into the criminal activities of the Mojahedin Khalq

Translated by Iran-Interlink

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Nuri al-Maliki: Iraq to move Mojahedin Khalq to remote south

BAGHDAD – Iraq plans to uproot an Iranian exile group that has become a headache for the Baghdad government and move the activists to a remote southern area until it can expel them, the prime minister said this week. Moving them to Nuqrat al-Salman is a step towards expelling them (from Iraq)," Maliki

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to oust members of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition movement that the United States considers a terrorist organisation, from a camp northeast of Baghdad where they have been living for two decades.

Their clamor for greater rights within Iraq and aggressive international outreach has been an irritant for a government seeking to nurture its fragile relationship with Tehran.

Maliki did not say when officials would try to move the exiles from Camp Ashraf to the southern province of Muthanna.

"Moving them to Nuqrat al-Salman is a step towards expelling them (from Iraq)," Maliki wrote in a question-and-answer session posted on a state website. He was referring to a remote area that is home to a well-known prison. The entry was dated Dec. 7.

Iraqi forces clashed with residents in late July when they forcibly took control of the camp, which had been protected by U.S. troops since Saddam Hussein’s ouster in 2003.

The Iraqi government, which sees the camp’s 3,500 residents as enemies who enjoyed Saddam’s protection for years, is keen to force the PMOI out of Iraq but wants to avoid being seen as trampling the exiles’ rights or endangering their lives.

The PMOI began as an Islamist leftist group opposed to Iran’s late Shah, but fell out with Shi’ite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution and was crushed.

Mujahideen guerrillas carried out attacks against Iranian targets and collaborated with Baghdad in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Iran executed a large number of PMOI prisoners at the end of the war.

Maliki suggested the exiles would be less troublesome in largely Shi’ite Muthanna than they were in Diyala, an ethnically and religiously mixed province that remains volatile.

"Their presence at Ashraf is a major risk because of the historical ties with some groups and political powers in that area, especially the remains of the former regime and al-Qaeda," the prime minister said.

He dismissed objections to the move from local officials in Muthanna. "The province is a part of Iraq and it must assume its responsibility," Maliki said.

Reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Missy Ryan, editing by Paul Taylor

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to transfer Iranian dissident group to Baghdad

Iraq to transfer Iranian dissident group to Baghdad Iraq will move exiled Iranian dissidents based at a camp close to the border between the two countries to Baghdad, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

"We will move residents of Camp Ashraf to buildings in Baghdad on Tuesday," he said, without giving details.

The members of the People’s Mujahedeen have lived at Camp Ashraf, a refugee base in Diyala province north of the Iraqi capital, for more than 20 years.

Iraqi security forces launched an operation to take over the camp in July.

The group was founded in 1965 in opposition to the shah of Iran and subsequently fought the clerical regime that ousted him in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

About 3,500 Mujahedeen and their families have lived in Ashraf since former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the Iranian opposition to set up bases on his territory during his 1980-88 war with Tehran.

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, American forces disarmed the Mujahedeen in Ashraf and placed the residents under protection.

Iraq’s increasingly independent government has moved to take charge of the site.

December 12, 2009 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Al Rubaie: MKO members will be expelled

al Rubaie: Baath, al Qaeda want to show Iran as enemy

Former Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al Rubaie said the former Iraqi Baath ruling party and al Qaeda want to show Iran as enemy to find justification for their activities.

Al Qaeda and Baath party have always sought to make Iraq unstable and draw attention away from the fact that they are responsible for terrorist activities and killings in Iraq, he told ISNA.

“Baath party and al Qaeda are trying to show Iran as enemy of Iraq, in line with policies of Baath party, to have a justification regarding their measures in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.”

Also regarding the issue of Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group, he said Iraq still insists that members of the group should not stay in Iraqi territory and they need to be expelled based on determined standards.

Iraq wants the members of the group to be either returned to a third country without use of force or to Iran, he added.

Elsewhere, regarding Iraq-Iran borders, he said the borders are secure.

December 8, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Kari Vogt criticized the Norwegian MPs invitation to Maryam Rajavi

The well known Norwegian Religious historian and Middle East expert Kari Vogt criticized the Norwegian MPs invitation to Maryam Rajavi, the leader of MKO terrorist group.

Although the U.S. has put MKO on its terrorist list, they make use of the organization. Kari Vogt explains the issue:

First, it operates as US intelligence service in Iran what people of that type can do the best.
Secondly, MKO’s military capacity, which the Americans can take advantage of, and give them free passage.

Since the United States disarmed MKO after they occupied Iraq they have obviously invested a great deal, "says Vogt.

In the debate on Saturday she warned not to support the People’s Mujahedin. She said they have no credibility as champions of democracy and human rights, because they are an organization in exile, who are considered traitors among democracy advocates in their home country.

December 7, 2009 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Spanish court judgment about MKO should be local

Spanish court support for Saddamists not legal

ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: Any court judgment in any country regarding an issue related to another country requires the second country’s approval for execution, a Kurdish lawmaker said commenting on a judgment issued by a Spanish court with respect to the operatives of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MKO) exiled in Iraq.

“Executing the judgment requires an approval from the Iraqi side,” Ahmed Anwar, a member of the Iraqi parliament legal committee, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Monday.

He said that the judgment, which considered the MKO elements in Iraq under the Genève Convention, is a moral support only.

“The court is not international, and I question whether the Spanish government would adopt this issue from the legal and political standpoints,” Anwar said.

He said that the Iraqi government refuses to grant asylum to MKO operatives in Iraq.

“There are Iraqi-U.S. discussions with respect to the MKO issue,” Anwar said.

The MKO operatives in Iraq, hosted in Ashraf Camp in Diala province, oppose the current Iranian regime, and have been in Iraqi since the 1980s.

December 2, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Maliki: No place for the Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said he "no place for the MKO in Iraq."

According to a statement issued by Maliki’s office: "The Prime Minister today received the new President of the International Red Cross mission in Iraq McKenna Bart."

The statement quoted Maliki as saying:

"Our demand is fair, we do not force them to return to Iran and do not allow them to stay permanently in Camp Ashraf. There is no place for them in Iraq after the crimes they have committed against the Iraqi people by exercising their terrorism and because of their cooperation with the Baathists and their interference in Iraq’s domestic affairs."

On the issue of missing Kuwaitis, Maliki said: "The issue of missing Kuwaitis is humanitarian and not political, and we are fully prepared to cooperate with our brothers in Kuwait."

He continued: "We confirmed our commitment to cooperate on missing Kuwaiti property and money in letters previously to the United Nations and the Government of Kuwait, and seek to end this humanitarian issue, and seek to protect the integrity of the remains of any missing Kuwaitis."
He added: "Iraq has overcome many difficulties during the past two years, and [we see] the development and improvement on what the security situation was before."

For his part, according to the statement, the head of the Red Cross praised the developments witnessed by Iraq and Iraq’s commitment to resolving the issue of missing Kuwaitis, referring to the adoption of the International Committee of Red Cross’ joint efforts with the Iraqi government and its cooperation in this respect.

November 24, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq Pursuing Policy on Expulsion of MKO Members

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran’s ambassador to Iraq on Saturday announced that the Baghdad government is seriously pursuing its policy on the expulsion of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country. Iran's ambassador to Iraq on Saturday announced that the Baghdad government is seriously pursuing its policy on the expulsion of MKO

"Based on our information, the government of Iraq is preparing preliminary measures for transferring the group’s members from Camp Ashraf to Samawah Province (Southeast of Baghdad)," Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Kazzemi Qomi told FNA.

"That is the Iraqi government’s decision and oppositions in this regard will not influence Baghdad’s decision," he reiterated.

The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s. The Iraqi government and parliament have announced that they would not tolerate the group anymore and that they are seeking to expel the group from the country in the near future.

Following the decision, Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – in July and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.

The Iraqi authority then changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

The anti-Iran terror group has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by many international entities and countries.

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

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

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

The MKO was put on the US terror list in 1997 by the then President, Bill Clinton, but since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group has been strongly backed by the Washington Neocons, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

November 22, 2009 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Maysan Council refuses to take PMOI base in the province

President of the Maysan province said on Thursday, the local government refuses to take the PMOI base in the province, that its presence on Iraqi territory is illegal.

Abdul Hussain Abdul Rida Saadi told a news conference, attended by an Aswat al-Iraq reporter, Mujahedin Khalq organization had a major role in suppressing the popular uprising that began in some areas of Iraq, including the province of Maysan that the local government in Maysan "rejects any presence of the PMOI on its territory due to the fact that its presence in Iraq is illegitimate," adding that the decision "taken by the Council, after receiving information that that the province of Maysan is a candidate among the three areas in Iraq to embrace the organization."

He pointed out that "the organization had a major role in suppressing the popular uprising that began in some areas of Iraq, including the province of Maysan," adding that "they had killed many people of the province during the popular uprising."

Moreover, a member of the security committee of the Board of Maysan, Maytham, told Aswat al-Iraq that "the presence of the MKO on the territory of Iraq is a violation of the constitution as a terrorist organization," indicating that the group "had a role in putting down the popular uprising in 1991 and killing of large number of rebels who were expressing their rejection of the policies of the former regime."

He pointed out that "There are documents and documentary tapes which stress that the organization carried out terrorist acts against people of the province and in coordination with the previous security which was aimed at the elimination of rebellion."

He stressed, "We as a local government, call for the expulsion of the organization from all Iraqi territory due to the fact that their presence is illegal and therefore contact with foreign countries should facilitate the deportation process."

The town of Amara, Maysan province, 390 kilometers south of Baghdad.

translated by Iran-Interlink

November 22, 2009 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts