News 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

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Muthanna provincial council refused the transfer of Camp Ashraf to Samawah

Muthanna provincial council refused a government request for the transfer of Camp Ashraf to Samawah

Samawah: The Muthanna provincial council has refused a government request to transfer [the Muthanna provincial council refused a government request for the transfer of Camp Ashraf to Samawah residents of] Camp Ashraf to the province of Muthanna, noting that they are known as the "hypocrites organisation" who have committed crimes against the Iraqi people and that they will disturb the security of the province.

A source in the provincial council, told our news reporter that "a request from a government committee came to the province for the transportation of Camp Ashraf to the province." Adding that, "the unequivocal request was turned down by the Department to maintain compliance with its Council and the Mayor when he told the President of the Council that "the hypocrites organisation" committed crimes against the Iraqi people and contributed actively to and were substantially involved in the suppression of the popular uprisings of 1991 in the south and north."

The source, who declined to be named, said: "The rejection of the Commission’s request matched the view that the" hypocrites organisation" will be a heavy burden on the people of this province which is peaceful and quiet." He added that "the existence of Camp Ashraf, especially in the countryside of Samawah would present major threats to its security and destabilize the province".

Akhbar News, Iraq

November 18, 2009 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Possible transfer of Ashraf residents to a camp near Samawah

Government Commission investigates possible transfer of Ashraf residents to a camp near Samawah

Muthanna / Aswat al-Iraq: The official source of Muthanna province said a government delegation arrived in the city of Samawah on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of transferring the population Government Commission investigates possible transfer of Ashraf residents to a camp near Samawah of Camp Ashraf to a camp near the town of Samawah, indicating that the proposal has been categorically rejected by the Governor and provincial Council.

The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the government "arrived at the city of Samawah on Tuesday morning and discussed with the Governor of Muthanna and a number of local officials the possibility of the transfer of Camp Ashraf residents (MKO) to the Iraqi military camp west of Samawah, established by Japanese troops." He pointed out that "the proposal has been categorically rejected by county officials."

The Japanese Self-Defence Forces had established a camp at the end of 2004 and used it as its headquarters until its withdrawal from Iraq in July 2007 when Japanese troops handed the camp over to an Iraqi army brigade deployed in the province.

The source explained that "the Governor and provincial Council refusal is linked to the idea that Al Muthanna province will be a safe haven for the group. It will reflect negatively on the security reality and sabotage the security of the region."

The Iraqi government took the decision at a meeting of the Council of Ministers on June 17, 2008, as the endemic presence of the MKO on Iraqi territory is illegal and it must leave Iraq. Iran is also opposed to the continuation of Ashraf camp site (renamed Camp New Iraq) in Khalis (15 km north of Baquba.

The source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq that the Commission "has, this morning, visited the camp to study the site and identify the areas of possibility for the new headquarters for the residents of Camp Ashraf”. He alluded to the fact that the Commission "found that the camp mentioned is not suitable accommodation for residents of Camp Ashraf and lacks a lot of facilities”.

"Another option for the Committee is a camp taken by American forces based near Diwaniyah, but not cleared until several months ago, according to the proposal by the Commission”.

The transfer of MEK to the province of Muthanna, "an old idea dating back to 2008, was completed in a manner allowing the authorities to reject the proposal." He pointed out that the option for the transfer of that group to the camps in the province of Muthanna and Diwaniya, "is still in the process of proposals and is not yet a decision of the government of Iraq”.

It is noteworthy that on July 28, 2009 Iraqi security forces had entered Camp Ashraf in Diyala province to take control of it, which led to clashes which killed seven and injured 400 other residents of the camp, as well as two people killed and 60 wounded members of the Iraqi security forces.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization, opposed to the Iranian government, took Camp Ashraf in Diyala province (north-east of Baghdad) as their headquarters after the transfer of the MKO leadership to Iraq in 1985, where they were received in a timely manner under the auspices of the former regime and from where it has launched attacks in Iran.

After the American intervention in Iraq in 2003, its members remained at their base at Camp Ashraf, which was placed under protection of the U.S. Army Corps, although classified as a terrorist organization. After signing the security agreement [SOFA] between Iraq and the United States late last year, the Iraqi government took responsibility for Camp Ashraf while U.S. forces remained at the camp, and then withdraw from it in accordance with the timing of the Convention.

The town of Samawah, capital of Muthanna province, lies 280 km south of Baghdad.

Aswat al Iraq, Baghdad – translated by Iran-Interlink

November 17, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq firm on extraditing MKO ringleaders to Iran

BAGHDAD – Tehran’s chief diplomat in Baghdad has said that Iraq is serious about handing over MKO ringleaders to Iran.
Hassan Qazemi Qom ,Tehran’s chief diplomat in Baghdad
Hassan Qazemi Qom told the Mehr News Agency that the Iraqi government is determined to expel the MKO group and it has already taken steps in this regard.

According to Iraqi resources about 3,400 MKO members are held at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province near the border with Iran.

Qazemi Qomi said since the Iraqi people are worried about the behavior of this group in their country and the Iraqi government has put the expulsion of the group on its agenda.

“In recent months a number of hypocrite members have left Iraq and certain have returned to Iran,” the ambassador noted. “We expect the Iraqi government to expedite its efforts in expelling the hypocrites.”

Mojahedin Khalq Organization are referred to as hypocrites in Iran.

The MKO began a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran shortly after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The group moved to Iraq in the early 1980s and fought Iran from there until the United States invaded the country in March 2003.

The group was also involved in the suppression of the Iraqi people during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Extradition of criminals

The envoy said during the Iranian parliamentary delegation’s visit to Iraq a number of lawmakers sitting on the Majlis Legal Committee exchanged views with the Iraqi side on signing a deal on extraditing criminals.

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani made a five-day tour of Iraq at the head of a parliamentary delegation from November 4 to 8.

November 15, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to expel Washington Backed Mojahedin Khalq

Iraq to expel Washington Backed Mojahedin Khalq Despite American desperate support for terrorists

Larijani warns of plots to cause Iran-Iraq rift

Iran’s top lawmaker says efforts are underway to create a rift between Tehran and Baghdad, but stresses that all such efforts are in vain.
Second Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Aref Tayfour, said MKO/MEK/PMOI members must be transferred to a third country
"Iran and Iraq have great potential for economic cooperation. That is why serious attempts are made to prevent them from establishing deep ties," Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said during a Wednesday meeting with Iraqi lawmakers in Baghdad.

Larijani, who is in the Iraqi capital for a four-day visit, did not specify which parties oppose close ties between the two countries, but went on to criticize the United States for its ‘extremist’ behavior in the region.

He held Washington responsible for the rise in terrorist activities in Iraq and accused it of trying to spread ‘modern barbarism’ in the world.

Larijani also attacked Washington for encouraging the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, to wage a devastating eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s.

Moving to the issue of the Mujahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO), Larijani asked the lawmakers to expedite the process of expelling members of the terror group from Iraqi soil.

After the meeting with Larijani, an Iraqi lawmaker described the Iranian parliament speaker’s comments about the MKO as very important and said that Baghdad was doing its best to expel the group, but added that no country was willing to accept them.

Second Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Aref Tayfour, said MKO members must be transferred to a third country far from Iraq and Iran to be unable to infiltrate the borders of the two countries.

Late in July, Iraqi security forces stormed Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala province near the Iranian border and shut it down. Camp Ashraf had been housing some 3,500 members of the terrorist group for years.

The MKO, listed as a terrorist group in Iran, Iraq, Canada, and the US, has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks against Iranian government officials and civilians over the past 30 years.

The attacks include the assassination of the late president Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.
The MKO is also known to have cooperated with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.

The organization is also notorious for using cult-like tactics against its own members and for torturing and murdering its defectors.

November 7, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

No country willing to accept MKO terrorists on its soil

Second deputy speaker of Iraqi Parliament:
No country willing to accept MKO terrorists on its soil

Underlining the Iraqi government’s official position regarding MKO terrorist group Aref Tayfour said: So far, no country has expressed willingness to accept them in its soil. Second deputy speaker of Iraqi Parliament:No country willing to accept MKO terrorists on its soil

In a meeting with Iranian parliament speaker on Wednesday and referring to Larijani’s remarks about MKO parasitical presence in Iraq Aref Tayfour also said: The Iraqi government is determined and is doing its best to displace and expel MKO from Iraq but until now no country has been ready to accept this terrorist group.

The Iraqi official also clarified: the Iraqi government is trying to relocate MKO to somewhere away from Iran’s border with Iraq so as to prevent them from infiltrating to Iran from Iraq’s soil.

Second vice president to the Iraqi parliament then referred to the Islamic republic of Iran support for the Iraqi Kurds and said: The Iraqi Kurds nation always regards Iran as its safe heaven.

November 7, 2009 0 comments

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

MKO leaders refused to let Iranian families meet their children in Camp Ashraf

Despite the humanitarian efforts of the Iraqi Government, MKO leaders refused to let Iranian families meet their children in Camp Ashraf

Leaders of the Organization refused to allow the reunions of Iranian families coming from Iran to Iraq to meet with their children who are members of the organization in Camp Ashraf, although they have undergone long separations.

This news came during a visit by a number of Iranian families with the consent and support of the Iraqi government to Camp Ashraf in Diyala province on Saturday to meet their children who are from the organization’s members. The families were disappointed when officials of the organization refused to allow them to meet with members of the organization for fear that these members will leave and return to their homeland and their families.

For its part, the Government of Iraq has asked the American side and a delegation from the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross and international human rights organization to hold direct negotiations with the leaders of the organization for continued long hours to convince them of the need to deal with this situation in a humane and approved way and for the Iranian families to meet with their children instead of the organisation publishing statements which accuse the Iraqi government of violating human rights laws.

Ultimately the negotiations failed as a result of the absolute rejection by the leaders of the organization of this humanitarian initiative. To achieve their aims the families have begun a sit-in at Camp Ashraf to demand that the Iraqi government and international community intervene to pressure the leaders of the organization in Camp Ashraf to give their children complete freedom to make personal decisions in response to their emotions and their sentiments.

Meanwhile the Iranian families stressed the amount of suffering and pain they face at the moment and over the years as a result separation from their children. The families said that the main objective of the existence of Iranian families in Iraq is to help their children and return them to Iran to live with us in peace.

Translated by Iran Interlink

November 5, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

European countries urged to host PMOI

BAGHDAD- The Iraqi cabinet’s secretary general on Wednesday revealed attempts by the Iraqi government to convince European countries to host the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), which is currently based in Iraq.

“Iran has called on Iraq to hand over the PMOI’s members, but the (Iraqi) government does not want to force them to go to a country against their wishes, just as it does not want them to stay in Iraq,” Ali al-Allaq said in an exclusive statement to Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“There is no justification for the organization’s members to remain in Iraq,” Allaq added.
The official explained that it is not possible for the Iraqi government to look after the PMOI’s members, who are taking refuge in the country, at a time it declares security and reconstruction as its top priorities.

The PMOI, also known by the abbreviations MKO and MEK, is a militant socialist organization that advocates the overthrow of Iran’s current government. Founded in 1965, the PMOI was originally devoted to armed struggle against the Shah of Iran, capitalism and Western imperialism.

The group officially renounced violence in 2001 and today it is the main organization in the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an “umbrella coalition” parliament-in-exile that claims to be dedicated to a democratic, secular and coalition government in Iran.

November 5, 2009 0 comments

Argentina

Argentine Diplomat: MKO Testimony to AMIA Case Unacceptable

TEHRAN (FNA)- Argentina’s Charge D’affaires in Tehran Mario Enrique Quinteros blasted the western media for using the testimonies given by the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to the case of a 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.

Argentine Diplomat: MKO (Washington backed Mojahedin Khalq) Testimony to AMIA Case Unacceptable

Western and Israeli media reports claimed that a number of Iranian officials are wanted by Interpol in connection with the AMIA case, which left 85 dead and wounded more than 300 others.

Iran has strongly denied the allegations, saying Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor of the case, has received huge sums of money from Jewish lobby groups in Argentina to accuse Tehran of the bombing.

"It is a question to me why a large number of international media have based their reports on the remarks and testimonies of a number of the members of this group, and why certain countries have used these testimonies to ruin Iran’s face," Quinteros said in a meeting with Hasheminejad, Secretary General of Habilian Association.

Habilian is an association formed of the families of martyrs of terror attacks.

During the meeting, Hasheminejad termed the documents presented by the MKO members in the AMIA case "fake", and said, "Whenever the MKO feels there is tension between Iran and other countries, it misuses the opportunity and does its best to impair the relations between Tehran and that given country."

He further presented a number of documents on MKO’s involvement in terrorist attacks in Iran which were well received by the Argentinean diplomat.

The MKO 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).

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.

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.

November 3, 2009 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Washington backed MKO terrorist cult Bars Family Meetings with Members in Iraq Camp

Leaders of the anti-Iran terror group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), have barred the group members incarcerated in a military base – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – form visiting their family members and relatives, fearing their defection, informed sources said on Monday.

According to the Habilian website (run by the family members of Iranian terror martyrs), a number of MKO members’ families, including their mothers, fathers and relatives on Saturday went to Camp of the New Iraq (formerly known as Camp Ashraf) to meet their sons and daughters but the guards at the camp didn’t allow them to do so and reciprocated their demands with harsh and insulting behavior.

The Camp guards also disrespected representatives of the international human rights bodies dispatched to the area to accompany the families.

Statements made by the MKO leaders in response indicated that they would not allow such meetings for the fear that families might encourage their beloved offspring to defect the terrorist group.

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 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.

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

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 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 3, 2009 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts