News on the MEK

Maliki: Iraq won’t Be Used to Threaten Neighbors

Maliki said Iraq”will not let any terrorist party harm its relations with neighboring governments”and named the Mjahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK,PMOI,Rajavi cult)

Iraq’s government said on Wednesday it wanted 3,500 members of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO/PMOI) in Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, to leave the country.

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

Maliki repeated his government’s call for members of the group to leave in his comments to Al-Alam. He also said Iraq would not force them to leave to Iran or another country but would leave the choice to them.

Maliki said Iraq”will not let any terrorist party harm its relations with neighboring governments”and named the MKO, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that wants a homeland in southeast Turkey and PKK offshoot, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), that stages terrorist operations in Iran’s western border areas and often clashes with Iranian forces.

MKO 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.

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

Full Report:

Maliki: Iraq won’t Be Used to Threaten Neighbors

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq’s prime minister, who started a visit to Iran on Saturday, said his government would not allow Iraq to be used as a base to threaten its neighbors.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told Iran’s Arabic news channel on Friday that Baghdad”will not let Iraq be a launching ground to threaten any country,”Al-Alam said on its website.

US forces in Iraq came under Iraqi mandate on January 1, a move Maliki said restored sovereignty nearly six years after the US-led invasion.

Iran is embroiled in a row over its nuclear plans with the United States, which has refused to rule out military action to end the dispute.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

A US attack on the Syrian village of Sukkariyah on October 26, has raised speculation about the likelihood of a US unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic.

Speculation that Israel could also bomb Iran mounted after a big Israeli air drill in June. In the first week of June, 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters reportedly took part in an exercise over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece, which was interpreted as a dress rehearsal for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.

Iran has warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.

The United States has always stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to deter Iran’s progress in the field of nuclear technology.

Iran has warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, it will target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormoz.

An estimated 40 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through the waterway.

Analysts say any US attack against Iran would most likely involve air strikes rather than any land invasion. Washington used its bases in regional countries to attack Iraq in 2003.

Maliki also”emphasized that Iraq will open all pending files with neighboring states and others in order to build sound relations with them,”the report said, adding that Iraq would be an”axis for positive relations with Iran”.

Iraq’s government said on Wednesday it wanted 3,500 members of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, to leave the country.

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

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

Maliki is expected to meet Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his two-day visit.

January 5, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Maliki: Iraq to Expel MKO

TEHRAN (FNA)- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed that he would expel the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country after taking Based on taking over everything and in accordance with our constitution and our policies of opening up to our neighbors... our forces are going to take full control of the camp where the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization live over their base from US forces.

"Based on taking over everything and in accordance with our constitution and our policies of opening up to our neighbors… our forces are going to take full control of the camp where the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization live,"" Maliki said alluding to Camp Ashraf.

Maliki was speaking to reporters on the sideline of a ceremony during which the United States handed over to Iraqi forces security control of the Green Zone, symbol of the American occupation of the country.

The MKO "is a terrorist organization and thus cannot operate in Iraq because it will create a political crisis in contradiction with the constitution," Maliki said.

"We will treat them based on the international laws. We will not force them to go back (to Iran) but we will give them the opportunity to either go home, or to another country," he added.

"(Staying in) Iraq will not be an alternative for them," Maliki said.

Maliki, who was speaking ahead of a visit Saturday to Tehran, told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in March that he would take steps to ensure that Iraq was not used by "terrorists" from Al-Qaeda, or from Iranian rebel groups.

US forces confiscated the organization’s weapons following the March 2003 US-led invasion, taking away some 300 tanks, many of which were subsequently given to the Iraqi armed forces.

Two years ago Iraq decided to restrict the movements of the estimated 3,500 MKO members to their base at Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border, where they have been held under a kind of US-supervised house arrest.

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

The MKO is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze, and has been designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visits Brussels and despite the ban enjoys 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 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.

Leaders of the group have been fighting to shed its terrorist tag after a series of bloody anti-Western attacks in the 1970s, and nearly 30 years of violent struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In recent months, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group.

The UK initiative, however, has prompted the European Union to establish relations with the exiled organization now based in Paris. The European Court of First Instance threw its weight behind the MKO in December and annulled its previous decision to freeze its funds.

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

FNA- 2009-01-03

January 5, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq Seeks to Send Terrorist Group Out

Iraq said on Wednesday it wants thousands of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) members at a camp north of Baghdad to leave the country, although it does not plan to expel them by force.

Iraqi forces take over responsibility for Camp Ashraf, home to 3,500 MKO terrorists, on Jan. 1 as part of a bilateral deal governing the presence of US troops who guarded the camp in the past.

The US embassy said this week some US troops will remain at the camp to help Iraqi authorities protect it after it passes to Iraqi control, but the MKO members say they fear Baghdad may still try to shut it and drive them out.

US forces declared the MKO terrorists “protected persons” after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam. Baghdad and Washington both consider the exiles to be a terrorist group.

“The Iraqi government will deal with the people in this camp in a humane way and according to internationally adopted standards, the Iraqi constitution and Iraqi laws,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

“The government of Iraq does not have any intention to expel the people of this organization or force them to leave Iraq. But it calls on those people to find another place outside Iraq in any state that may accept them as refugees, or for those who wish to return to Iran to go of their own free will,” it said.

“Iraq is no longer a suitable place for them because the Iraqi constitution does not permit dealings with an organization classified as a terrorist group.”

Meantime, a senior Iraqi official said Iraq has decided to shut down the Camp Ashraf as soon as possible, expel the MKO members from Iraq and close their file forever. Political advisor of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Mohsen Al-Hakim told the Islamic republic news agency that Baghdad considered the MKO as a terrorist group.

Most of its members are based in Ashraf Camp north of Baghdad. According to Al-Hakim, continued presence of the terrorist group in Iraq would be against Paragraph 33 of the Resolution 687 of the United Nations Security Council.

It would also be against the Iraqi Constitution, decisions made by the country’s presidency council and approvals of the Iraqi parliament, added the advisor.

The Paragraph 33 of the UN Security Council resolution, approved in April 3, 1991, required the government of Iraq to expel all terrorist groups that are present in the country.

The MKO members have two options of either returning home or leaving for another country but they cannot remain in Iraq any longer, Al-Hakim said stressing that the terrorist group was legally in an unclear situation as its members are neither considered refugees nor prisoners of war.

According to reports by human rights advocates, former members of MKO who returned home were living in good conditions, Al-Hakim added.

The advisor stressed that the grouplet has been barred from conducting all political, social and media activities on Iraqi territory. He added that an Iraqi battalion was currently in charge of providing external security of Ashraf Camp while its internal affairs are undertaken by the foreign nationals department of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

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

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

In recent months, high-ranking MKO members have been lobbying governments around the world in the hope of acknowledgement as a legitimate opposition group. The UK initiative, however, has prompted the European Union to establish relations with the exiled organization now based in Paris. The European Court of First Instance threw its weight behind the MKO in December and annulled its previous decision to freeze its funds.

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

Iraq Seeks to Send Terrorist Group Out

January 4, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Mujahedin’s stay in Iraq doesn’t tolerated

Al-Maliki: There is one thing that will not be tolerated and that is for them (Mojahedin Khalq, Rajavi cult) to stay in Iraq

Q: What will become of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/PMOI) after US forces relinquish the provision of Camp Ashraf security to the Iraqi government?

Al-Maliki: Today, another one of the results of the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty was that Camp Ashraf was returned to Iraqi security forces. In this camp there are organization members, of course I don’t acknowledge them nor approach them as members of an organization, but anyway there are people living in the camp whose stay in Iraq is illegal and are therefore not permitted to reside in our country.

They do not have the necessary requirements to be granted refugee status. Furthermore, Iraq is determined to put an end to this [Mujahedin Khalq] Organization because it is effecting relations between Iran and Iraq. This organization participated in many operations that harmed Iranian and Iraqi civilians under the Saddam regime.

This organization has perhaps committed acts that have caused more harm to Iraqis than to Iranians. We have been clear and frank on the issue both before we took control of the security of the camp and even after we received control. They cannot remain in Iraq. They can return to Iran or go to any other country but remaining in Iraq is not an option for them.

We will not force them to choose among these options. There is also the possibility that Iran will grant them amnesty if they would so choose to return. If they do not, there may be countries that would open their doors to them. They are free to choose.

But all this aside, there is one thing that will not be tolerated and that is for them to stay in Iraq.

—————–

Full interview:

Iraq: We won’t bow to pressure about Iran

The following is a Press TV interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki conducted on the New Year and ahead of his visit to Iran.

Al-Maliki: In the very beginning I would like to thank you for this interview and congratulate the New Year. I ask God to make this year a year of peace, safety, prosperity and stability in both Arab and Muslim countries and the world.

You have asked me about what is happening today. If we look at the hardships imposed on the Iraqi nation because of international punishments and the country being subject to Chapter VII of the UN Charter and the military adventures and the wars, the executions and the starvation and the hunger and the threats to our sovereignty, which led to the invasion of the country by foreign forces stationed here, I must say that the Iraqis have endured a great tragedy.

But we have named this day, the 1st of January, as a national day. The Iraqis and all of the people from other countries deserve this day and have to congratulate us for this day because it is a national feast, a feast for our sovereignty and a feast for the result of the efforts of the Iraqi nation today. We have received the symbol of sovereignty, the presidential palace, and the green zone, and the power over Iraqi skies. We will also receive the rest.

Today Iraqis have brought into force the provisions of the withdrawal agreement and complete sovereignty will thus be restored to the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government and the armed forces.

For us this is a victory at many levels, a victory in our bid to see freedom from Chapter VII of the UN Charter, a victory in our bid to regain sovereignty, and a victory in building the army and promoting the political process, building a trained and professional army capable to implementing the law and order in the country and a political process capable to improving political procedures. It is from here that the journey starts to take the Iraqis to the sea of freedom.

Q: There have been intensions to isolate Iran politically and introduce further punitive measure on the Iranian economy. Are there any pressures on the Iraqi government on this subject?

I can say openly and frankly that the Iraqi government will not force any kind of pressure or anything else for that matter on Iran or any other country in the region. We will defy any pressure brought against us to do anything that is not in line with our constitution, our policies, our beliefs and our national interests. I can say with great courage!

We will approach issues this way not only in the case of Iran, but also when our neighboring and regional countries or even other countries are concerned. I want to emphasize that it is the will of the Iraqi government, the national unity government of Iraq, to be loyal only to the Iraqi nation and its parliament and to abide by the constitution.

It is the law that opens doors to friendship and relations and prevents us from bowing to the will of others. Our constitution has determined that after today Iraq will no longer be the scene of wars and conflict and a source of regional instability and a place where foreign powers hold power and influence.

Iraq does not want to experience isolation and does not seek to create conflicts or fuel conflicts in the region; we want a situation void of any problems. We want regional peace and cooperation as we will remain a neighbor of Iran, Turkey and Syria and are therefore determined to continue our interaction and relations with them.

All our relations take mutual respect into consideration and that is why my upcoming visits to turkey and Iran and other regional countries will be based on policies that are acceptable for the Iraqi people; policies that they trust.

In addition, the policy of our government will be to resolve all the problems we have inherited from the Saddam regime. We will pursue this with regional countries. Some of these conflicts relate to our borders, some relate to the wars and their consequences and some relate to the common water, oil and natural resources we have with out neighbors. Our policy is to find solutions and not to prolong problems.

We believe that many regional countries will respond positively to our requests to solve all the problems that have been created by the policies and adventurism of the former regime. We have attempted to limit conflicts and tensions to build regional confidence in Iraq and to show that we seek agreements and resolutions and not to intensify difficulties.

Q: What will become of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) after US forces relinquish the provision of Camp Ashraf security to the Iraqi government?

But all this aside, there is one thing that will not be tolerated and that is for them to stay in Iraq.

January 4, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

MEK Terror Group to Leave Iraq

Al-Maliki also announced that there is "no place in Iraq for the terrorist" Mujahidin-e Khalq (MEK) organization. The Iraqi government has taken control Iraq Regains National Sovereignty; Takes Control of Green Zone, Basra Airport;MEK Terror Group to Leave of Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, the terrorist training camp leased by Saddam Hussein to 3500 members of the Iranian MEK cult. The MEK carried out terrorist attacks inside Iran on behalf of Iraq, as well as spying on, and making false allegations about, Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program. MEK have probably been triple agents, sharing information with and pushing disinformation on Saddam, Israel and the US through various channels. They also served Saddam as an SS, repressing Iraqi dissidents. When the US took Iraq in 2003, the Neoconservatives at the Pentagon wanted to adopt the terrorist group for covert operations against Iran and against the Shiite fundamentalist parties in Iraq that had been hosted in exile by Tehran. The Pentagon/ Neoconservative interest in the MEK appears to have been connected to its secret ties to Israel, and prominent members of the American Israel lobby such as Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson went to bat for this motley crew of bombers and saboteurs (ironically, they have been prolific in accusing ordinary Americans of being ‘terrorist supporters’ if they declined to ask ‘how high’ whenever Bibi Netanyahu commanded us to jump). The State Department, in contrast, pushed for listing the MEK as a terrorist organization. In the end, as usual in the Bush administration, Washington gave us the worst compromise possible, declaring MEK a terrorist organization and going on using it for espionage and sabotage in Iran as well as against Iraqi Shiites. In 2005 the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Da`wa Party came to power in elections in Baghdad, the very parties against which MEK had been conspiring, and they have repeatedly tried to get rid of the Mojahedin, but were stopped by the Pentagon. The ‘Islamic Marxist’ guerrillas are likely now to be expelled. Al-Maliki said that they would not be forced to return to Iran, and could go to other destinations of their choice, but could not remain in Iraq.

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/iraq-regains-national-sovereignty-takes.html

The full article:

Iraq Regains National Sovereignty;

Takes Control of Green Zone, Basra Airport;

MEK Terror Group to Leave

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Thursday that Iraq had "regained its national sovereignty". It could in fact be argued that for the first time since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq is again for most purposes an independent country in international law. It was put under Chapter 7 of the United Nations charter in the early 90s, having been found an aggressor against Kuwait. In some ways, its Chapter 7 status was taken advantage of by the Bush administration in its invasion of Iraq. There are still some things Iraq wants from the UN, and the Russian ambassador there has suggested that some Article 7 provisions will last for a while yet. But the main thing standing between Iraq and sovereignty now is anyway not international law but the large foreign troop presence on Iraqi soil. Still, that presence is underpinned by a bilateral treaty concluded by a sovereign Iraqi parliament with the United States. Cont’d . . .

US troops now need warrants for arrests, though they can detain suspects for 24 hours while they seek to justify it to a judge. Thousands of Iraqis imprisoned by the US will have to be released unless valid legal cases can be built against them.

In a move of the utmost symbolism, Iraqi troops are now taking control of the Green Zone, the few acres in downtown Baghdad, surrounded by blast walls, where US military and diplomatic personnel have worked, and where parliament and many Iraqi government offices are located. US military control of this area has often provoked tensions. Once Marines manhandled a member of parliament from the Sadr Movement who was coming in for a vote, provoking widespread criticism. The nerve center of the US in Iraq and of its Iraqi political allies had to be put behind blast walls because otherwise it would have been constantly bombed and sniped at. The area took a great deal of mortar fire as it was, endangering US State Department personnel who were sleeping in flimsy shelters. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has announced his determination to take down the blast walls. Minister of Defense Abdul Qadir al-`Ubaidi pledged to reopen the road between the Green Zone and the Republic Bridge within days, according to al-Hayat.

Bombings and other violence killed 8 in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk or their environs on Thursday.

Basra authorities arrested a leader of the "Army of Heaven" millenarian cult that launched attacks last year this time. It is the beginning of the Islamic new year, and apparently the cult is seeking ways of taking power.

Al-Maliki also announced that there is "no place in Iraq for the terrorist" Mujahidin-e Khalq (MEK) organization. The Iraqi government has taken control of Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad, the terrorist training camp leased by Saddam Hussein to 3500 members of the Iranian MEK cult. The MEK carried out terrorist attacks inside Iran on behalf of Iraq, as well as spying on, and making false allegations about, Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program. MEK have probably been triple agents, sharing information with and pushing disinformation on Saddam, Israel and the US through various channels. They also served Saddam as an SS, repressing Iraqi dissidents. When the US took Iraq in 2003, the Neoconservatives at the Pentagon wanted to adopt the terrorist group for covert operations against Iran and against the Shiite fundamentalist parties in Iraq that had been hosted in exile by Tehran. The Pentagon/ Neoconservative interest in the MEK appears to have been connected to its secret ties to Israel, and prominent members of the American Israel lobby such as Daniel Pipes and Patrick Clawson went to bat for this motley crew of bombers and saboteurs (ironically, they have been prolific in accusing ordinary Americans of being ‘terrorist supporters’ if they declined to ask ‘how high’ whenever Bibi Netanyahu commanded us to jump). The State Department, in contrast, pushed for listing the MEK as a terrorist organization. In the end, as usual in the Bush administration, Washington gave us the worst compromise possible, declaring MEK a terrorist organization and going on using it for espionage and sabotage in Iran as well as against Iraqi Shiites. In 2005 the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Da`wa Party came to power in elections in Baghdad, the very parties against which MEK had been conspiring, and they have repeatedly tried to get rid of the Mojahedin, but were stopped by the Pentagon. The ‘Islamic Marxist’ guerrillas are likely now to be expelled. Al-Maliki said that they would not be forced to return to Iran, and could go to other destinations of their choice, but could not remain in Iraq.

The British military has handed over the control tower at Basra International Airport to Iraqi authorities. Britain had been using the airport as a military base, but now will withdraw outside it and allow it to function as a civilian, Iraqi facility. This step is a further phase in the British withdrawal from Iraq; the UK once had 40,000 troops in the country, and is now down to about 4,000. They will likely all be out by July 1.

As the foreign troops leave, Iraqis will have to settle their differences themselves. Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani slammed Iraqi Arab leaders for provoking ethnic tensions with Kurds.

Juan Cole is President of the Global Americana Institute

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/iraq-regains-national-sovereignty-takes.html

January 3, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq to expel Iran rebels as it takes over camp from US

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday that he would expel an Iranian armed opposition group from the country after taking over their base from US forces.

"Based on taking over everything and in accordance with our constitution and our policies of opening up to our neighbours… our forces are going to take full control of the camp where the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) live," Maliki said.

The PMOI "is a terrorist organisation and thus cannot operate in Iraq because it will create a political crisis in contradiction with the constitution," Maliki said.

"We will treat them based on the international laws. We will not force them to go back (to Iran) but we will give them the opportunity to either go home, or to another country," he added.

"(Staying in) Iraq will not be an alternative for them," Maliki said.

Last month the White House said it received assurances from Baghdad that the rebel group will not be expelled to a country where they may be persecuted, apparently excluding their return to Iran.

US forces confiscated the organisation’s weapons following the March 2003 US-led invasion, taking away some 300 tanks, many of which were subsequently given to the Iraqi armed forces.

Two years ago Iraq decided to restrict the movements of the estimated 3,500 PMOI members to their base at Camp Ashraf, near the Iranian border, where they have been held under a kind of US-supervised house arrest.

Described as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the PMOI, which was founded in 1965, has many supporters in the US Congress and British parliament.

Group members fought alongside Iraqi forces in the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran and then settled in Iraq.

January 3, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq plans to close Iranian dissidents’ border camp

Base was used in sabotage and assassination sorties

US fostered sect as tool for regime change in Tehran

Iraq plans to close a camp for Iranian dissidents who used to cross into Iran to mount assassinations and sabotage – a decision that has sharpened political differences between Baghdad and Washington.

Camp Ashraf, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, came under Iraqi control yesterday in a broad security handover that forms part of the US withdrawal agreement concluded late last year.

Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, led a delegation of defence and interior ministry officials to the camp last weekend, warning its 2,500 male and 1,000 female inmates that "staying in Iraq is not an option". The Iraqi government said it "is keen to execute its plans to close the camp and send its inhabitants to their country or other countries in a non-forcible manner".

US troops disarmed the opposition group known as the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) after the 2003 invasion. They removed hundreds of armoured vehicles donated by Saddam Hussein but kept the camp intact because some Bush administration officials allegedly saw the MEK as a potential tool for regime change in Iran.

The Shia-led government in Baghdad has forged close relations with fellow Shias in Tehran and rejects such ambitions. It insisted that the US/Iraq security agreement contain a promise that Iraq would not be used for attacks on Iran or any other country.

Under the security deal Iraq yesterday took over the Green Zone and Saddam’s former presidential palace. The prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, declared a national holiday, saying it amounted to the moment when sovereignty was restored.

The MEK helped to bring the Shah’s overthrow but soon clashed with Ayatollah Khomeini and his drive to put clerics in charge of the country.

It now describes itself as "democratic and secular". Insisting the camp’s inmates have conducted no armed operations in Iran since 2001, Nasser Razii, a London spokesman for the group’s political arm, said: "Camp Ashraf provides hope to the Iranian nation and keeps the flame of resistance burning. We want to keep it on the doorstep of our homeland."

The US and EU placed the MEK on their lists of terrorist organisations after 9/11. Last year Europe’s court of first instance ruled it should be removed from the EU list on the grounds it had not carried out terrorist activities for years. Lord Corbett, a Labour peer who has long supported the movement, and other British parliamentarians last month signed a letter to the Iraqi government urging it not to close Camp Ashraf. MPs in other European countries have made similar appeals.

Former members claim the MEK is a cult that forces members to break ties with their families, orders married couples to separate and demands they devote themselves totally to the movement. Closing the camp will restore members’ human rights and allow them to decide whether to resume normal life, they say. But MEK members fear they will be deported to Iran, a fear Baghdad says is groundless.

Independent visitors to Camp Ashraf report that the inmates live in segregated barracks-style rooms. The International Committee for the Red Cross says several hundred former MEK members have left Camp Ashraf since 2003. The ICRC has helped more than 250 cross the border to Iran after conducting private interviews with each to ensure they are going voluntarily.

In spite of MEK claims that returnees face arrest and imprisonment or have been offered unfair inducements by the Iranian authorities, the ICRC is continuing the repatriation programme. "If we had any allegations of ill-treatment of people who have returned to Iran we would follow up with the authorities in Tehran," said Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC spokesperson for the Middle East.

Jonathan Steele

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/02/camp-ashraf-closure-baghdad-iran

January 3, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to close camp for Iranian dissidents and expel inmates

IRAQ PLANS to close a camp for Iranian dissidents who used to cross into Iran to mount assassinations and sabotage – a decision that has sharpened political differences between Baghdad and Washington.

Camp Ashraf, about 130km north of Baghdad, came under Iraqi control yesterday in a broad security handover that forms part of the US withdrawal agreement concluded late last year.

The Iraqi government said it was “keen to execute its plans to close the camp and send its inhabitants to their country or other countries in a non-forcible manner”.

US troops disarmed the opposition group known as the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) after the 2003 invasion. They removed hundreds of armoured vehicles donated by Saddam Hussein but kept the camp intact because some Bush administration officials allegedly saw the MEK as a potential tool for regime change in Iran.

The Shia-led government in Baghdad has forged close relations with fellow Shias in Tehran and rejects such ambitions. It insisted that the US/Iraq security agreement contains a promise that Iraq would not be used for attacks on Iran or any other country.

Under the security deal, Iraq yesterday took over the Green Zone and Saddam’s former presidential palace. Prime minister Nouri al- Maliki declared a national holiday, saying it amounted to the moment when sovereignty was restored.

The MEK helped to bring the shah’s overthrow but soon clashed with Ayatollah Khomeini and his drive to put clerics in charge of the country. Like almost every other political party and group that had created the revolution, it lost hundreds of members to torture and execution in the early 1980s.

It now describes itself as “democratic and secular”. Insisting the camp’s inmates have conducted no armed operations in Iran since 2001, Nasser Razii, a London spokesman for the group’s political arm, said: “Camp Ashraf provides hope to the Iranian nation and keeps the flame of resistance burning. We want to keep it on the doorstep of our homeland.”

The US and EU placed the MEK on their lists of terrorist organisations after the September 11th attacks. Last year, Europe’s court of first instance ruled it should be removed from the EU list on the grounds it has not carried out terrorist activities for years.

Lord Corbett, a Labour peer who has long supported the movement, and other British parliamentarians last month signed a letter to the Iraqi government urging it not to close Camp Ashraf. MPs in other European countries have made similar appeals.

Former members claim the MEK is a cult that forces members to break ties with their families, orders married couples to separate and demands total devotion. Closing the camp will restore members’ human rights, they say. MEK members though fear they will be deported to Iran, a fear Baghdad says is groundless.

The International Committee for the Red Cross has helped more than 250 to cross the border to Iran after conducting private interviews with each to ensure they are going voluntarily. – (Guardian service)

Irish Times – JONATHAN STEELE

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0102/1230842350664.html

January 3, 2009 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

MKO claims to win US protection

The Mujahedin Khalq Organization claims that the US has granted it immunity amid reports that Iraq will soon take charge of the group.

A US embassy statement said on Sunday that Iraq would take charge of Camp Ashraf, MKO’s headquarters and training site, as of Jan. 1, 2009. The statement, however, added that a US force will be present in the camp.

It also said that Washington and Baghdad will work to”assist the camp residents in securing a safe future”.

MKO leaders said on Monday that the US embassy statement was a”real victory”, indicating that the members of the group fell under Washington’s protection and could remain in safety.

“It means the United States has recognized its responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our people in Ashraf,”an MKO leader said.

Earlier, in a statement on Dec. 21, the Iraqi government called on the MKO members to leave the country in a”non-forcible”manner. Iraq”plans to shut down the camp and to either deport its population to their country or to a third country,”read the statement.”Remaining in Iraq is not an option for them.”

Following the Iraqi government’s statement, a White House spokesman, Benjamin Chang, said that the US received guarantees from Baghdad that MKO members residing in Iraq would not be”forcibly transferred”to a country where they may face charges.

An Iraqi official, however, disputed the claims, indicating that no security guarantees had been granted to MKO members.

“The Iraqi government is determined to abide by a parliamentary verdict to extradite members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization,”IRIB quoted the high-ranking Iraqi official as saying on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

The MKO, blacklisted by both the US and the EU, moved to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

After the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein, the group came under the protection of the United States.

Iran has repeatedly called for the expulsion of the terrorist group from Iraq. The group is responsible for launching operations against Iran during the Iraq-Iran war from Camp Ashraf. It also masterminded a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran.

January 1, 2009 0 comments

Iraq

Iraq to close MKO camp in Iraq

Iraq has decided to shut down the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) Ashraf Camp as soon as possible, expel the MKO members from Iraq and close their file forever, said a senior Iraqi official.

Political advisor of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Muhsin Al-Hakim exclusively told IRNA that Baghdad considered the MKO as a terrorist group.

Most of its members are based in Ashraf Camp north of Baghdad.

According to Al-Hakim, continued presence of the terrorist group in Iraq would be against Paragraph 33 of the Resolution 687 of the United Nations Security Council.

It would also be against the Iraqi Constitution, decisions made by the country’s presidency council and approvals of the Iraqi parliament, added the advisor.

The Paragraph 33 of the UN Security Council resolution, approved in April 3, 1991, required the government of Iraq to expel all terrorist groups that are present in the country.

According to reports by human rights advocates, former members of MKO who returned home were living in good conditions, Al-Hakim added.

The advisor stressed that the grouplet has been barred from conducting all political, social and media activities on Iraqi territory.

He added that an Iraqi battalion was currently in charge of providing external security of Ashraf Camp while its internal affairs are undertaken by the foreign nationals department of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

MKO is known as a terrorist group for conducting violent operations in Iran.

It is labeled a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and many other countries.

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organisation 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.

January 1, 2009 0 comments

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