US President George W. Bush has reportedly authorized a covert operation to set the stage for a military offensive against Iran. According to Counterpunch magazine, President Bush signed a secret finding in March authorizing a covert offensive against Iran, which those familiar with its contents believe to be ‘unprecedented in its scope’. Actions permitted under the secret directive include ‘the assassination of targeted officials’ along with operations across an extensive geographic area from Lebanon to Afghanistan. The ruling is believed to be an initiative in line with President Bush’s sweeping chief executive powers, which will enable him to arm and fund terrorist groups such as the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) and the Jundullah (army of god) militants stationed across the Afghan border in Baluchistan. Furthermore, efforts to destabilize the Syrian government and operations against the Hezbollah Movement in Lebanon will be stepped up, the report says. An initial outlay of $300 million has reportedly been approved to finance the implementation of the clandestine operation. Observers believe the former Centcom Commander Admiral William Fallon, who fiercely opposed a Bush military strike on Iran, was the main obstacle in the way of Washington’s policies against the Islamic Republic. Following Fallon’s resignation in March and with Bush’s favorite general David Petraeus set to assume his position, speculation is high that Middle Eastern nations should prepare for yet another war in the region. May 4, 2008
Iraq not a secure base for Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (Rajavi cult or MKO) against Iran
In an interview with FNA foreign policy correspondent Iraqi ambassador in
Tehran considered the MKO terrorist group as the ancient enemy of Both Iraqi and Iranian nations. Muhammad Majid Al-sheik also said: We won’t ever let Iraq to become a secure base for those who intend to harm Iraq’s neighbors specifically Iran.
Meanwhile in response to the question that why MKO is not deported from Iraq, Al-sheik clarified: The Iraqi government has always insisted on their expulsion from the country based on the constitution; but the remaining problem is that they’re not welcomed by any other countries due to their evil bloody history.
"We will soon make them leave Iraq if another country accepts to let them in" He added." We also express our readiness to help repatriate to Iran those members who have the intention of getting back to their homeland in accordance with ICRC.
At the end the Iraqi ambassador notified: The families of those imprisoned in Ashaf can file petitions and deliver it to Iraq’s embassy via Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs. Then we will send the petitions to Iraq’s foreign ministry so that the families could follow the case in Iraq in accordance with Iran’s embassy in Iraq
Fars News Agency, May 01 2008
http://english.farsnews.com/
ALseyassah exposes the use of proscribed Terrorist Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) by CIA and Pentagon in Iraq while keeping them on the terrorist list inside US!
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, on Sunday denounced the US for supporting terrorism in Iraq.
http://www.irna.ir This is while the latest review of the US list of terrorist organisations released on April 08, 2008 has kept Mojahedin Khalq Organisation and its aliases on the list of FTOrganisations.
http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/April/20080410111249xjsnommis0.111355.html The news was first published by ALseyassah in Arabic on April 20, 2008
(Anne Garrels reporting from Baghdad) RENEE MONTAGNE, host: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I’m Renee Montagne. STEVE INSKEEP, host: And I’m Steve Inskeep. Good morning. We’re about to bring you up to date on a group that’s called a terrorist organization or even a cult. It’s called those things but it’s under the protection of the U.S. military. It’s a group of Iranians. They want to overthrow Iran’s government and they are in exile right now in Iraq.
We’re going to hear this morning from both sides of the border about one of the stranger stories to emerge from the war. The story centers around the Iranian exiles who call themselves the People’s Mujahideen, or MEK. Their U.S.-protected camp is called Camp Ashraf.
NPR’s Anne Garrels begins with the story of one woman who escaped them. ANNE GARRELS: Last spring after living in Camp Ashraf for half her life, 40-year-old Batul Soltani made a run for it. She fled to the nearby American military compound. Though U.S. soldiers protect Ashraf from outside attacks, Batul says they do nothing to stop the MEK from continuing to persecute its members.
Ms. BATUL SOLTANI (Former Member, MEK): (Through translator) The MEK leadership remains in control in the camp and we had no choice but to stay. We were under psychological and physical pressure. The U.S. does nothing inside Ashraf. They allow the MEK to terrorize the inmates. 
(Ms. Soltani)
GARRELS: Until the U.S. invasion, the MEK carried out cross-border attacks against the government in Tehran. It also helped Saddam Hussein target his enemies at home. The new Iraqi government made up of those former enemies has no love for the MEK. After the U.S. invasion, American soldiers disarmed the militants and set up checkpoints around the camp to protect its members from Iraqi retribution.
Some in the Bush administration and Congress believe the MEK could be a useful ally against the Iranian government, though U.S. officials say that view is no longer widely held. They and the Iraqi government would like the militants at Camp Ashraf to leave the country. A few hundred have fled but Batul says most cult members cannot act freely, either because they’ve been brainwashed or because of MEK pressure.
Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) I never saw the Red Cross or American soldiers inside the camp. The MEK leadership manipulates anyone who comes in so they see only what they want them to see.
GARRELS: Recruited in Tehran as a teenager, Batul says her dreams of overthrowing the Iranian government turned into a nightmare. Once she and her young husband arrived in Ashraf, all couples were ordered to divorce. Her children were taken away.
Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) My son was six months old and my daughter was five. They said you can’t keep your children here. We will send them overseas to Europe. I have not seen my children in 16 years.
GARRELS: MEK commanders also took away the members’ documents and warned them they would be arrested by Saddam’s security if they tried to leave. Then after the U.S. invasion, Batul says MEK leaders warned them the Americans would kill anyone who left.
Batul says she stayed on hoping if she were a dutiful member she would eventually be reunited with both her children and her husband. Finally a year ago she stole a car, made a dash for a U.S. checkpoint, and was given refuge by the American military. She’s now searching for her children.
Ms. SOLTANI: (Through translator) I am asking Iranians all over the world if they know anything about my children. The Mujahideen won’t tell me where they are.
GARRELS: Defectors say the Mujahideen keep those wishing to leave out of sight. Asghar Farzin says he was one of the lucky ones. An American colonel during an initial search of Ashraf five years ago discovered him by chance in an MEK prison.
Mr. ASGHAR FARZIN (MEK Defector): One day someone knocked my door. I saw American commander because I can explain for him in English, he sat next to me and listened to me.
GARRELS: With the help of the American officer and the Red Cross, he was able to leave Ashraf. But he says others still there need help and counseling.
Though they acknowledge a significant number of cult members are trapped, U.S. officials speaking on background say it’s not safe for American soldiers to go into the camp. U.S. and U.N. officials say they cannot force members to go back to Iran against their wishes. But the U.N. has not found other countries willing to take them. The clock is ticking.
Under a new status of forces agreement, the Iraqi government will likely take control of Ashraf by the end of the year. Caught at the end of a press conference, General Douglas Stone, who’s currently in charge of Ashraf, made it clear he would like this mess to go away. He said it’s going to be discussed with the Iraqis, adding, things like this don’t go on forever, right? But after five years he still has no solution.
Anne Garrels, NPR News, Baghdad.
NPR News Morning Edition April 28, 2008
GENEVA – Four men, including an Iranian refugee, drowned after a group of 18 people were forced to cross a fast-flowing river by the Turkish police at Turkey’s southeastern border with Iraq, witnesses have told the UN refugee agency.
The incident took place on Wednesday 23 April at an unpatrolled stretch of the
border, near the Habur (Silopi) official border crossing in Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey. According to eyewitnesses, the Turkish authorities had earlier attempted to forcibly deport 60 people of various nationalities to Iraq through the official border crossing. The Iraqi border authorities allowed 42 Iraqis to enter the country, but refused to admit 18 Iranian and Syrian nationals. The Turkish police then took the 18, which included five Iranian refugees recognised by UNHCR, to a place where a river separates the two countries, and forced them to swim across. According to the witnesses interviewed by UNHCR, four persons, including a refugee from Iran, were swept away by the strong river current and drowned. Their bodies could not be recovered. UNHCR is in contact with the surviving refugees through its office in Erbil, in northern Iraq. They are deeply traumatized by the experience, UNHCR staff reported. UNHCR had sent previous communications to the Turkish government requesting that the five Iranian refugees, who had all been detained after attempting to cross into Greece in an irregular manner, not be deported. Despite UNHCR’s requests, the refugees were put in a bus, together with other persons to be deported, and taken on a 23-hour trip to the Iraqi border last Tuesday. UNHCR had expressed in a number of communications sent to the Government of Turkey that it did not consider Iraq a safe country of asylum for these refugees. UNHCR is seeking clarification from the Government of Turkey on the circumstances surrounding the forced expulsion of the refugees and the tragic loss of life. Story date: 25 April 2008 UNHCR Press Releases UNHCR, April 25, 2008 http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4811e23c4.html
Rajavi cult failed again in its lobbying efforts Designation of Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the US State Department play a critical role in fighting against terrorism and is an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business as asserted by the State Department. Through a fact sheet published by Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism on April 8, 2008, the current list of designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) was released. The name of Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK/MKO/PMOI), a terrorist Iranian group also proscribed by some other countries including the country members of EU, occupies the row 29 of the total 44 names as it has been in the list since 1997. To identify a FTO, as explained in the report, the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the State Department (S/CT) continually monitors the activities of terrorist groups active around the world to identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, S/CT looks not only at the actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts. Redesignation of MKO as a terrorist organization underlines the fact that the organization has failed in its lobbying efforts to convince its supporters in the Congress to reconsider its outlaw position. Reportedly, MKO has been engaged in unproductive intelligence collaboration with American forces in Iraq to appease them since they are well aware of the hypocritical nature of MKO especially after was transformed into a cult of personality asserted in the State Department’s report of April 30, 2007. Mojahedin ws, April 23, 2008———— State Department Issues List of Foreign Terrorist Groups State Department, 10 April 2008
http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2008/April/20080410111249xjsnommis0.111355.html
State Department Issues List of Foreign Terrorist Groups
Fact sheet lists current designated foreign terrorist organizations
(begin fact sheet)
United States Department of State
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
April 8, 2008
Fact Sheet
Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business. Current List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations 1. Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
2. Abu Sayyaf Group
3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
4. Al-Shabaab
5. Ansar al-Islam
6. Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
7. Asbat al-Ansar
8. Aum Shinrikyo
9. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
10. Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA)
11. Continuity Irish Republican Army
12. Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)
13. HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
14. Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
15. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
16. Hizballah (Party of God)
17. Islamic Jihad Group
18. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
19. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed)
20. Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI)
21. al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad)
22. Kahane Chai (Kach)
23. Kongra-Gel (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, KADEK)
24. Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)
25. Lashkar i Jhangvi
26. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
27. Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
28. Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)
29. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
30. National Liberation Army (ELN)
31. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
32. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
33. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLF)
34. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
35. Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (al-Qaida in Iraq) (formerly Jama’at al-Tawhid wa’al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network)
36. al-Qa’ida
37. al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly GSPC)
38. Real IRA
39. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
40. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)
41. Revolutionary Organization 17 November
42. Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
43. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
44. United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)
Identification
The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the State Department (S/CT) continually monitors the activities of terrorist groups active around the world to identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, S/CT looks not only at the actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.
Designation
Once a target is identified, S/CT prepares a detailed”administrative record,”which is a compilation of information, typically including both classified and open sources information, demonstrating that the statutory criteria for designation have been satisfied. If the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides to make the designation, Congress is notified of the Secretary’s intent to designate the organization and given seven days to review the designation, as the INA requires. Upon the expiration of the seven-day waiting period and in the absence of Congressional action to block the designation, notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation takes effect. By law an organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.
Until recently the INA provided that FTOs must be redesignated every 2 years or the designation would lapse. Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), however, the redesignation requirement was replaced by certain review and revocation procedures. IRTPA provides that an FTO may file a petition for revocation 2 years after its designation date (or in the case of redesignated FTOs, its most recent redesignation date) or 2 years after the determination date on its most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation are sufficiently different as to warrant revocation. If no such review has been conducted during a 5 year period with respect to a designation, then the Secretary of State is required to review the designation to determine whether revocation would be appropriate. In addition, the Secretary of State may at any time revoke a designation upon a finding that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation, or that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation. The same procedural requirements apply to revocations made by the Secretary of State as apply to designations. A designation may be revoked by an Act of Congress, or set aside by a Court order.
Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended
1. It must be a foreign organization.
2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)),* or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)),** or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
3. The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.
Legal Ramifications of Designation
1. It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide”material support or resources”to a designated FTO. (The term”material support or resources”is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(1) as”any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who maybe or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(2) provides that for these purposes “the term ‘training’ means instruction or teaching designed to impart a specific skill, as opposed to general knowledge.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(3) further provides that for these purposes the term ‘expert advice or assistance’ means advice or assistance derived from scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge.’’
2. Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227 (a)(1)(A)).
3. Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Other Effects of Designation
1. Supports our efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same.
2. Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally.
3. Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations.
4. Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations.
5. Signals to other governments our concern about named organizations. (end fact sheet) (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
TEHRAN — Petitions signed by the Iraqi people show that about 18 million Iraqis want to see members of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization expelled from their country, Iraqi MP Honein Qaddu said Sunday in a meeting with a number of Iranian political figures in Mashhad.
“The MKO have killed a thousand of our people,” Honein Qaddu, who is also the secretary general of the Iraqi Democratic Society, stated in a meeting with Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, the secretary general of the Iranian Habilian Society.
“Since their arrival in Iraq, the MKO began to serve Saddam. They are complicit in the mass murder of Iranian and Iraqi people, so the Iranian and Iraqi people have the right to call for expulsion (from Iraq),” Hasheminejad stated.
Saddam Hussein assassinated some 3000 individuals from the big family of the Iraqi Democratic Society and leveled 23 of their villages, the Iraqi lawmaker said.
However, Honein stated that despite repressions by the MKO and the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the relations between Iranian and Iraqi people are improving in social, economic and political dimensions.
Political analyst Dr. Khaldun (first name not given), who was present at the meeting, also said a petition bearing the signatures of 18 million Iraqis is ready for submission to Iraqi criminal courts and human rights organizations.
The Habilian Society, established in 2005, aims to fight terrorism, disclose the criminal actions of the MKO to the Iranian nation, file complaints against MKO assassins, and honor the memory of their victims
Tehran Times Political Desk, April 22 2008
We are former members of MKO who are appealing to you and your colleagues to use your influence and contacts to allow members of MKO in camp Ashraf the opportunity to see their families.
Some politicians and lawmakers have chosen to stand with the MKO and have spoken on their behalf in different occasions (like removing them from the terrorist list, falsely presenting them as a “third alternative”, and so on).
We are asking that you make an appeal on behalf of people who are left without a voice in their plight.
As you know there are more than 3000 members of MKO stationed in Iraq on an isolated location called Camp Ashraf (or Ashraf City as is also known). Here they have been imprisoned since 2003 after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
As relations between the governments of Iran and Iraq got better, some attempts were made by families of MKO members in camp Ashraf to arrange for a visit with their sons & daughters. These attempts were made primarily by the parents or siblings of the members in camp Ashraf. The very first attempts started as early as 2003, some months after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Family members had to travel on very harsh and dangerous roads to reach Camp Ashraf which at that point was under the control of the United States Army.
Today however the MKO have made it impossible and downright dangerous for family members to get anywhere near Camp Ashraf. Parents and siblings who haven’t met their loved ones in years or decades are turned away at the gates under threats and abuse. The Mojahedin accuse them of being “spies” for the Iranian regime, even though all they want to do is meet their sons and daughters after years of separation.
This matter goes beyond politics and is just a basic matter of human rights. We ask respectfully that you make any effort possible to convince the leaders of the MKO to do the right thing in this matter and allow the families to visit their loved ones in camp Ashraf.
Please voice your concern on this matter to the MKO and demand that they allow the families of their own members to reconnect with their parents and siblings.
Here are some articles and videos highlighting this issue:
Children of ‘the resistance’ – Canadian National Post article from 2006
Parents of MKO members in Camp Ashraf – Baghdad 2003 – YouTube Video / Parents getting denied to enter Camp Ashraf and accused of being agents of the Iranian Regime
By Iranpeyvand on Apr 17, 2008
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is fighting the PJAK, a PKK offshoot operating in Iran. Tehran has long accused the United States of supporting anti-Iranian armed groups, including the PJAK and Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). Both PJAK and MKO have been enlisted by the European Union and even the US as terrorist groups.
The latest round of the commission meetings at the undersecretary level was held back in February 2006 in Tehran. The upcoming five-day meeting will kick off on Monday, also marking the first senior-level meeting in the security field between Iranian and Turkish officials following an eight-day ground incursion by the Turkish military into northern Iraq in order to eliminate the PKK members based there, Today’s Zaman said.
The eight-member Iranian delegation, led by a deputy interior minister, is expected to arrive in Ankara tomorrow. The Turkish delegation will be led by Interior Ministry Undersecretary Osman Gunes, with senior officials from the police department, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the Gendarmerie Command and the Foreign Ministry participating in the meeting.
The Turkish military launched a ground offensive against the PKK in northern Iraq on Feb. 21 and announced that it had destroyed dozens of PKK targets and killed at least 240 terrorists before the operation was called off on Feb. 29.
Turkey carried out several cross-border operations against the PKK after Parliament gave the government authorization in October for sending troops into Iraq to fight the terrorist organization.
The ground incursion in late February was the only confirmed ground incursion during this period. It was also the first of its kind since the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in 2003.
Iran is fighting the PJAK, a PKK offshoot operating in Iran. Tehran has long accused the United States of supporting anti-Iranian armed groups, including the PJAK and Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO). Both PJAK and MKO have been enlisted by the European Union and even the US as terrorist groups.
The PKK is also considered a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community, including the European Union and the United States. US officials have repeatedly stressed that Washington considers both the PKK and the PJAK to be terrorist organizations, saying the US would not get involved in any kind of contact or relations with terrorists. But, PJAK and MKO members arrested by Iranian troops have said that the US provides information, weapons and financial supports for the two terrorist groups
The MKO terrorist cult threatened Iraqi newsmen who had released documents indicating that the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) had a hand in suppressing Iraqi Shiites’ Intifada [in 1991]. According to Albayyenah newspaper, the MKO terrorist group made death threats to Iraqi newsmen through the internet and their mobile phones as well. These newsmen had published documents on the MKO having a hand in suppressing the Intifada of Iraqi Shiites. Albayyenah also adds: As a result of these open threats, the Iraqi Newsmen’s Union will condemn the MKO’s recent measure through issuing a formal statement. The MKO terrorist cult has also already threatened Ali Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman who is also responsible for Iraq’s Research Center, with death because of opposing the Monafeghin’s remaining in Iraq.