The MEK as Saddam’s private army

Open letter to Director of the International Lawyers

Honorable and Distinguished Director of the International Lawyers Organization MR.SOBHASH CHANDRA BIRLA

I am one of the former long time members and a veteran of this cult (PMOI) . I had been living and working with them for almost two decades. I know them perfectly and I would like to inform you about some facts which exist in this cult. I read your concern about ASHRAF garrison and its residents. You said that “conversion of ASHRAF garrison to a prison, is considered as a war crime.”

Actually , the war crime that you mentioned has already happened and occurred in this cult since long time ago. The leaders and operatives of this cult had participated and co- operated fully with the SADDAM’s suppressive forces in annihilation and destruction of any Iraqi people’s just-struggle during Iraq national and popular uprising against SADDAM HUSSEIN and his government as a result of that many Iraqi people got killed and perished. Killing of Iraq innocent people in co- operation with Iraq dictator is called war crime, and the people who does such a act are called war criminals. I would like to draw your attention to another fact which substantiates and proves that war crime has happened inside of this cult. The people who have been stranded in this cult since long time ago , have been deprived of having access to Foreign Radios and TV programs , internet and mobile. We were not allowed to get in touch with our family and loved ones through mail or phone till the fall of SADDAM HUSSEIN. Many people who could not tolerate the harsh conditions and daily suppressions committed suicide .Many dissidents were turned over to Iraq authorities during SADDAM HUSSEIN’s reign and spent many years in horrendous situation in notorious prison, ABU GHORIB. Many of those in ABU GHORIB got swopped with Iraqi POWs in Iran.

Many, such as MR. SAEED KIYANI and MR. SAEED NOROZI,…… got killed suspiciously and mysteriously inside this cult.

I as a victim of this cult urge you and your organization to help those who need your help in this cult . Help them to have a second chance to choose what they really want. Help them to return to their lost lives once more and revive it .

BEST REGARDS. PARIS-15/FEB-2009
Hassan piransar, iranpeyvand

February 17, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Struggle for a new home

Blacklisted a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) whose activities are banned in the US, MKO has initiated a propaganda blitz there along within a number of European countries to draw attention for the protection of Camp Ashraf, its main cult bastion located in Iraq that houses majority of its captivated members. Reportedly, the cult’s sympathizers residing in the US, have gathered before the Wight House to call for guaranteeing Ashraf residents’ rights granted only by the US following the invasion on the claims of war on terrorism. However, terrorists were the firsts to come under the invaders’ protection rather than the Iraqi people. Emboldened by the given protection, the terrorist MKO is combating versus the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s earlier announced decision to expel it from Iraq according to the Iraqi Constitution and in an attempt to uproot terrorism there.
Evidently, the group’s harsh reactions have even jeopardized Iraq’s internal and national security to some extents. Its own threatening tone and some of its advocated inside and outside of Iraq against the taken decision is just a repetition of MKO’s hostile attitude shown at the inception of its armed phase after the 20 June event in Iran. Regardless of MKO’s potentialities to onset yet another military phase in spite of trying to be taken off the terrorist lists, MKO is doing its best to convince the Iraqi government to consent to its stay in Iraq in a peaceful way.
Supposedly, after Saddam’s fall, Mojahedin’s presence in Iraq has no rational justification. Getting advantage of the chaotic situation in the region, MKO’s leadership in 1986 moved the organization’s headquarters to Iraq which was considered an opportunistic decision at the time for some reasons and to achieve desired objectives. The main strategic goal for both MKO and Saddam on which the two were making the alliance was overthrowing the newly formed Islamic regime in Iran.
MKO believed that the alliance with Iraq could play a decisive role to alter the course of the war that was threatening the invader himself. The Iraqi soil offered MKO the opportunity to form the Liberation Army so it could stage cross-border attacks at the right time. Closeness to Iranian borders could facilitate it for the supposed sympathizers to join the group more easily and, on the other hand, the operational teams could easily penetrate to launch terrorist operations. A well equipped army with Saddam’s logistics as well as political and financial support was enough to keep MKO bound to Iraqi soil since the organization had concluded it was impossible to overthrow the Iranian regime from within the country.
Saddam’s fall frustrated their political arithmetic all. The possible regional transformation and Mojahedin’s disarmament on the one hand and Iraq’s internal, political transition as well as the new government’s policy to establish friendly, cooperative ties with the neighbors on the other hand led Mojahedin to isolation to desperately wait an unknown future. But the protected status granted to Mojahedin by the coalition forces offered them a prolonged opportunity to stay in Iraq until a final decision was made or they would be transferred to a third country.
No country has yet accepted to receive Ashraf residents although the group is delisted from the UK and the EU terrorist lists. It is only a matter of legal enforcement and the very same countries are well aware of the group’s terrorist nature and thus, they will actually avoid letting it roam in the streets of their countries to jeopardize their social-political security.
The only hope for MKO is the US that has already taken it under its protection. Will the US’s new president assent to wear the same hypocritical mask that had become a precedent before his presidency? Especially at such a critical juncture he claims to be after a total political change in ties with Iran. Let’s wait to see how sincere the new administration is in its slogans. Besides, it has a responsibility towards its people to accomplish, that is to say, to protect them against terrorism. It will be much absurd to chant slogans of war on terrorism while the real terrorists receive full protection and promises of going to live next door as neighbors of American citizens.

February 14, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Mojahedin-e Khalq wanted American hostages killed

Shame on western supporters of Mojahedin Khalq Organization (aka: MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult)
on the 30th anniversary of Iranian Revolution

Massoud Rajavi (centre) and Saddam’s Head of Intelligence in terror deals.
on July 03, 2005 Iran Interlink wrote:
Some of the platforms taken by Mojahedin Khalq Organization, led by Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, in the last quarter of a century.
Mojahedin Khalq under the name of National Council of Resistance are trying to politicize their court cases in Paris (terrorism related charges) by portraying themselves on the same side as Israeli hardliners and US neoconservatives.
From their own papers, in their own words, the following is a sample of their involvement in the American embassy siege in Tehran as well as their views about Americans and how they should be treated. The Mojahedin was the main force in capturing Americans as well as publishing anti-American and anti-Israeli propaganda in Iran in a specific effort to block any negotiation for the release of the American hostages.
The Mojahedin was the main force behind execution of officials of the Shah’s regime and tried their best to have the American hostages executed (like the 3 Americans they killed in cold blood during a terrorist operation in Tehran) but failed to do so.

Lets create another Vietnam for America(pdf).
(Mojahedin English language paper April 1980)

Letter to Imam (Khomeini) (pdf).
(Mojahedin English Language paper April 1980)

Some questions unanswered regarding the US military invasion of Iran (pdf).
(Mojahedin English Language paper June 1980)

February 14, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

EU delisted MKO to manipulate it

An Iranian parliamentarian said Friday that the European Union (EU) delisted the terrorist Mojahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO) only to exploit it in line with its own interests. Member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Javad Jahangirzadeh said the members of the terrorist MKO will continue to serve their new European masters just the way they did for the toppled Saddam Hussein in Iraq for a long time.
He said the MKO members will certainly try to stir unrest and make anti-revolutionary moves inside Iran but to no avail.
He predicted that soon the EU will brand the grouplet as a freedom-fighter and try to increase its support for it.
The parliamentarian termed the EU move in removing the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations as an explicit gesture of animosity with Iran.
Noting that the Europeans, too, like Iranian nation, detested the terrorist grouplet, Jahangirzadeh said delisting MKO stands in strong contrast with Europe’s claims of supporting human rights.
He opined that the EU made the decision under influence of the US and Zionist lobbies.

February 8, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

PMOI crows … but probably not for long!

The People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI alias, aka MKO, alias or NRCI) have been removed from the list of organizations considered terrorist by the European Union. Just when the U.S. confirmed on their own … who can understand.

It is true that the decision to withdraw from the European list is motivated solely on technical issues and form such aspects of rights of defense.

But now, France has appealed this decision and the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated that for it, PMOI did have its place on this list.

Moreover, the text that was adopted makes it clear that several countries among the 27 "are not convinced that the Mujahedin were away from terrorism". It will be recalled that the process of withdrawal, the Swiss and the French had launched new accusations against PMOI.

It is therefore likely that PMOI will return to this famous list in July. Unfortunately, in the meantime, it has had time to recover the many assets it owns and those it had received from Saddam Hussein as a salary for being executive of his dirty works …

February 7, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

The MKO movement is in decline

Response to Sergio D’Elia, secretary of Hands Off Cain”, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (1)

Caro D’Elia,
Our group had no intention of continuing to write about Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO), but encouraged by your recent e-mail we feel obliged to make a few points. In principle, we are not against the removal of MKO from the list of terrorists. Indeed, the movement is already in decline .Since the late nineties the internal dissent in Camp Ashraf is increasing and with the fall of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, the MKO will be deprived of their basic logistics. However, there are things that continue to preoccupancy.

First, we believe that the leadership of MKO should answer the killing of civilian Kurds. I’m sorry, in fact, contradicting, but under Saddam the MKO were involved directly in the massacre of the Kurdish population. We have received confirmation and documentation of what we are saying by the Kurdish Democratic Party and by independent Tolerancy International, based in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan) and headed by a former minister of the autonomous Kurdish government, Hussein Sinjari.

Secondly, we are sure that the meetings in Europe with several supporters and / or members of MKO led you to find them available and courteous. The image that, in fact, the movement has manufactured in the West is a democratic organization. But the situation is different at Camp Ashraf. Some members of MKO have in fact discovered at their expense, the detention camps in which under the leadership of the movement they were subjected to torture, often led to death. Members of MKO are victims of their own cynical leadership. Shown below the records of known and authoritative organization Human Rights Watch on this topic.

The third point is that, as you say it, the movement does not have a libertarian government structure and in light of the facts that we have listed above and that we are committed to detail, are needed to reconstruct the truth about the movement. Surprisingly when Italian parliamentary delegations – and Sen. Perduca – go on a visit to Camp Ashraf and then write in the Italian media praises to movement who do not know at all.
Another point which we would highlight was well summarized by a message left to us by a supporter of MKO in Italy:”It is not far the day when Iran and the Iranians celebrate their freedom and democracy under the flag of the Mojahedin and their president Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.”This concerns us. We want a free Iran, celebrating their freedom under the flag of their country, not a movement, and having as president a leader elected by democratic elections.

For ease of reading we will share this letter / document into four parts. In this letter, write the abuses at Camp Ashraf (which will be divided into two parts), providing evidence. In the coming days, we will post additional material on the killing of Kurds and the armed forces and American civilian, take our information directly from the Department of State. The material here is, we were given by Human Rights Watch and the complete document in English of 28 pages is also available on-line.

Brief Background of MKO
The MKO was founded in 1965 by three student from the University of Tehran, Mohammad Hanifnezhad, Saeed Mohsen and Asghar Badizadegan. The three believed that a peaceful resistance against the Pahlavi government does not lead to any result, and that only armed struggle could fall to the monarchy. Their ideology, however, was based on an interpretation of Islam compatible with the Marxism. during 70s, thirteen members of MKO and Giodania go into Lebanon to be trained . The friendship with Yasser Arafat, remains over the years.
With the revolution of 1979, Massoud Rajavi emerged as a leader of the movement. Immediately after the revolution, MKO supported the revolution but after a while Khomeini excluded them from the division of power. It, therefore, led to an intense rivalry between the leadership of MKO and the regime of Iran. In 1981, members of MKO launched a campaign of armed attacks against the Iranian government. The same year, Massoud Rajavi moved to Paris. In 1986, France asked Rajavi to leave the country and find a new ally: the dictator Saddam Hussein. (In movies we are in possession of Rajavi called Saddam”the big boss”).

The “ideological revolution” of the MKO
In 1985, Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Azdanlu got married. Massoud and Maryam Rajavi became co-leader of the movement. They announced the marriage is an”ideological revolution”resulted from tremendous sacrifices made by both spouses. Maryam was first married to the deputy of Massoud, Mehdi Abrishamchi. The”ideological revolution”of Rajavi was imposed on the movement and required”sacrifice”. First, the leadership has asked its members to divorce by their husbands and wives, ordering”mass divorce.”

In the book “Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel,”the former member of MKO, Masoud Banisadr (not to be confused with the former president Abolhasan Banisadr) fled from the movement in 1996, recounts a meeting for senior officers of the movement page. 37 of the English version.

The first thing I was required to do in Baghdad was watch a videotape of an ideological meeting for “executive and high-ranking members.” The meeting, called “Imam Zaman,” (in the Shiite faith is the hidden Imam), started with a simple question: “To whom do we owe all our achievements and everything that we have?”… Rajavi did not claim, as I thought he might, to be the Imam of our times, but merely said we owed everything to Imam Zaman… The object was to show that we could reach Tehran if we were more united with our leader, as he was with Imam Zaman and God.
“He (Rajavi) was ready to sacrifice everything he had (which in fact meant all of us!) for God, asserting that the only thing on his mind was doing the will of God,….we were expected to draw the conclusion that no “buffer” existed between Rajavi and Imam Zaman; yet there was a buffer between ourselves and him [Rajavi] … which prevented us from seeing him clearly. This “buffer” was our weakness. If we could recognize that, we would see why and how we had failed in Operation Forogh [Eternal Light] and elsewhere. Massoud and Maryam [Rajavi] had no doubt that the buffer was in all our cases our existing spouse…

In the next letter, provide the following themes:
“Birth of dissent in Camp Ashraf”
“Violation and Abuse of Human Rights in Camp Ashraf”
“Testimonies collected by Human Rights Watch.”

Anticipation of the next letter:
Testimony of Sayed Amir Mowaseghi, collected by Human Rights Watch
Sayed Amir Mowaseghi entered a part of MKO in 1984 and was imprisoned by the Iranian government from 1984-1987. After his release, went to Pakistan, from where he could reach Iraq and join forces in the MK 1988.Nel in June 2001, had decided to leave the movement, but he was not allowed. A session of court”was agreed in September 2001 with the presence of Maryam and Masoud Rajavi, who have not granted permission to leave the MKO.

Immediately after it happened as testified:
“I was brought to a gathering of about 600 people. I was dragged into a crowd, I was taken to blows, kicked, verbally abused. I was then led in a caravan, which they called Bangala, I was confined in isolation until 2 June, 2002, and then I was handed over to Iraqi government forces (of Saddam Hussein). The Iraqi forces have put me in the prison of Abu Ghraib, I was then sent back to Iran on 18 March 2003.”

ANNA-MAHJAR of Barducci – Secretary of the”Arab Liberal Democrats

http://www.agenziaradicale.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7265&Itemid=52

Translated by Nejat Society

February 4, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Iran Group in Iraq Poses Thorny Issue for U.S.

many years, the roughly 3,500 members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) living quietly in Iraq drew little attention. But now the relatively obscure group is at the center of an increasingly contentious argument among leaders in Baghdad, Tehran and Washington, where decisions the new White House makes about the rebels will probably set the tone for U.S. relations with Iran in the near term.

The simmering issue of the MEK’s fate flashed into the open earlier this month when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unexpectedly declared that the group would no longer be allowed to remain in Iraq. Shortly after that, Maliki’s national security adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, said the MEK’s camp roughly 40 miles north of Baghdad would be disbanded within two months, declaring during an appearance in Tehran that Iraq would not play host to threats toward its neighbor.

The issue grew more complicated on Jan. 26, when the European Union removed the MEK from its list of terrorist organizations, a roster that includes organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The E.U. move, which came after a long lobbying campaign by the MEK’s supporters in Europe, sparked an outcry in Tehran. About 300 people were gathered around noon on Wednesday in front of the British Embassy in Tehran to protest the E.U. decision. Some in the crowd threw stones at the embassy, while others held up shoes on sticks in a show of deep disrespect in the Middle East.

"What people side with the enemy and kill their own people in a war?" said demonstrator Sina Zamanian, 17, referring to the MEK’s alliance with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, which led them to settle in Iraq. "They are the worst kind of opportunistic terrorists and should be forever marked as such."

Nevertheless, some in Baghdad are calling for the group to be allowed to remain in Iraq, or at least to not be turned over to Iran, for political reasons. "We have to deal with this issue very delicately," says Ayad Jamal al-Deen, an Iraqi parliamentarian aligned with Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "I’m not here to defend this organization. I have no interest in them. But I am looking out for the Iraqi national interest." Al-Deen and other Iraqi political figures see the group essentially as a bargaining chip with Iran, one of the few Iraq holds against its powerful neighbor. They argue that simply shuttering the MEK camp as Iran demands squanders what precious little leverage Iraq has against Iran. Al-Deen adds, "In my opinion, Iraq has only this card, MEK, to pressure Iran."

At the moment, however, the MEK’s ability to remain in Iraq depends on the will of the Americans. The Bush White House continued to use the military to protect the MEK at Camp Ashraf despite its current status as a terrorist organization on the U.S. list and periodic complaints by the emerging Iraqi government and Tehran, which says the group is still involved in subversive activity inside Iran. Outwardly, U.S. officials have said disbanding the camp would be in contravention of international humanitarian law because the group’s members are likely to face persecution in Iran or Iraq. But many Iraqis and Iranians suspect that the U.S. keeps the camp open for intelligence purposes, since the MEK’s spy network played a key role in uncovering Iran’s secret uranium-enrichment program in 2002.

Maliki appears intent on pressing the issue anew with the Obama Administration, which will have to decide soon whether to keep offering U.S. protection to the group or to yield to Iraqi demands to close Camp Ashraf. If the White House allows the Iraqi government to close the camp, the Iranian leadership is likely to see the move as a sign that the new Administration is eager to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran. A continuation of the status quo, however, could chill Obama’s early outreach efforts.

At Camp Ashraf, MEK members simply wait for word on what may happen to them as discussions continue in Baghdad, Tehran and Washington. Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for the group, says a closure of the camp would be a disaster for those living in what amounts to a protective quarantine for roughly the past seven years. "Closing down Camp Ashraf and the displacement of its residents, who are protected by the Geneva Conventions, against their will is a war crime," says Kia. "This will cause a humanitarian catastrophe."
— With reporting by Tariq Anmar in Baghdad
By Mark Kukis / Baghdad

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1875917,00.html

February 1, 2009 0 comments

Belgium

Belgian MP: PMOI is a sect

G.P. Put on line 27/01/2009 – For Josy Dubié (Belgian MP), there is not a doubt that PMOI is "a sect". The Belgian senator draws from his memories Josy Dubié :"They[PMOI/MKO] are still as sectarian as before", international reporter to the RTBF to affirm it. At the end of the Iraq-Iran war, they are the combatants of this organization which Saddam Hussein had sent like "flesh with canon" at the time of the battle of Mehran, in 1989. The treatment that Moujahidine held for their own troops, the women like the men, and that they applied to their Iranian prisoners were abominable, explains in substance Josy Dubié. "I know them from inside" , continues the senator, " and I can say to you that their behavior is to be brought closer to that of the members of Scientologie". Didn’t they evolve since the Eighties? Josy Dubié does not believe in it at all. "They are still as sectarian as before", he ensures. "However, there is in Iran an opposition much more democratic than that of Moujahidine of the people, the laic opponents, the members of the Communist party Toudeh, the sympathizers of the former Prime Minister Mossadegh ". And Josy estimates that one should not count on OMPI, which " do not represent anything the whole in Iran".

Lalibre.be

January 31, 2009 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq resolute to expel MKO despite EU decision

Baghdad is determined over expulsion of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq despite the EU decision to remove the group from its blacklist, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) political adviser told ISNA on Monday.
The European Union decision over removal of the MKO from its terrorist blacklist has no impact on Iraqi government’s determination to expel the group, Mohsen Hakim said.
The MKO is a terrorist organization under the UN and Security Council resolutions before and after the 11 September attacks and according to Iraq’s constitutions support for terrorism is prohibited and illegal, he added.
The members of MKO are neither war captives nor refugees thus have no legal position in Iraq, he explained.
According to Hakim 500 of MKO members have returned to Iran and 914 have European countries’ residence permit and Iraq is negotiating to get them out of the country.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie in his recent visit to Tehran emphasized Camp Ashraf, the MKO residential place, will be closed forever in two months and the members will leave to leave the country.
The EU countries have reached a preliminary agreement to remove (MKO) off an EU list of banned terrorist groups, their foreign ministers, however, meet on January 26 for a final approval on the issue.
The name of the guerilla has remained in the US and Canada blacklists.
The MKO founded in 1960s has carried out assassinations and terrorist attacks against Iranian high-ranking officials including Judiciary Chief Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, President Mohammad Ali Rajayee and Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar and also civilians. The terrorist efforts have killed 3000 in Iran in 1980s. It has also betrayed the nation by helping Saddam against Iran during 1980-88 Iraq’s imposed war.

January 28, 2009 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Europe may find itself providing refuge for MKO Terrorists

EU removes Iranian group from terrorism list

The new status of the Mujahedin Khalq organization, which seeks to overthrow the Iranian government, is likely to complicate international diplomacy with Tehran.
Reporting from Paris and Beirut — The European Union on Monday announced the removal of a high-profile Iranian opposition group from its list of terrorists, a victory for a movement that European governments have described as a dangerous sect and prosecuted on terrorism charges.
The change in the status of the Mujahedin Khalq organization, or MKO, which seeks to overthrow the Iranian government, is likely to complicate attempts by the international community to reach a diplomatic settlement with Tehran over a range of issues.
The decision, announced at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, results from recent legal and diplomatic developments combined with intense lobbying by the group, whose leader, Maryam Rajavi, lives in France.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement decrying the ruling as a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373, which requires governments to freeze the funds and halt the activities of those involved in acts of terrorism.
"The MKO’s hands are stained with the blood of thousands of innocent Iranians and non-Iranians," said the statement, according to the Iranian Students News Agency. "The delisting is invalid and condemned."
Analysts said European leaders probably acted out of diplomatic expediency because of the impending expulsion from Iraq of nearly 3,000 members of the opposition group’s military wing, who once fought against their homeland on behalf of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Europe may find itself providing refuge for some of those fighters, and could not do so if the terrorist label persisted.
Iran quickly signaled that the move could complicate deliberations with the West, which wants Tehran to curtail sensitive aspects of its nuclear program and rein in support for militant groups opposed to Israel.
"The EU plans to use the MKO as leverage against Iran in the nuclear talks," said an editorial Monday in the conservative daily Politics of the Day. "The EU should tell the world why it blacklists Lebanese and Palestinian resistance groups fighting Israeli aggression but clears the MKO, which has committed countless crimes in Iran and Iraq."
Protesters in Tehran gathered around the French and German embassies to denounce the decision, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, demanding the "extradition" of MKO members "who have killed many of our children and families."
Opposition leader Rajavi in turn described the decision as a "stinging defeat for the European policy of complacency" toward the Iranian regime. "The inscription of the Iranian resistance on the blacklist has helped prolong the regime of religious fascism in Iran," she said, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
The MKO remains on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, a designation it acquired in 1997. European leaders made it clear Monday that they do not view the organization as fully rehabilitated. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and several colleagues warned that the MKO could be again designated as a terrorist group depending on its activities and on a French appeal of a Dec. 4 decision by an EU court to unfreeze nearly $9 million of the group’s assets.
The MKO was founded in the 1960s as a radical and often violent guerrilla group opposed to the U.S.-backed monarchy of Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. It took part in the 1979 revolution that ousted him.
But the group quickly fell out with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the rest of the country’s clerical leadership. Many of its supporters were jailed, and the MKO launched a campaign of bombings against leaders of the revolutionary government.
During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, the group fought alongside Hussein’s troops against the Islamic Republic, a move that earned it the anger of many Iranians. Iraqi Kurds allege that the MKO helped crush an uprising against Hussein after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Several thousand members live in Camp Ashraf, a desolate patch of desert and tumbleweed near Baqubah, Iraq. A 2005 report by Human Rights Watch said the camp was rife with abuse, citing evidence of "prolonged incommunicado and solitary confinement" as well as "beatings, verbal and psychological abuse, coerced confessions, threats of execution, and torture" against members who don’t conform to the group’s sometimes bizarre rules and rituals.
Its blend of Islamist and Marxist ideologies alienates both supporters and opponents of the Islamic Republic. Iran watchers in Europe and the U.S. say the organization has little public appeal. But it mounted an all-out lobbying campaign that won over legislators, especially in Britain, according to Farhad Khosrokhavar, an Iranian French expert on Islamic extremism.
"They have been very successful at giving a positive picture of themselves in Europe," Khosrokhavar said in a telephone interview. "I think many people have been duped by them, especially in the British Parliament."
Khosrokhavar predicted that the EU decision would only increase Iran’s animosity toward the West.
"The Islamic Republic will be stronger in its suspicion of the West and European Union," he said. "My guess is they will be angry, and the one issue where they will be even more inflexible is the nuclear issue."
Rajavi and other leaders were arrested in 2003, when more than 1,000 police officers raided their compound outside Paris. France’s top anti-terrorism judge charged that they were involved in terrorism in Iran and plotting violence in Europe as well.
The investigation, which was assisted by the FBI in the United States, did not turn up powerful proof. A lawyer for the group said Monday that prosecutors should throw out the still-pending case.
"One finds oneself confronting a judicial dossier that is empty of substance after the removal from the list," said the lawyer, Patrick Badouin, according to French reports.
daragahi@latimes.com
Times staff writer Sebastian Rotella in Madrid contributed to this report.

By Achrene Sicakyuz and Borzou Daragahi

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-opposition27-2009jan27,0,1790285.story

January 28, 2009 0 comments

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