The Third View on Mujahedin Khalq

One Country’s Terror Group, Another’s Useful Tool?

Tuesday marks the second day of talks between Iran and the IAEA regarding Iran’s nuclear One Country’s Terror Group, Another’s Useful Tool? program. Media coverage on the region this week has also centered on the hanging of a member of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad by Iran. Majid Jamali Fash, was executed for killing one of Iran’s nuclear scientists in 2010. While this news is in deed pertinent, another story from Iran has received less media attention and could have long-term implications for the State Department’s handling of terror groups moving forward.

A heavy hitting, bi-partisan lobbying effort has petitioned Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for the past two years to remove the organization called Mujahideen e-Khalq (or MeK) from the State Department’s terrorism list, presumably as part of a house cleaning of a military base in Baghdad. The Wall Street Journal reports that officials say Secretary Clinton has yet to make any final decision on the MeK’s status, but allege that the State Department was looking favorably at delisting MeK if it continued cooperating by vacating a former paramilitary base inside Iraq, called Camp Ashraf, which the group had used to stage cross-border strikes into Iran.

MeK was originally named as a terrorist entity 15 years ago for its alleged role in assassinating U.S. citizens in the years before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and for allying with Saddam Hussein against Tehran.

“Real News” opened Tuesday setting the table on where the Iran talks are now, and discussed MeK and whether “one country’s terror group, another’s useful tool?” Journalist and Middle East affairs expert Lisa Daftari joined the panel.

by Christopher Santarelli , The Blaze

May 16, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

The MEK and the USA: It’s Complicated

Since 1997, the Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. Yet prominent U.S. officials from Howard Dean to Rudy Giuliani have come out in support of the MEK, arguing that the group has turned its back on violence and should have its terrorist designation revoked. For this vocal body of American supporters, the MEK’s commitment to secular, democratic government could help turn the tide against Islamic rule in Iran.

The issue, however, is muddied by MEK’s decidedly violent and even anti-American past. Originally an Islamic group, in the 1970s the MEK evolved into a Marxist organization dedicated to violent struggle against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran. Responsible for at least six assassinations of American diplomats, the MEK enthusiastically supported the Iran Revolution in 1979, yet afterwards resisted the new Islamic rule and began a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations targeting Iranian officials. The group fled to Iraq in 1986, allying with Saddam Hussein until the 2003 American invasion, after which it sought accommodation with U.S. forces.

Clearly, the MEK’s amenability to U.S. interests reflects only the group’s latest incarnation. Nonetheless, opponents of the MEK’s terrorist designation are willing to overlook prior transgressions if it means gaining a supposedly non-violent ally in the battle to undermine Iran.

There are several problems with this line of thinking, however. For one, withdrawing the MEK’s terror designation would undeniably exacerbate tensions with Iran. Though last month’s nuclear talks went relatively well, this situation could nosedive quickly with tacit American support for the MEK. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was himself a victim of an attempted assassination by the MEK in 1981. Iraq too is hostile towards the MEK, considering that for years the organization was supported by Saddam Hussein and may have participated in state repression.

It’s also not apparent that the MEK could achieve much in Iran, at least not as a legitimate political force. The MEK is widely despised by the Iranian people, including Iran’s reformist Green Movement, not least because of allegations that the MEK fought alongside Saddam in the Iran-Iraq War. It’s preposterous to think that an organization with so little public support could actually foster democratic government. American support for the MEK would only harm the encouragingly positive relations between the U.S. and the people of Iran.

Regardless of the political ramifications, the MEK may still actually qualify as a terrorist organization. The State Department states that the group still has the capability and intent to engage in terrorist acts. Indeed, there are allegations that the recent assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists betray a Mossad-MEK alliance of sorts. Though some MEK members in Iraq have relinquished their weapons to American troops, the organization still has a global network of trained operatives and bomb-makers who have not reliably demonstrated a commitment to non-violence.

Though the United States and the Mujahedeen-e Khalq may share a common enemy, this is hardly a sufficient reason for the U.S. to remove the MEK’s terrorist designation. The Iranian people have tellingly disavowed the MEK, a group that incidentally has never been brought to justice for assassinating American citizens or its role in the Iran Hostage Crisis. Thus for both political and ethical reasons, it’s clear that the MEK should remain a designated terrorist organization.

by Sean Feely – Diplomacist

May 15, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

ISIS rejects MEK claims on Iran pursuing nuclear weapons

The Institute for Science and International Security says a new report on Iran’s nuclear activities by the dissident National Resistance Council of Iran, a branch of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, should be regarded with skepticism.

Reuters reports that in a six-page report, the PMOI says that Iran is actively trying to build a nuclear bomb, having hired 60 engineers and scientists.

“We have to be extremely skeptical of whatever [the NRCI] says,” said David Albright, the head of ISIS. “[They are] an activist group with a huge incentive to say there is a nuclear weapons program that is making great progress.”

The PMOI is a dissident Iranian group that has been actively fighting against the Islamic Republic since it was established after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Albright added that available evidence shows that Iran “doesn’t have a structured, coherent, active nuclear weapons program.”

Iran has continuously maintained that it has no ambition to develop nuclear weapons and insists that its nuclear activities are all peaceful.

May 15, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

MEK to be delisted as terrorists in reward for engaging in terrorism

The Foreign Terrorism Organization list really doesn’t mean much if the way to get off it is by killing Iranian scientists at the behest of the US and Israel.

The Obama administration is moving to remove an Iranian opposition group from the State Department’s terrorism list, say officials briefed on the talks, in an action that could further poison Washington’s relations with Tehran at a time of renewed diplomatic efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

The exile organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MeK, was originally named as a terrorist entity 15 years ago for its alleged role in assassinating U.S. citizens in the years before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and for allying with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein against Tehran.

The MeK has engaged in an aggressive legal and lobbying campaign in Washington over the past two years to win its removal from the State Department’s list. The terrorism designation, which has been in place since 1997, freezes the MeK’s assets inside the U.S. and prevents the exile group from fundraising.

Oddly, the entire article makes no mention of allegations that MEK trained at a US Special Forces camp in the NV desert and/or killed a bunch of Iranian civilians with magnet bombs.

Though its last paragraph amounts to as much.

“If there’s a coalition against the mullahs, then we should fund that coalition, and the MeK should be a part of it,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.). He cautioned that for now, he wasn’t advocating directly funding MeK. “The MeK has the resources to resist and fight the mullah dictatorship. They don’t need our money, they just need us to get out of the way and take the shackles off.”

Jim? I believe this is your department.

Though maybe it’s not all the dead scientists that made the difference here. Maybe it’s the art project that significantly resembles the INC’s finger painting projects leading up to the Iraq War. America. Big fans of primitive art.

We demand our terrorists to be able to both kill civilian scientists and draw crude pictures, you know.

Empty Wheel

May 15, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

Top US expert:NCRI report should be treated with great skepticism

An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Saturday that Iran has some 60 scientists and engineers involved in a concerted and expanding program to develop nuclear weapons under defense ministry auspices.

However, diplomats say the National Council of Resistance of Iran has had a spotty record with allegations about Iran’s nuclear work since exposing a secret uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in 2002. A top U.S. nuclear expert said the NCRI report, like previous ones, should be treated with great skepticism.

Its latest report, whose details could not be verified, appeared timed to encourage a tougher line at talks with Iran the U.N. nuclear watchdog will have in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday and six world powers will hold in Baghdad on May 23.

But it clashed with the assessment of U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials that Iran has not decided whether to "weaponries" its enrichment program. Tehran says it is refining uranium solely for peaceful energy.

In the six-page report shown to Reuters, the NCRI cited sources in the Iranian government and military as saying some 60 scientists were pursuing bomb-relevant research in 11 agencies operating clandestinely under defense ministry control.

"Information … shows that the clerical regime has expanded the organization responsible for nuclear weapons development," the report said. "This finding reveals a complete and elaborate, and highly … secret research structure and a network for procurement of the required parts and equipment.

"So far, the identities of 60 directors and experts working in various parts of the New Defense Research Organization and 11 institutions and companies affiliated with it have been detailed," the report went on.

It featured diagrams said to lay out the disguised command structure and named scientists and engineers involved.

The NCRI, an umbrella bloc of five opposition groups in exile that seek an end to Shi’ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to launch a "robust probe" into Iran’s nuclear program and all personnel involved.

Iran says it is stockpiling enriched uranium for a future network of nuclear power plants. But the world’s No. 5 oil exporter has stonewalled an almost decade-old IAEA investigation into suspected military dimensions to its atomic activity.

World powers trying to rein in Iran’s nuclear activity via negotiations want to halt a spiral towards confrontation that has stoked fear of a new Middle East war, with Israel mooting last-resort air strikes on the nuclear sites of its arch-enemy.

But Western leaders have rejected Iranian calls for an end to U.N. sanctions against it as a precondition for any deal.

NO "SMOKING GUN"

In its last quarterly report on Iran issued in February, the IAEA cited generally credible information indicating Iran had carried out activities relevant to developing a nuclear explosive, but without evidence of actual weaponisation.

The NCRI is the political wing of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), which the United States classifies the PMOI as a terrorist organization.

David Albright, head of an influential Washington-based think tank that tracks Iran’s nuclear work and has access to sensitive intelligence, said "we have to be extremely skeptical of whatever they (the NCRI) say.

"(They are) an activist group with a huge incentive to say there is a nuclear weapons program that is making great progress, " Albright said when asked about the report.

"We know this organization exists," he said, referring to the command structure cited by the NCRI. "We know the (NCRI) receives intelligence information from countries so sometimes it is good, but the trouble is, they fill in details …(without) evidence. You just don’t know whether it’s true or not."

Albright said the best available evidence was that Iran "doesn’t have a structured, coherent, active nuclear weapons program … Most of their effort is really focused on developing the capability to make nuclear explosive material…

"The real bottleneck in their program is the lack of any ability to make weapons-grade uranium quickly."

Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants, which is Iran’s stated aim, or provide the core for a bomb if enriched to a much higher degree of fissile purity.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton referred without qualification to Iran’s "nuclear weapons program" on Friday. But her language went beyond that of Western security officials who are more plugged in to Iran’s activities, describing them as an attempt to advance towards a nuclear weapons capability.

In January, U.S. intelligence chief James Clapper said Iran was keeping the option open to develop a bomb but U.S. intelligence agencies did not know whether it would eventually decide to build one.

At the Vienna talks next week, the IAEA will once again try to get Iran to address suspicions about military aspects to its nuclear work. Atop the IAEA’s agenda will be gaining access to a military site that they fear Iran may be "sanitizing" to remove incriminating evidence of tests relevant to nuclear weapons.

The following week, the six big powers – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – will seek gestures from Iran that would evolve into guarantees that it is not after atomic bombs. These could include much more intrusive IAEA inspections and limits on Iranian capacity to refine uranium.

By Nicholas Vinocur and Fredrik Dahl , Editing by Mark Heinrich

May 15, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization's Propaganda System

MKO puts out propaganda report claiming Iranian secretly advancing NW

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) – the political arm of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO) often known as the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), a terrorist

Terrorist group puts out propaganda report claiming Iranian secretly advancing nuclear weapons program

organization trained by the United States and the Israeli Mossad to carry out assassinations and other covert operations in Iran – has put out another propaganda report dealing with the Iranian nuclear program.

In their latest report, which a top U.S. nuclear expert already said should be treated with great skepticism according to Haaretz, claims that there are 60 scientists and engineers currently playing a role in the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Of course, in reality, the United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has confirmed that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons on multiple occasions. Similarly, the United States intelligence community does not have any evidence indicating that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

Even the Israeli military chief Benny Gantz shares this position, making the claims from the NCRI highly suspicious at best.

The NCRI’s track record is far from one which would inspire confidence in the accuracy of their claims.

Since the revealed that uranium enrichment was occurring at the Natanz facility in 2002, they have essentially been unable to produce anything other than propaganda intended to push the international community into attacking Iran and/or ousting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Even Haaretz has to highlight that the latest report is filled with details which “could not be verified” and it indeed “appeared timed to encourage a tougher line at talks with Iran the UN nuclear watchdog will have in Vienna on Monday and Tuesday and six world powers will hold in Baghdad on May 23.”

The six page report was shown to Reuters and it cited sources allegedly in the Iranian government and military who claim that a massive team of around 60 individuals are actively pursuing research related to nuclear weapons across 11 agencies, all operating in secret under the control of the defense ministry.

One can make any manner of wild claims while citing supposed insider sources. As long as the details can’t be verified – and thus, cannot be falsified – they can never be challenged.

Unfortunately, some people seem to apply this knowledge selectively, in some cases choosing to give credence to claims made with no evidence while categorically dismissing such claims in other cases.

“Information […] shows that the clerical regime has expanded the organization responsible for nuclear weapons development,” said the report. “This finding reveals a complete and elaborate, and highly […] secret research structure and a network for procurement of the required parts and equipment.”

“So far, the identities of 60 directors and experts working in various parts of the New Defense Research Organization and 11 institutions and companies affiliated with it have been detailed,” the report added.

Now, this mind sound compelling, but the simple fact is: not a single one of these claims can be substantiated.

If I told you my high-level government contacts inside the Pentagon told me that all canines are actually hybrid robot-aliens sent to siphon the psychic energy of humans, would you believe me?

While that obviously sounds absurd to many people, there is just as much evidence to support claims such as these as there is to support the claims made by this terrorist group.

Interestingly, the document took a tactic right out of the U.S. government playbook – creating diagrams supposedly showing the hidden command structure, scientists and engineers involved in this alleged secret program.

These sound much like the completely fraudulent diagrams and drawings created in order to trick people into buying the justification for invading Iraq.

The NCRI has called on the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out a “robust probe” into the Iranian nuclear program and all involved.

While it is often claimed that Iran is blocking an IAEA investigation, this approach is ludicrous given that Israel refuses to allow any of their facilities to be inspected.

The antagonistic Israeli approach to the Iranian nuclear program is far from constructive and is blatantly hypocritical to the point of absurdity.

Hopefully the West can begin to use at least something resembling reason and logic in this situation, or else I fear we might be heading towards a confrontation the likes of which the world has never seen.

As always I hope, above all, that I am completely wrong and that these tensions quickly dissolve and the world can move forward into an era free of incredibly destructive nuclear weapons technology.

Did I forget anything or miss any errors? Would you like to make me aware of a story or subject to cover? Or perhaps you want to bring your writing to a wider audience? Feel free to contact me at admin@EndtheLie.com with your concerns, tips, questions, original writings, insults or just about anything that may strike your fancy.

By Madison Ruppert ,Editor of End the Lie

May 14, 2012 0 comments

USA

U.S. not ready to remove MEK from terror list

An Iranian dissident group on the U.S. government’s list of terrorist organizations is showing signs of cooperation, but the United States has not decided whether to remove it from the list, a Department of Justice attorney told a federal appeals court panel Tuesday.

An attorney for Mujahedin-e Khalq urged a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to issue a writ of mandamus, essentially an order compelling the State Department to comply with a previous order, and to make a decision on delistment in a timely manner.

MEK is seeking the enforcement of a 2010 ruling by the same court ordering the State Department to review the group’s status on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. In its ruling, the District Court gave the State Department 180 days to review the request from MEK to be removed from the terror list.

Robert Loeb, who argued the case on behalf of the administration, said the lack of total unfettered access to the MEK’s base inside Iraq demands more deliberation and time be given to the decision. Loeb argued questions still remain whether "hard core" elements of the group harbor weapons inside the base and thus retain the "capacity" to launch attacks.

Once the base is completely emptied, a decision on MEK’s status could be made within 60 days, the U.S. government has said. In court, Loeb stipulated that 60-day period could be subject to extension based on anything learned within that period.

The group has been on the terror list since 1997 because of the deaths of Americans during the 1970s. The group was granted refuge in Iraq by Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war. The MEK supports the overthrow of the Iranian theocracy.

The Obama administration has argued it needs to assess the MEK’s move from its previous base of operations at Camp Ashraf in Iraq to a processing center at a former U.S. base in Iraq before making its decision. The move is being conducted under U.N. auspices after the Iraqi government ordered the camp closed at the end of 2011.

Mark Toner, deputy State Department spokesman, released a statement this past weekend praising the "continued cooperation" of Camp Ashraf residents. Over half of the approximately 3,000 residents of Camp Ashraf have been relocated to Camp Hurriya, Toner said, with the goal of eventually settling in countries outside Iraq.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Senate panel last year that the way the transfer was carried out would influence the eventual decision on removing the group from the terror list.

Loeb said the administration understands the "duty" to make a timely decision on MEK’s status, but said the administration also has a duty to the public to "get it right."

The group is also known as the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran.

Viet Dinh, a former Justice Department lawyer representing the MEK, said the group no longer poses a military threat because the U.S. Army peacefully disarmed the group after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The U.S. government treated MEK members as protected people under international law until the U.S. turned over responsibility to the Iraqi government.

Dinh told the court the State Department’s delay in making a decision is a violation of MEK’s due process rights, and liberties granted under the U.S. Constitution.

"The secretary has recognized (MEK’s) renunciation of violence and is legally bound to delist the organization," Dinh wrote in a filing in February." She cannot pocket veto (MEK’s) application for revocation of its terrorist status."

Col. Wes Martin, who served as base commander of Camp Ashraf in 2006 and was present for Tuesday’s proceedings, called Loeb’s argument "nonsense." Martin, who supports MEK’s removal from the terror list, told CNN he was certain Camp Ashraf has been completely disarmed.

The MEK enjoys the support of prominent high-ranking officials from past Democratic and Republican administrations who speak out against the group’s continued presence on the terror list.

By Jamie Crawford

May 13, 2012 0 comments

USA

MKO remains on US FTO list

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to rule on whether to remove an Iranian dissident group from a U.S. terrorism blacklist about two months after its refugee camp in Iraq closes, the Obama

U.S. to decide MEK’s fate after camp closes

administration said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments on a petition from the group, Mujahadin-e Khalq, or MEK, which is seeking an order forcing the State Department to either remove it from the list or require action within a specified period on its request to be delisted.

Iranians who belong to the group have been moving out of its Camp Ashraf base in Iraq to a processing center at a former U.S. military base in Baghdad, and the remaining 1,200 or so are expected to be moved in the next nine weeks or so, the administration said.

Clinton plans to decide on the group’s request to be delisted from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list "no later than 60 days after the last move," Robert Loeb, a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration, told the appeals court that heard oral arguments on the issue.

It appeared to be the first time that the State Department had publicly given a rough timeline for making a decision on the matter.

Loeb acknowledged that a 60-day period for a decision "may not be realistic" because they could find additional evidence that needs to be weighed, but that Clinton had authorized him to tell the court of her plan.

Loeb said the administration has been carefully weighing whether the group has fully renounced its violent past and given up any weapons. He denied that the process was without an end. Clinton said in February the camp move was a "key factor" to making a decision.

"We’re not citing world peace" as a goal to determine the fate of the designation, Loeb said.

Also known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, the group led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran during the 1970s that included attacks on U.S. targets. It was added to the list in 1997, but the group has said that it has renounced violence.

UNWELCOME IN IRAQ

The group, which has pushed for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical leaders, found itself no longer welcome in Iraq under its new Shi’ite-led government that came to power after Saddam Hussein’s downfall in 2003.

As a result of the MEK’s listing as a foreign terrorist organization, Americans are barred from supporting the group, and its members or representatives are banned from entering the United States.

A lawyer for the group, Viet Dinh, pressed a three-judge appeals court panel to force the Obama administration’s hand and said that the terrorism designation has "severe implications on constitutional liberties" for the group.

He denied that the MEK members at the base were armed and saying that "the group for a decade has renounced violence."

The three judges appeared skeptical of both sides during the arguments, acknowledging that it was not as if the Obama administration was "sitting on their hands", as Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson put it during the nearly hour-long arguments.

Judge David Tatel raised the possibility of establishing a deadline for when Clinton must rule or take the Obama administration’s backup suggestion to require regular progress reports to the court.

But he questioned whether the group wanted a decision that could go against the group now but in a few weeks or months could be reversed.

Dinh argued that the law required Clinton to make a decision within short order and that the group wanted a decision made even if it was not to delist it because then it could appeal it in the courts. "Any decision would be better," he said.

Tatel also pressed Loeb on why the administration just did not deny the application so the appeals process could move, but the lawyer said that the situation was "fluid" and did not want to risk hurting cooperation to close Camp Ashraf.

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Philip Barbara)

By Jeremy Pelofsky

May 9, 2012 0 comments

Iraq

Europe, North America are now required to accept the MKO

Minister of Foreign Affairs Meets Representative of UNICEF, Head of ICRC in Iraq

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hoshyar Zebari met today 6/5/2012 Mr. Maritseo Babel, UNICEF new Representative in Iraq.

Both sides discussed the joint state program of Iraq for the period 2011-2014, development assistance, and the importance of updating the public policies in the basic service sectors that affect children’s lives; education, health, nutrition, water, sanitation, and child’s life.

Iraq’s position in achieving the development goals of the millennium in 2015 were tackled in addition to issues of malnutrition and fatalities rates among children under the age of five.

The Minister stressed Iraqi government’s keenness on supporting the activities and programs of UNICEF to achieve the required cooperation and coordination with the competent ministries.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs met Mr. Biat Schwiser, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq, and reviewed with him the activities and programs of the mission in Iraq.

Inspection operations , looking for the Iraqi and Iranian Missing In Action (MIA) dead bodies in Fao and Majnoon areas were discussed as well as the tripartite committee; Iraqi-Iranian-ICRC, activities.

The Minister also reviewed the results of the Iraqi-Kuwaiti talks during the Second Round Meetings of the Supreme Ministerial Committee, especially the humanitarian file, confirming that the Iraqi-Kuwaiti cooperation continues in the search for the Kuwaiti MIA and properties, adding that a number of proposals were submitted to continue the inspections as well as referring the

Iraq has fulfilled its international commitment, European, North American and foreign States are now required to accept the Mojahedin Khalq

issue to be addressed bilaterally, even if it was carried out under the supervision of ICRC or UNAMI.

The Minister also evaluated the ICRC role in communicating with the residents of Ashraf Camp and Liberty Camp, praising the humanitarian and professional role of the ICRC, confirming Iraq’s fulfilling its international commitment and that the European, North American, and foreign states are required to accept resettling the residents of Ashraf Camp in their countries because their stay in Liberty Camp is temporary and transitional.

May 8, 2012 0 comments

USA

US to review UNHCR referrals of some MKO members

Camp Ashraf

Press Statement US to review UNHCR referrals of some MKO members
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC

Today, the fifth convoy of approximately 400 Camp Ashraf residents safely arrived at Camp Hurriya. The United States welcomes the continued cooperation of the Government of Iraq and the residents of Camp Ashraf with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to complete the relocation process, as set forth in the December 25, 2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq. The United States appreciates the extensive resources expended by the Government of Iraq to provide for the residents’ safe relocation, and calls for continued adherence to the commitments in the MOU, especially those which provide for the safety, security, and humanitarian treatment of the residents.

With over half of the initial resident population now relocated to Camp Hurriya, the United States will be able to increase its focus on the safe relocation of the residents from Camp Hurriya out of Iraq. We join the call of the United Nations to member states to assist in the permanent relocation of eligible residents from Iraq.

To do its part, the United States has informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other governments that we are willing to consider referrals of some individuals from the UNHCR. These referrals will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, consistent with applicable U.S. law. We urge our friends and partners in the international community to step forward and help achieve a humanitarian resolution.

May 6, 2012 0 comments

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