The Third View on Mujahedin Khalq

Minister of HR calls on EU countries to harbor MKO members

Human Rights Minister Mohammed Shyaa called on EU countries to facilitate harboring Iranian Mujahidin Khalq members .

According to a statement by the Ministry today: "Shyaa met ambassador of the European Union in Baghdad, Ms. Jana Hapaschkova who praised the effort made by the Ministry of Human Rights in transferring hundred of members of the Iranian (PMOI) from / Camp Ashraf l in Diyala province to / Camp Liberty [Temporary Transit Location] / near Baghdad international airport.

From another hand and in response to a question by the Ambassador about the of the death penalty, Shyaa said the sentences issued after taking into account accuracy of the legal proceedings that accompanied proving the sentences, explaining that "all the death sentences issued against those convicted of crimes of mass murder and crimes of prejudice to national security and peace.

NINA (National Iraqi News Agency)

February 23, 2012 0 comments

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

Iraqi Sadr Movement Raps Ban Ki-Moon for Pro-Terrorism Remarks

A spokesman of the Shiite Sadr Movement lambasted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his remarks in support for the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, Ban Ki-moon; Secretary General of UN NCR or PMOI), cautioning that he is not entitled to comment on the settlement or extension of the terrorist group’s presence in Iraq.

"He (Ban Ki-moon) is actually implementing others’ policies which are against Iraq’s freedom and independence since there is no law that allows Ban Ki-moon to comment on the presence of the MKO in Iraq or their leaving the country," the Cultural Advisor of Sadr Movement, Rassem al-Marvani, told FNA on Wednesday.

He underlined that a simple look at the positions taken by Ban Ki-moon shows that he is following the imperialistic policies of the US and is trying to put pressure on Iran in this way.

In relevant remarks earlier this month, a senior Pakistani analyst blasted the US and European states’ support for the terrorist MKO, and stressed that the western states are seeking to destabilize the region by supporting the terrorist group.

In an interview with Habilian website, the official website of Iran’s Habilian Association – a human rights group formed by the families of 17,000 terror victims in Iran – Seyed Feiz Hussein Naqshbandi described US and European supports for the MKO as "political and immoral."

He added the US seeks to create insecurity in the countries opposed to the colonial policies of America by such measures.

Naqshbandi said that the supports of the United States and some European countries for terrorists are aimed at "creating turmoil and turbulence in the Middle East."

Earlier reports said that the ringleaders of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization who were under the Iraqi government’s pressures to leave the country have transferred a number of the group’s members to the European countries.

According to the report, the 200 members of the terrorist MKO who had disappeared from the notorious Camp Ashraf in Iraq in past months have been reappearing in European countries.

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

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

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

February 23, 2012 0 comments

Professor Paul Sheldon Foote

Prof.Foote: American gov’t to continue using MKO against Iran

This week saw the relocation of Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK, also MKO and PMOI) from Camp Prof.Foote: American gov’t to continue using MKO against Iran Ashraf to a Temporary Transit Location, which was along with MKO’s complaints and moaning about being banned to carry their resources which “were provided for terrorist services rendered by supporters in Iraq (Saddam Hussein), Saudi Arabia, America, and elsewhere,” as Paul Sheldon Foote, a professor with California State University Fullerton (CSUF), puts it.

In an interview with Habilian Foundation (families of Iranian terror victims) on Wednesday, Paul Sheldon Foote, said that the Iraqis should have the freedom to close MEK camps immediately, adding Mujahedin-e Khalq has “no right to remain in Iraq.”

“The American government plans to continue using the MEK for terrorist activities inside Iran,” added Sheldon Foote.

MEK is now hue and crying over not being allowed to carry their medicine, medical instruments, power generators, office facilities (chairs, desks and copy machines), water heaters, sanitary equipment, cupboards, etc. to the Temporary Transit Location!

“These resources were provided for terrorist services rendered by supporters in Iraq (Saddam Hussein), Saudi Arabia, America, and elsewhere,” Sheldon said regarding the issue.

Concerning the latest allegations regarding Iran’s involvement in recent terrorist attacks in Thailand, Sheldon Foote made reference to an Indian author’s article rejecting the Israeli claims upon because of the close trading relationship between Iran and India.

He stressed that they “want an excuse for attacking Iran.”

Referring to the MEK member arrested in Thailand, Paul Sheldon Foote underlined that it is expensive to hire supporters for terrorists, adding that (MKO) terrorists “earn their way by pleasing their supporters” by means of committing acts of terror against their enemies.

Earlier this week the first step towards the expulsion of MKO terrorists from Iraq were taken by transferring some 400 members to a Temporary Transit Location in order for UNHCR to determine their refugee status.

February 23, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Bangkok bomb suspects were MKO members

Four Iranians suspected of involvement in a botched bomb plot targeting Israeli diplomats in Bangkok were members of an exiled Iranian opposition group which wanted the incident to reflect badly on Teheran, Syedsulaiman Husaini, Shia leader of Thailand, said on Sunday. Bangkok bomb suspects were members of Mojahedin Khalq

He claimed the four belonged to the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (also known as MEK, MKO and the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, or PMOI) which aims to overthrow the current Iranian government.

The MEK has been on the US Department of State’s list of foreign terrorist organisations since 1997.

Thai authorities and security agencies were not familiar with the group, said Mr Syedsulaima, who is also director of the Islamic studies centre at Al Mahdi Institute and former president of the Iran University Alumni Association.

The Islamic scholar said the bomb incident was unlikely to be the work of the Iranian government as speculated because Bangkok and Teheran have good bilateral relations.

A secret report by Iran’s security agency also indicated that the Iran nationals linked with Bangkok’s latest bomb plot were members of the MEK, reports said.

Formed in the 1960s, the organisation participated in Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution that replaced the country’s pro-Western ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with a Shi’ite Islamist regime led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The MEK, whose ideology mixes Marxism and Islam, was expelled from Iran two years later after trying to stage an armed uprising against Khomeini.

Bangkok Post,

February 21, 2012 0 comments

UN welcomes relocation of MKO members

The United Nations has welcomed safe relocation of about 400 residents of the Iraqi settlement formerly known as Camp Ashraf to a new transit centre elsewhere in the country, calling it “the first step towards a better future” for the residents, who are Iranian exiles. Martin Kobler, the head of UNAMI and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq

The 400 people who voluntarily relocated today – the first to do so – now reside in Camp Hurriya, a temporary transit location, according to a press release issued by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in Baghdad.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will immediately start the process of verification and refugee status determinations, a key step in preparing the submissions of eligible candidates for resettlement in third countries.

Today’s relocation is in line with the memorandum of understanding signed in December by the UN and the Iraqi Government to resolve the situation facing the residents of Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf), who are members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran.

Martin Kobler, the head of UNAMI and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, commended the 400 or so residents for their decision to move to Camp Hurriya.

“This is the first step towards a better future outside Iraq,” he said. “I look forward to their continued cooperation with the Iraqi authorities to complete the relocation without delay.”

Mr. Kobler also commended Iraqi authorities “for having ensured a safe and secure relocation of the first group of residents. I urge them to pursue the relocation of the remaining residents in a manner that continues to guarantee the human rights, safety and welfare of all residents.”

He urged other Member States to confirm that they are ready and willing to accept eligible candidates from Camp Hurriya who want to resettle in third countries.

UN News Centre

February 20, 2012 0 comments

Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

US hypocrisy in admitting Mossad/MKO behind assassinations

US officials have for the first time acknowledged that the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), in collaboration with Israel’s Mossad have been behind the killings of Iranian scientists [1].

The most recent assassination was that of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was killed on January 11, 2012 when two riders on a motorbike drove by his car and placed onto it a magnetic bomb that resulted in a deadly explosion. Other attacks include the assassination of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, killed by a bomb outside his Tehran home in January 2010, and an explosion in November 2010 that took the life of Majid Shahriari and wounded Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, who is now the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. A fourth scientist, Daryush Rezaei-Nejad, was killed outside his home by shots fired from a motorcycle on July 23, 2011.

On Thursday of last week, two senior US officials confirmed to NBC News that the MKO has been collaborating with Israel’s Mossad in carrying out the assassination of Iranian professors and researchers. This development is very significant for the US has not only admitted that the MKO is involved in terrorist activities in Iran, but also acknowledged their collaboration with Israel’s Mossad.

Despite this acknowledgement and the fact that the MKO is designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, this organisation operates freely in the US, under various names such as NCRI, MEK and known front groups such as IranFocus and IranTerror, and leading members of US political establishment, such as former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton and former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani regularly give speeches at meetings organised by the MKO and its affiliated fronts.

The US government itself has been supporting the MKO to destabilise Iran. In 2008, the renowned investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh revealed that the US had invested 400 million dollars for regime change in Iran and that large portions of this money was given to the MKO. In 2010, the NY Times revealed that a secret directive signed by General David Petraeus “appears to authorize specific operations in Iran, most likely to gather intelligence about the country’s nuclear program or identify dissident groups that might be useful for a future military offensive.”

The European Union removed the MKO from its list of banned terrorist organisations in 2009. This decision was made after the United Kingdom removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations. At the same time, the EU has been reluctant to offer refuge to thousands of members of the MKO who were protected by the US in the Camp Asharf in Iraq until the recent departure of American troops from the country. This unwillingness too suggests that the EU is aware of the terrorist activities and violent nature of this organization.

One should ask to what extent the MI6 and thus the British Government have been aware of the terrorist activities of the MKO and yet have permitted them to operate freely in the UK. It is well known that US intelligence services maintain close working relations with their counterparts in the UK. Implicating the UK in the US covert operation to fund the MKO against Iran, Hersh asserted “most of the [MEK] leaders have been taking our money and cashing it in an awful lot of bank accounts in London”. The UK support for the covert war against Iran is undeniable: in October 2010, Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6 stated publically on the record that the west should support covert operations in Iran to block its nuclear programme.

Given the blatant violation of international law and human rights that the terrorist acts carried out by the MKO and Mossad pose for people of Iran as now admitted by the US officials, we urge all citizens of the US and the EU to address through their parliamentary representatives the terrorist activities of Mossad and MKO and the freedom given to the MKO to operate in the US and the EU.

References:
[1] http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-news

CASMII Statement – campaigniran.org

February 20, 2012 0 comments

USA

U.S. welcomes peaceful departure of Ashraf residents

The United States welcomes the peaceful departure of the first 397 residents from Camp Ashraf and joins the United Nations in welcoming their safe arrival at Camp Hurriya, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Saturday.

"The United States commends the Iraqi government for its facilitation of a secure and peaceful relocation process and its willingness to invest significant resources in that regard," she said in a statement released by the department. "The United States also commends the decision by the Ashraf residents to begin to relocate to Hurriya, where the United Nations will begin a process aimed at facilitating their eventual departure from Iraq." The United States encourages Ashraf residents to continue their cooperation with Iraqi authorities and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) as they work to complete the relocation to Hurriya, she said. The United States will continue to coordinate with UNAMI and the Iraqi government to follow the relocation process, she said. In addition to around-the-clock UN human rights monitoring, the U.S. will visit the temporary transit facility at Hurriya regularly and frequently, she said.

"The United States acknowledges and echoes the call of the United Nations for the international community to expeditiously assist the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as its work at Hurriya begins, to ensure that those recognized as refugees by UNHCR under its mandate can be safely relocated out of Iraq as quickly as possible," the statement said.

February 19, 2012 0 comments

European Union

EU welcomes first transfers from Camp Ashraf

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Saturday "very much welcomed" the news from Iraq that the first group of residents from Camp Ashraf has moved in a voluntary, orderly and peaceful manner to Camp Hurriya. EU welcomes first transfers from Camp Ashraf

"I congratulate the United Nations – in particular the Secretary General’s Special Representative Martin Kobler – for many weeks of sustained efforts to facilitate this critical first step towards a peaceful solution to the situation of Camp Ashraf," she said in a statement.

She also commended the Government of Iraq, and the Camp residents themselves, for the commitment and flexibility which enabled this first move to take place.

Ashton said she will continue discussing with EU Ministers how best the EU can continue to support a peaceful and durable solution to this humanitarian concern.

Over 30,000 Iranians belonging to the dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) are housed in the Camp near Baghdad.

February 19, 2012 0 comments

MEK Camp Ashraf

Rajavi says no more transfers unless police leaves new camp

Iraq evacuated an initial batch of 400 Iranian dissidents on Saturday from a base founded under Saddam Hussein, a first step towards expelling their entire group from Iraqi territory. Rajavi says no more transfers unless police leaves new camp

The People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), a group that calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical rulers, took refuge at Camp Ashraf, 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad, during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. Ashraf now houses around 3,000 people.

With Iraq’s Shi’ite majority newly empowered following Saddam’s fall in 2003, Baghdad has forged closer ties with its Shi’ite neighbour Iran, and the PMOI is no longer welcome here.

"It is clear that for Camp Ashraf residents there is no future for them inside Iraq. It’s not easy for them to leave their place but I’m convinced this is the only peaceful alternative," U.N. special envoy to Iraq Martin Kobler said shortly after the Ashraf residents arrived at a "transit site" on a vast former U.S. military base in Baghdad.

From this new camp, a cluster of prefabricated houses in Camp Liberty, near Baghdad airport, they are due to make arrangements to settle outside Iraq.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the PMOI’s political wing, says agreeing to move the initial group is a goodwill gesture, but its complaints about the camp and how the transfer was conducted suggest difficulties lie ahead.

Detailed searches of each person’s belongings took so long they arrived almost 24 hours after the media were invited to Camp Liberty to witness the transfer, one of the group said.

"This is an extremely unusual, insulting and humiliating inspection that is only compatible (with a) transfer of prisoners," the NCRI said in a statement.

TROUBLE AHEAD?

The NCRI likens the new site to a prison. It says people will not be able to come and go freely or have unfettered access to lawyers and medical services. It has also complained about restrictions on the belongings which people can take with them.

The United Nations says the site meets humanitarian standards for "refugee situations".

The PMOI waged a violent insurgency against the U.S.-backed shah of Iran in the 1970s, but turned against the rulers who replaced him after the 1979 Islamic revolution. It says it has renounced violence and wants to set up a democratic state.

Despite the PMOI being officially considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Camp Ashraf was protected by American troops following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq almost nine years ago. Washington turned it over to Iraq in 2009.

The leader of the PMOI said on Thursday she agreed to have the initial group of 400 people moved after receiving assurances from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about their safety.

Safety concerns are understandable, given past violence.

Clashes between Ashraf residents and Iraqi security forces in April killed 34 people. The NCRI has also blamed rocket attacks targeting Ashraf on the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps "and its Iraqi agents".

Under pressure from the United Nations and European Union, the Iraqi government agreed late last year to extend its deadline to close Ashraf from the end of 2011 to April 30, 2012, a measure aimed at preventing further violence.

The NCRI, citing the clashes, has objected to the presence of Iraqi police inside Camp Liberty and said no more Ashraf residents would be moved unless the police left the camp.

"Transfer of the next groups will only take place after the Special Representative of the (U.N.) Secretary-General and the Iraqi government declare their approval of the minimum assurances, particularly (the) departure of Iraqi police from inside Camp Liberty," the NCRI said in a statement on Friday.

By Francois Murphy and Yara Bayoumy

February 19, 2012 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

First exiles to leave Iraq’s Camp Ashraf slam new site

About 400 members of an exiled Iranian opposition group who are the first to leave a long-term camp in Iraq under a U.N. plan criticized their treatment and the conditions at the new temporary The U.N.’s refugee agency confirmed that the new camp’s infrastructure and facilities were in line with international humanitarian standards site Saturday.

The group left Camp Ashraf at midnight following 12 hours of inspections and checks, Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement.

When they arrived seven hours later at the new site, a former U.S. military base near Baghdad International Airport called Camp Liberty, the group discovered a heavy presence of police.

Another inspection was then demanded, prompting the residents to protest what they consider “degrading, humiliating and inhumane treatment” and the obstructive behavior of the Iraqi forces by refusing to leave the transit buses, Gobadi said.

“The preliminary reports indicate that Camp Liberty is a prison from all aspects,” he added.

The group’s relocation to the new site was agreed between the United Nations, Iraqi authorities, the United States and the European Union.

From there, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees will begin efforts to resettle the group outside of the country.

Martin Kobler, the U.N. secretary general’s special representative and head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), was at the temporary site to welcome the new arrivals.

“This is the first step towards a better future outside Iraq,” he said. “I look forward to their continued cooperation with the Iraqi authorities to complete the relocation without delay.”

He also praised the Iraqi for having ensured the “safe and secure relocation” of the first group of residents and urged them to guarantee the human rights and safety of all those still to relocate.

Camp Ashraf has been home to members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, for more than 25 years. More than 3,000 exiles, described as Iranian resistance figures and their sympathizers, live at the camp.

The MEK has been on the U.S. terrorism list since 1997 because of the killing of six Americans in Iran in the 1970s and an attempted attack against the Iranian mission to the United Nations in 1992. However, since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of Camp Ashraf “noncombatants” and “protected persons” under the Geneva Conventions.

Before moving, the Camp Ashraf residents had demanded a commitment that no Iraqi police would remain inside the new site, in order to ensure the security of the residents. The group believes the current regime in Iraq, under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has previously staged deadly attacks against Camp Ashraf.

Instead, there are several police posts inside the facility and residents must be accompanied by the police even to go to the dining area, Gobadi said.

“The most important of the Ashraf residents’ demands is that the police must leave the camp area and stay outside the walls,” a statement released by the group Friday said. “This is a condition without which it will be impossible to have more people in Liberty as it will result in further confrontations, tensions and killing.”

The residents also asked for guarantees with regards to the site’s infrastructure — and say these have not been met.

“In a nutshell, Camp Liberty lacks the most basic international humanitarian standards and human rights standards are not met,” the statement said.

The residents say the camp is much smaller than they were told it would be, and that they are being denied free movement and access to medical services.

The U.N.’s refugee agency confirmed that the new camp’s infrastructure and facilities were in line with international humanitarian standards at the end of January, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said earlier this week.

Camp Ashraf was established in 1986 after former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invited members of the MEK to relocate to Iraq in an effort to undermine the Iranian government, which was then at war with Iraq. Iran also considers the group to be a terrorist organization.

A U.N. commission on refugees has described the residents as “formal asylum seekers” from persecution by the regime in Iran.

The temporary facility, at what was formerly the U.S.-run Camp Liberty, will remain open for an unspecified period of time, though a senior U.S. administration official said in December that there were plans to keep it open until all of the camp residents were resettled.

CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

February 19, 2012 0 comments

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