The first 400 of the more than 3,000 members of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran – which Iraq earlier this year had threatened with mass expulsion – are ready”as a goodwill gesture”to transfer with their movable property and vehicles”at the first opportunity”to the former Camp Liberty at Baghdad International Airport, the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, announced.
The head of an Iranian exile group holed up at a camp in Iraq said Wednesday that the first of the camp’s residents are ready to move to a new location picked by the Iraqi government, solving a potential crisis…Rajavi’s statement also gave rare insight into a camp that was built during the 1980s and has largely been closed off to the outside world. The group’s residents have not left the camp for years, and the little contact they have with outsiders is through the Iraqi military, visiting diplomats and aid agencies.
It pointed out that the MOU was signed by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Martin Cobler and the Iraqi Council of Ministers’ Adviser for National Security Affairs, Faleh al-Fayad.”The United Nation’s attention in this issue had stemmed from a mere humanitarian viewpoint, as it had exerted its utmost effort to find out a neutral, peaceful and permanent settlement for the affairs of Ashraf residents conditions,”..
.but also because of the MEK’s aka MKO/PMOI dishonest merging of the humanitarian concerns at their Camp Ashraf base with their FTO listing. Many expected that the Obama administration would announce a decision in September after dragging its feet for over a year following a 2010 Court of Appeals rare order that the designation be reevaluated, but no final announcement has been made and to date the MEK remains FTO-listed…
a path has been cleared to free the civilian hostages that the MEK leadership is keeping in Camp Ashraf to use as bargaining chips in their effort to manipulate American opinion to get the government to change the official status of their group. American advocates for the MEK’s de-listing regularly exploit the misfortune of the inhabitants of Camp Ashraf,wrap themselves in the mantle of humanitarianism, and confuse the very different issues ..
..This resettlement must also have the full support of the camp’s residents, and we urge them to work with the U.N. to implement this relocation,”she said.”All those who want to see the people at Camp Ashraf safe and secure should work together to see that the agreed upon plan is carried out…
MEK. Admittedly a terrorist organization, listed by the US State Department as being such, it is fully funded, armed, and backed by the United States, based in France and US-occupied Iraq, .. clearly this reveals that not only is the “War on Terror” an absolute fraud, but so are the politicians, policy wonks, and military “leaders” who have promoted it, pinned medals on their own chests for “fighting” it, and have made immense fortunes and power grabs ..
The UN effort has our full support.The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding represents significant progress on this issue and outlines steps necessary to achieve a peaceful and viable solution for the residents of Ashraf, including their temporary relocation to Camp Liberty,..At this new location, the UNHCR will be able to conduct refugee status determinations for the residents of Ashraf..We are encouraged by the Iraqi government’s willingness to commit to this plan
Iraq’s leaders agreed Sunday to a U.N.-brokered deal that could lead to the peaceful emigration of thousands of Iranian dissidents[MKO/MEK/PMOI] who have lived in the country under U.S. protection since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein eight years ago.But the agreement, confirmed by Obama administration officials, has not yet been accepted by the Iranian exiles, who have repeatedly insisted on a U.S. troop presence..
On December 21, 2011,Maliki announced that the closing of Camp Ashraf would be delayed for six months if the MEK agrees to a Memorandum of Understanding for the relocation of the Camp Ashraf residents. However, a December 20 statement from Rajavi, which also agreed to the transfer in principle, set out conditions that have not been agreed upon. Because of the impasse, the prospect still looms that Iraq will stick to its December 31 deadline and use force to close the camp, ..