police arrested eleven people on Sunday 11 December in the Khalis district who were of different nationalities, all with fake IDs. They were arrested while in vehicles which were masquerading as governmental vehicles coming out of Camp Ashraf. The source, who declined to be named at this point of time, said that two of the suspects where U.S. citizens and three of them were members of the Mojahedin Khalq, all speaking fluent Arabic…
Thousands of Iraqis gathered in front of Camp Ahsraf, where almost 3,500 Iranian dissidents of the Mojahedine Khalqe Iran Organization reside, in order to renew a demand for closing down the Camp…ISCI chief in Jadida Shat in Diyala, told AKnews the gathering is to readdress the demand for expelling the Camp residents out of Iraq before Iraqi officials as well as the international community… this year alone 20 protest rallies were held ..
The camp Ashraf’s residents are classified as a terrorist organization by many countries and thus have no legal basis to remain in Iraq. No country would accept the presence of foreign insurgents on its soil, but we will work hard to find a peaceful solution that upholds the international values of human rights.
“In order to find a durable solution for the camp residents, it is essential that potential third countries indicate their willingness to receive them for resettlement,” Ban said. Iraq’s UN ambassador, Hamid al-Bayati, also called for international help to close the camp. “I would like to assure the Security Council that my government doesn’t want to force anybody to go back to Iran,” he said. But Bayati said the camp residents were preventing Iraqi forces …
High Representative Catherine Ashton will urge member states to take in some of the Iranians who are settled in the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq, according to an EU official. The diplomat said that the EU was looking at ways to take in some of the refugees who have strong ties with member states, as the Iraqi government announced it wanted to close the camp before the end of the year. The camp was established under Saddam..
Both sides should allow the more than 3,200 Iranians at Camp Ashraf, in Iraq, to move to a protected location under UN supervision before the Iraqi government’s December 31, 2011 deadline for closing the camp, Human Rights Watch said. And both should allow the UN refugee agency sufficient time to conduct private and confidential interviews with each person to assess their refugee claims. “With each tick of the clock, the danger to camp residents grows..
The Rajavis, meanwhile, have left the residents to the camp. Maryam resides comfortably in Paris, and Massoud is in hiding. What reason, then, for the continued existence of Camp Ashraf? Why do the Rajavis hang onto their followers in their prison-like enclave, even with the deadline fast approaching? They understand well that without the camp, the MEK aka MKO/PMOI would lose its legitimacy, and so, therefore, would the Rajavis.
Maybe the solution is not the removal of the MEK aka MKO/PMOI from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Instead, the U.S. government can simply start designating countries and organizations as “Enemies” and “Friends” and then at the beginning of the springtime awards season, before the Oscars, there can be a televised event where the president hands out awards and opprobrium to this year’s winners in each category.
A statement issued by embassy of Iraq here said the MEK/MKO/PMOI has been declared a terrorist organization at global level and existence of such organization on the Iraqi territory is prohibited as per the article 8 of the Iraqi constitution that stipulates adoption of policy of non-interference in internal affairs of the neighbouring countries.
The American advocates have been well paid, hired through their speaking agencies and collecting fees of $10,000 to $50,000 for speeches on behalf of the Iranian group. Some have been flown to Paris, Berlin and Brussels for appearances…the officials expressed frustration at what they described as the American supporters’ credulous acceptance of the M.E.K.’s aka MKO/PMOI claims of representing the Iranian opposition and of embracing democratic values.