Iraq

Iran can demand extradition of MKO members

Iraqi Minister of Justice Hassan al-Shammari says the Islamic Republic of Iran can demand the extradition of members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).

On Sunday, Shammari stated that under an agreement signed between Iran and Iraq on the swap of prisoners and criminals, Tehran can ask Baghdad to extradite MKO members.

He further noted that Iraq will hand the terrorists over to Iran should the Islamic Republic ask for their extradition.

On February 19, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on the United Nations (UN) to speed up efforts to relocate MKO members.

Zebari further noted that the Baghdad government has recently made a financial contribution of half a million dollars to a trust fund proposed by the UN chief to cover the costs related to the MKO relocation.

In a press release on December 27, 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the agency and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) had relocated 311 out of 3,200 residents of the Camp Hurriya (Liberty) to third countries.

In December 2011, the UN and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to the former US-held Camp Hurriya.

The last group of the MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government in September 2013 and relocated to Camp Hurriya to await potential relocation to other countries.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it received now-executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s support and set up Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border.

March 3, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq ready to extradite Mojahedin Khalq criminals to Iran

Iraqi Justice Minister has said Iraq is required to repatriate Mujahedin-e Khalq criminals to Iran due to the memorandum of understanding signed to facilitate the extradition of criminals.

“If Iran wants to take these individuals, we will extradite the most wanted MKO members to Tehran in coordination with the Iraq Judiciary system,” Hassan al-Shimari told Habilian’s correspondent in Baghdad.

Asked about the lawsuits filed against the terrorist MKO group, al-Shimari said, “The case of MKO belongs to the National Security Council not to the Justice Ministry.”

MKO is a terrorist group, which according to the US State Department Report on the group, run its organization autocratically, suppressing dissent and eschewing tolerance of differing viewpoints.

MKO carried out numerous attacks against Iranians, the most spectacular of which was an attack occurred June 28, 1981, when two bombs ripped apart the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party killing some 70 high ranking members, including the IRP’s leader, Ayatollah Beheshti.

February 27, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq urges UN to speed up relocation of MKO terrorists

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has called on the United Nation to speed up efforts to relocate the members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to third countries.

During a meeting with Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General for relocation of camp Hurriya (Liberty) occupants in Baghdad on Wednesday, Zebari stated that the UN needs to expedite the resettlement of the MKO terrorists outside Iraq, noting that the Iraqi government has fulfilled all its obligations in this respect.

He also emphasized Iraq’s support for all efforts aimed at relocating the MKO terrorists to outside the Arab country.

In a press release on December 27, 2013, the UN refugee agency said that UNHCR and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) had relocated 311 out of 3,200 residents of the Camp Hurriya (Liberty) to third countries.

In December 2011, the United Nations and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to the former US-held Camp Hurriya.

The last group of the MKO terrorists was evicted by the Iraqi government in September 2013 and relocated to Camp Hurriya to await potential relocation to other countries.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where it received now-executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s support and set up Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border.

Fri Feb 21, 2014

February 22, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Zebari: Iraq has fulfilled its obligations to the UN over MKO removal

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari , said the United Nations needs to speed up the resettlement of the residents of Camp Liberty (formerly Ashraf ) out of Iraq, saying that the Iraqi government has fulfilled all its Zebari: Iraq has fulfilled its obligations to the UN over MKO removal obligations in this respect.

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry said that “Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari today received Jane Holl Lute, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to resettle the residents of Camp Liberty outside Iraq, who was accompanied by Georgi Euston, Deputy Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations ( UNAMI ), in Baghdad. The statement noted that “during the meeting, the two sides reviewed the UN’s efforts through UNAMI to speed up the resettlement of the residents of Camp Liberty outside Iraq.”

In the statement Zebari emphasized “Iraq’s support for all efforts in this area and the Iraqi government’s provision of all humanitarian facilities”, emphasizing also the importance of “speeding up the resolution of this issue and putting an end to their presence through their resettlement in other host states, and the importance of continuing with communication and consultation with all parties until the issue is resolved.”

Zebari noted that “the government has fulfilled all its obligations towards the UN and recently made a financial contribution of half a million dollars to a trust fund proposed by the UN Secretary-General to cover costs relating to the transfer of the residents of the camp to third countries; a material declaration of the government’s position on the issue of removing all the camp residents from the country ” .

Alsumaria News, Translated by Iran Interlink

February 20, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Maliki: Gov’t Struggling to Accelerate MKO’s Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minsiter Nuri al-Maliki underlined his government’s resolve to speed up efforts to expel the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) members from Iraq.

Speaking in a joint press conference with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad, Maliki blamed the UN f Maliki: Gov’t Struggling to Accelerate MKO’s Expulsion from Iraq or prolonging the presence of the MKO members in Iraq.

“We have again repeated our demand from the UN on the necessity for transferring the members of the MKO from Iraq since their remaining entails huge costs for Iraq,” he said.

“The presence of the MKO members is illegal based on all criteria and standards and the Iraqi people are dissatisfied with their presence,” Maliki underlined.

On Sunday, Ban Ki-moon appointed a former US Homeland Security Undersecretary as his special advisor for relocation of the MKO members from Camp Liberty in Iraq.

According to Habilian Association, Jane Holl Lute’s appointment came after two years of quite fruitless painstaking efforts of the UN’s refugee agency and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq for the resettlement of MKO members in third countries.

“Holl Lute will work with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular the (UN) Member States, to assist in relocating the camp residents,” read a statement from Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, adding that she will also collaborate with Nickolay Mladenov, the UN representative in Iraq.

Earlier last week, the UNHCR said 1,400 MKO members in Iraq are ready for relocation to third countries.

Former UN Special Representative had formerly asserted that finding homes for the MKO members “is the most difficult part of the story.”

The last group of MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf, now called Camp New Iraq, was evicted by the Iraqi government on September 11 to join other members of the terrorist group in the former US-held Camp Liberty, now called Camp Hurriya, near Baghdad International Airport where they are awaiting relocation to other countries.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and western targets.

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 the 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 eventually took the MKO off the US terror list.

The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September 2012, one week after the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.

January 15, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Iraqi crackdown on insurgents – al-Batat arrested

[As a result of Iraqi Government efforts throughout Iraq to push back insurgents, Wathiq al-Batat commander of the al-Mukhtar Army militia was among those arrested. Batat has claimed responsibility for three mortar attacks on the MEK residents of Camp Liberty. It is still not know who the assailants of Camp Ashraf were on 1st September.]

The Iraqi police on Thursday arrested a militia leader whose group claimed responsibility for a mortar bomb attack near a border post in Saudi Arabia in November, police sources said.

Wathiq al-Batat, commander of Iraq’s al-Mukhtar Army militia, was arrested at a check point in northeastern Baghdad, the source told KUNA.

Batat is a former leader of Iraq’s better known Kata’ib Hezbollah militia. (end) aha.tg KUNA 021543 Jan 14NNNN

Kuwait News Agency,

——-

Iraq starts sweeping operation in Anbar

Iraqi security forces and local tribesmen have started a sweeping operation against militants linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist group in the western province of Anbar.

Gunmen from the Albu Assaf and Albu Ali tribes have entered the city of Ramadi to help security forces clear the city of militants.

Reports said al-Qaeda-linked militants controlled parts of the city of Fallujah.

Witnesses noted that armed militants have set up checkpoints in central and south Fallujah, and were patrolling streets of the flashpoint city’s east — chanting slogans in support of al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Some reports also suggested that a major militant leader, Hassan Abu Dagdash, has been killed in clashes with Iraqi forces.

On Wednesday, militants and government forces clashed in Ramadi, with militants burning four police stations.

In Fallujah, militants torched some police stations and freed more than 100 prisoners.

Anbar Province has been gripped by deadly violence since Monday after Iraqi police and army forces dismantled an anti-government protest camp in Ramadi, which had become a breeding ground for the pro-al-Qaeda militants.

Forty-four members of the Iraqi parliament announced their resignation after the removal of the protest camp, calling for “the withdrawal of the army from the cities and the release of MP Ahmed al-Alwani”.

Alwani was arrested on December 28, 2013. His brother, five guards and a member of security forces were killed in the clashes that were sparked during his arrest. The MP backs the anti-government demonstrators.

24 All News,

January 4, 2014 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq: Our obedience to UN delaying the expulsion of MKO

The United Nations has unfortunately turned a blind eye to the Israeli regime in a double-standard practice towards regional issues, an Iraqi parliament member said.

Referring to the recent allegations by the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as MEK, NCRI and PMOI) accusing Tehran of building a secret nuclear site, Rafe’ Abdul Jabbar said, “Nuclear energy is Iran’s inalienable right” just like many other countries who are exercising the right to enrich Uranium.

According to the Habilian association, the Iraqi MP censured the glacial pace in the relocation process of the MKO members to third party countries, and said, “Baghdad is obeying the UN in this regard and this organization is obeying the US.”

“We should admit that Iraq’s independence is still far away,” he added.

He said Iraq’ obedience to the UN decisions is the main reason in the inability of Iraq to expel members of the MKO group, adding that MKO’s activities may influence the Tehran-Baghdad relations.

The terrorist MKO group-let based itself in Iraq during the 1980s and abetted the Iraqi dictator in his war on Iran.

With the fall of Saddam, MKO seemingly made drastic changes changing from an anti-imperialist group to a friend of the very imperialists.

December 2, 2013 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq says no success tracing killers of Iranian dissidents

Iraq is hunting militants, still unidentified, who led a deadly attack on an Iranian dissident camp near Baghdad and dismisses suggestions its own security forces were behind the violence, a senior government official said.

More than 50 people were killed at the dissident Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) group’s Camp Ashraf in September in an attack the United Nations described as “an atrocious crime” and which drew condemnation from the United States and Britain. Assailants took time to conduct execution-style killings and plant bombs.

MEK, which the U.S. State Department removed from its list of terrorist organisations last year, wants Iran’s clerical leaders overthrown and fought on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s side during the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s.

The group, which has accused Iraqi security forces of being behind the attack, is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shi’ite Muslim-led government that came to power after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam in 2003.

“The main thing that the investigations have revealed so far is that the Iraqi security forces were not involved in that attack and an unknown militant group was behind it,” said Haider al-Akaili, who is part of a government committee overseeing the investigation, which was demanded by the U.N.

Iraqi authorities have repeatedly denied involvement in the attack, in which camp residents also went missing. MEK says they were taken hostage by Iraqi forces and were flown to Amara province to be extradited to Iran.

Akaili, who is an official in Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights, denied this: “Pictures of the alleged missing persons have been circulated to airports and checkpoints and we have not received any news about any of them,” he told Reuters.

The committee is headed by Iraq’s national security chief and includes representatives from government ministries and the intelligence service as well as the U.N.

Akaili added that 53 people had been killed, not 52 as originally reported by the U.N. which said its representatives had seen corpses with gunshot wounds and some with their hands tied. The additional victim had not been reported until now because his face had been burnt and he had not been previously identifiable as a camp member, Akaili said.

The last residents moved out of the camp to a new base in September. The camp had housed around 100 MEK members at the time of the attack.

Iraqi authorities have issued 148 arrest warrants for MEK members for crimes against Iraqis since 1991 but none have been arrested, according to officials.

The group which attacked the camp appeared to have had ample time to execute the victims as well as plant bombs in cars and buildings which it detonated remotely, Akaili said.

“The operation was elaborate, complicated and big,” he said, adding that MEK members who had seen the attack had shown a “serious lack” of cooperation with investigating authorities.

He raised the possibility that there had been a dispute within the camp and some of the attackers had come from inside it. Another scenario was that the seven missing people were behind the assault, he said.

MEK numbered 4,174 members in Iraq up to 2003. The U.N. has resettled some 1,000 while 1,600 have declined to meet with officials, Akaili said. The rest are being resettled.

Suadad al-Salhy , Editing by Sylvia Westall; editing by Ralph Boulton

November 27, 2013 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq demands EU move the MKO to their own countries

Badr parliamentary bloc demands EU move the Mojahedin Khalq to their own countries

An MP for the Badr parliamentary bloc, Karim Alivi, says the EU must move the Mojahedin Khalq from Iraq to their home countries in order to support them.

Alivi said in a press statement , received by the Khabaar News agency, that with reference to the European Union’s declaration of support for the MEK terrorist group, he demands that the EU transfer these criminals from Iraq to their home countries instead of advocating support for them in Iraq. For us they do not qualify for asylum because they have killed our people and are criminals.

He said we refuse to keep them in Iraq under any name, refugee or other, because they have killed our children and our people during the era of the tyrant Saddam. Today we say to Europe and to any state which supports them, in order to protect them they must be based on their territory and not at the expense of the suppressed people who have suffered at their hands.

By Khabaar News ,Translated by Iran Interlink

November 10, 2013 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and MKO terrorists

Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization (Rajavi cult)

The chairman of Iraq’s Foreign Relations Committee in Parliament, Sheikh Hamoudi, warned EU Iraq warns EU not to support Tareq al-Hashemi and MKO terrorists member states to deal with convicted terrorists such as the fugitive Tareq al-Hashemi and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization.

Ashraf News in Baghdad reported that Sheikh Hamoudi, chaired a meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee, with the ambassadors of EU member states.

The correspondent said that the parliamentary committee officially informed the ambassadors that Iraq will not deal with the Committee for relations with Iraq in the European Union if the president continues to deal with the likes of Tariq al-Hashemi, and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorist organization. The two sides also stressed the need for cooperation between the two parliaments of Iraqi and the EU.

A statement by the office of Sheikh Hamoudi said, “The committee today received the ambassadors of the European Union at its headquarters, where they were discussing the overall relations and ways of developing them”.

He added that “the committee informed the ambassadors of EU countries of Iraq’s refusal to deal with the Iraq Delegation in the European Parliament after its recent positions and hosting the convicted Tareq al-Hashemi and the Mojahedin Khalq terrorists.”

Ashraf News, Translated by Iran Interlink

November 9, 2013 0 comment

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