Press TV’s programme Iran Today talking about the MKO, past, present and future
This TV documentary reviews on the terrorist MKO’s past atrocious history, its collaboration with the Iraqi ousted dictator and its present situation in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Following the Iraqi government’s decision to close Camp Ashraf the group is facing an unclear future.
Press TV, Iran Today, February 10, 2009
MKO’s violent acts and atrocities are originated in its theory structure
The presence of the organization [MEK] in Iraqi territory has nothing to the Iraqi nation except danger.
The recent annual report of the Department of State might not have anything new on the status of the Iranian Mujahedin Khalq Organization which has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since years ago. But the speech made by Condoleeza Rice following the publication of the new list, which called the group as substantially terrorist, should be taken as serious.
The MKO tries to pretend that it has denounced terrorism and represents a peaceful struggle because they claim to have abandoned violence for years. But, the investigations by the State Department’s experts did not include its recent acts but the terrorist nature of MKO of which its ideology and strategy completely originates and will never get separated. MKO is a destructive cult with a terrorist potential, according to the experts, and will not lose such potentiality without arm and camp and will never miss its real nature.
Therefore from a technical viewpoint – if one doesn’t want to work on political interests and benefits – the investigation on the nature of a group is prior to its short-term functions. If we don’t evaluate the nature correctly, we will make mistake in viewing its short–term function, as many unprofessional people made the same mistake.
Terrorist designation of the groups or entities by various countries is primarily done due to the national security (although sometimes the lists get a political flavor) and its objective is to determine the organization with terrorist potentiality and take them under direct supervision.
However, the designation of the terrorist nature of a group is based on the interests and acts of the group through its background and many other criteria, so it requires a deep and multilateral investigation.
We do not intend to punish before the commitment but we want to investigate this case more deeply trying not to view MKO’s short-term claims as a base.
The nature we are discussing includes long-term functions and we would like to confirm that the potential capacity of MKO will be definitely actualized if the condition is appropriate and when the facilities are provided eventually the previous status will be revived.
In the recent report on MKO published by German federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, there is no difference between MKO and NCRI and also it is mentioned that there is no evidence to approve that the organization has denounced its violent acts. The report also notes that the organization is a cult, the fact that many experts agree.
The cult-like and terrorist nature of MKO requires it to commit terror acts in case of necessity, because it has theorized the engagement in violence in its theory system. Therefore such an organization is always dangerous for its environment. It is a destructive risk for the security of every society and could be considered as a substantial threat. Thus it must be restricted and neutralized.
Unfortunately, today the main body of MKO is located in our country. Saddam Hussein brought them to our territory due to his own benefits as well as other disasters he left for us. The west that has once used the group against the Islamic Republic, now doesn’t want to accept them in its soil. This is exactly like they want to get rid of their nuclear garbage that they have used it and now that it is a threat they want to get rid of it. The presence of MKO in our territory brings nothing except danger and threat to Iraqi nation who has no reason to suffer the risks of this nuclear garbage. The west should keep them in its own territory since they are well aware of their threats.
Al Mo’tamar Newspaper
![The presence of the organization [MEK] in Iraqi territory has nothing to the Iraqi nation except danger.](https://st.nejatngo.org/Image/Press/Al_Motamer/AL_Motamer_20081029.jpg)
Shame on western supporters of Mojahedin Khalq Organization (aka: MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult)
on the 30th anniversary of Iranian Revolution
Massoud Rajavi (centre) and Saddam’s Head of Intelligence in terror deals.
on July 03, 2005 Iran Interlink wrote:
Some of the platforms taken by Mojahedin Khalq Organization, led by Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, in the last quarter of a century.
Mojahedin Khalq under the name of National Council of Resistance are trying to politicize their court cases in Paris (terrorism related charges) by portraying themselves on the same side as Israeli hardliners and US neoconservatives.
From their own papers, in their own words, the following is a sample of their involvement in the American embassy siege in Tehran as well as their views about Americans and how they should be treated. The Mojahedin was the main force in capturing Americans as well as publishing anti-American and anti-Israeli propaganda in Iran in a specific effort to block any negotiation for the release of the American hostages.
The Mojahedin was the main force behind execution of officials of the Shah’s regime and tried their best to have the American hostages executed (like the 3 Americans they killed in cold blood during a terrorist operation in Tehran) but failed to do so.
Lets create another Vietnam for America(pdf).
(Mojahedin English language paper April 1980)
Letter to Imam (Khomeini) (pdf).
(Mojahedin English Language paper April 1980)
Some questions unanswered regarding the US military invasion of Iran (pdf).
(Mojahedin English Language paper June 1980)
Terrorists and assassins of all ideological bases often use the same method when they understand that the violent side of their actions can serve their policy and to miss their objectives: they create a political wing.
ETA Basque party Herri Batasuna, the IRA was Sinn Fein, the Corsican FLNC took A Cuncolta Naziunalista, the CCC had the Belgian collective Red Line, etc …
Officially, there are independent terrorist groups and parties, but in reality the funding, objectives and even some leaders have in common. We think the No. 2 Sinn Fein it was known he was at one time the military leader of the IRA.
Despite these links, and connivance, it is rare that a terrorist group and its political wing are as mixed as are the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (known in French OMPI) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (the NCRI in French CNRI ). So much so that in this case, one can hardly speak of a single organization that changes its name in public or objectives of the moment.
We invite you to this radioscopy two Siamese twins of terror: PMOI / NCRI.
The NCRI: an empty shell
At its inception in 1981, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) includes around PMOI, its main component, other movements of the Iranian opposition, such as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) , the independence movement led by Ghasem Loo, the National Democratic Front (NDF), the Hoviyat (a branch of the Fedayeen), the Union of Communists of Iran (UCI), the Workers’ Party (PT), the Union for liberation of workers (ULT), the Council of the unified left for Democracy and Independence (CGUDI) and other leftist groups.
Mujahidin however refuse the support of other opposition movements, such as the Liberation Movement of Iran (MLI) or the Freedom Party (PL), Mehdi Bazargan, the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran and former right arm of Khomeini, the People’s Fedayeen, the Tudeh Party (Iranian Communist Party or) and the Monarchists, especially the Iranian constitutionalists (IC) and the Organization of the flag of freedom of Iran (ODLI). As for the National Front Nationalist Party of former Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, which rejects the very concept of Islamic government, he himself refused to join this forum.
Political coalition of democratic forces in Iran, which according to the so called parliament in exile, NCRI is supposed to act as a provisional government after the overthrow of the current Iranian government. Soon, its members drawn from the ranks of the Mujahidin stumble against the authoritarian style of Massoud Rajavi, whose unilateral decision to link the Council on Iraq raises a public outcry. This alliance, which is regarded by some as an act of treason, has been formally negotiated by the head of the Mujahidin Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz during a meeting in January 1983 in France. Abolhassan Bani Sadr, the most important member of NCRI, protested against this alliance . Two groups coexisted in the NCRI. The first called for the overthrow of the Islamic regime by all means, even if it means accepting help from abroad. While seeking the same goal, the second was opposed, in principle, to any foreign aid. PMOI was one of the first and will run in collaboration with Saddam Hussein during the war between Iran and Iraq.
The NCRI began a slow process of disintegration. To protest against the dictatorial methods of Massoud Rajavi (leader of PMOI), most groups that make up their deck one after another. The leader of Mujahidin which tries to control of that body, opposes any form of democratic debate within it. Mujahidin determined who could join them, which deserved the right to vote. Critics have rejected the National Council or silenced.
The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), which officially left NCRI in 1986, explained the reasons for its departure, eight years later, in these terms:”We consider the Mujahidin, in the light of our own experience with them between 1981 and 1986, and their attitude vis-à-vis other formations of the Iranian democratic opposition, as a sectarian and undemocratic. We can not, therefore, trust their loyalty to the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.”
Asked about the reasons for his departure from NCRI, Baba Khan Tehrani, a militant left-wing former member of the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), who currently lives in Hamburg, Germany, said:”The Mujahidin have not played the federating and unifying role that was supposed to be theirs. They have always sought, instead, to impose their domination and were not embarrassed to drive a wedge among the other forces of the Iranian opposition.”
Become an empty shell, the NCRI is now composed of hundreds of members (between 200 and 300 according to versions), most of the leaders of the PMOI, entirely controlled by Rajavi. Associated groups, which bear different names (Muslim Students Association, Association of Teachers and professionals Iranian .Association of Iranian women, etc..), There are only dummy. They are supposed to give the appearance of NCRI a forum bringing together”all political forces fighting the religious, dictatorship in Iran and who represent various social strata of the Iranian people,”according to the phraseology of the movement.
In this council, where individual members have voting rights equal to those groups, the membership criteria are not clearly defined. In fact, the PMOI membership that decides what he wants, which empty the instance of any legitimacy and credibility and is an additional instrument of control in the hands of a small sectarian group.
Frameworks
There are more than 110 NCRI executives also have functions within PMOI. The self-proclaimed president and official spokesman is no one other than Massoud Rajavi, grand guru of PMOI. Besides the best known figure of NCRI, is no one other than his wife Maryan Rajavi, designated (by a vote of who, for what it promises to give more freedom to Iranians …) as the future president of Iran. As a token of independence of NCRI compared to PMOI, it is bad strikeout.
In addition to the cut”divine”of Rajavi, here are 3 examples among hundreds of others that demonstrate not only the connections between PMOI and the NCRI but also prove that the NCRI has called political wing but is is a gathering of terrorists having learned just temporarily, to put a costume tie.
Mahmoud Attaei Karizi
– Member of PMOI since 1969. Responsible in 1979 of refueling para-military units of PMOI. In 1987, he became chief of the National Liberation Army (NLA), which was composed of members of PMOI and to serve as a supplementary force to the troops of Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran. It is wanted by Interpol for murder. He is responsible for the study of strategy and defense of NCRI
Fereshteh Yeganeh
– Militants in the first hours of PMOI. In 1982, she became a member of the state major terrorist operations in urban areas, responsible for numerous attacks in Iran. She was later responsible for the logistics of training camps in Iraq PMOI in 1988 and became a member Executive Committee of PMOI and eventually lead the Ashraf camp in Iraq that was the main camp of PMOI. It will eventually be the second in command of the NLA and is as such a responsibility in the massacre of Kurds who rebelled against Saddam in 1991. It is also sought by Interpol. The Democrat in the soul of NCRI is a member since 1992 and was responsible for the Committee for Research and Education.
Mahmoud Azedanlou
– Began its activities in PMOI before the Iranian Revolution. After the failure of a coup against Khomeini, he is one of the most ardent advocates of armed struggle. He became in 1985, central committee member of PMOI and come finally to the leadership of the Movement. It will also have responsibilities within the NLA and, as such, is wanted by Interpol for murder. He was in charge of the NCRI to economic issues.
In event
In essence, the”Siamese twins”terrorists do not hide their proximity. Thus on these exclusive pictures of a demonstration which took place in Brussels in November 2005 and where we see distinctly the flags of NCRI and PMOI coast to coast. Note that there is no other flag Iranian opposition organization.
For experts on terrorism also …
… There is no doubt that PMOI and the NCRI are one and the same organization. Thus in the annual report published by the U.S. State Department on terrorism, the NCRI is regarded as just another name for the People’s Mujahideen
Mujahedin-eKhalq Organization (MEK) aka MKO; Mujahedin-e Khalq, Muslim Iranian Students’ Society, National Council of Resistance, National Council of Resistance (NCR), Organization of the People’s Holy Warriors of Iran, The Army of National Liberation Iran (NLA), The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI); Sazeman-e Mujahedin-e Khalq-e Iran (from the Country Reports on Terrorism of the U.S. Department of State )
Conclusion
PMOI / NCRI have the same leaders, the same framework, the same structure, the same practices and sectarian violence. The uniform and the Islamic veil, the insignia of paramilitary type, this shows that PMOI is the NCRI and that, whatever the name used, they are of a single sectarian and terrorist organization: the Mujahideen of the People.
The whole is that the EU does not fall into the trap of these Siamese of terror and continue to regard them as a single criminal group.
Posted by geostratos in French
The People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI alias, aka MKO, alias or NRCI) have been removed from the list of organizations considered terrorist by the
European Union. Just when the U.S. confirmed on their own … who can understand.
It is true that the decision to withdraw from the European list is motivated solely on technical issues and form such aspects of rights of defense.
But now, France has appealed this decision and the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated that for it, PMOI did have its place on this list.
Moreover, the text that was adopted makes it clear that several countries among the 27 "are not convinced that the Mujahedin were away from terrorism". It will be recalled that the process of withdrawal, the Swiss and the French had launched new accusations against PMOI.
It is therefore likely that PMOI will return to this famous list in July. Unfortunately, in the meantime, it has had time to recover the many assets it owns and those it had received from Saddam Hussein as a salary for being executive of his dirty works …
Response to Sergio D’Elia, secretary of Hands Off Cain”, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (1)
Caro D’Elia,
Our group had no intention of continuing to write about Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO), but encouraged by your recent e-mail we feel obliged to make a few points. In principle, we are not against the removal of MKO from the list of terrorists. Indeed, the movement is already in decline .Since the late nineties the internal dissent in Camp Ashraf is increasing and with the fall of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, the MKO will be deprived of their basic logistics. However, there are things that continue to preoccupancy.
First, we believe that the leadership of MKO should answer the killing of civilian Kurds. I’m sorry, in fact, contradicting, but under Saddam the MKO were involved directly in the massacre of the Kurdish population. We have received confirmation and documentation of what we are saying by the Kurdish Democratic Party and by independent Tolerancy International, based in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan) and headed by a former minister of the autonomous Kurdish government, Hussein Sinjari.
Secondly, we are sure that the meetings in Europe with several supporters and / or members of MKO led you to find them available and courteous. The image that, in fact, the movement has manufactured in the West is a democratic organization. But the situation is different at Camp Ashraf. Some members of MKO have in fact discovered at their expense, the detention camps in which under the leadership of the movement they were subjected to torture, often led to death. Members of MKO are victims of their own cynical leadership. Shown below the records of known and authoritative organization Human Rights Watch on this topic.
The third point is that, as you say it, the movement does not have a libertarian government structure and in light of the facts that we have listed above and that we are committed to detail, are needed to reconstruct the truth about the movement. Surprisingly when Italian parliamentary delegations – and Sen. Perduca – go on a visit to Camp Ashraf and then write in the Italian media praises to movement who do not know at all.
Another point which we would highlight was well summarized by a message left to us by a supporter of MKO in Italy:”It is not far the day when Iran and the Iranians celebrate their freedom and democracy under the flag of the Mojahedin and their president Mrs. Maryam Rajavi.”This concerns us. We want a free Iran, celebrating their freedom under the flag of their country, not a movement, and having as president a leader elected by democratic elections.
For ease of reading we will share this letter / document into four parts. In this letter, write the abuses at Camp Ashraf (which will be divided into two parts), providing evidence. In the coming days, we will post additional material on the killing of Kurds and the armed forces and American civilian, take our information directly from the Department of State. The material here is, we were given by Human Rights Watch and the complete document in English of 28 pages is also available on-line.
Brief Background of MKO
The MKO was founded in 1965 by three student from the University of Tehran, Mohammad Hanifnezhad, Saeed Mohsen and Asghar Badizadegan. The three believed that a peaceful resistance against the Pahlavi government does not lead to any result, and that only armed struggle could fall to the monarchy. Their ideology, however, was based on an interpretation of Islam compatible with the Marxism. during 70s, thirteen members of MKO and Giodania go into Lebanon to be trained . The friendship with Yasser Arafat, remains over the years.
With the revolution of 1979, Massoud Rajavi emerged as a leader of the movement. Immediately after the revolution, MKO supported the revolution but after a while Khomeini excluded them from the division of power. It, therefore, led to an intense rivalry between the leadership of MKO and the regime of Iran. In 1981, members of MKO launched a campaign of armed attacks against the Iranian government. The same year, Massoud Rajavi moved to Paris. In 1986, France asked Rajavi to leave the country and find a new ally: the dictator Saddam Hussein. (In movies we are in possession of Rajavi called Saddam”the big boss”).
The “ideological revolution” of the MKO
In 1985, Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Azdanlu got married. Massoud and Maryam Rajavi became co-leader of the movement. They announced the marriage is an”ideological revolution”resulted from tremendous sacrifices made by both spouses. Maryam was first married to the deputy of Massoud, Mehdi Abrishamchi. The”ideological revolution”of Rajavi was imposed on the movement and required”sacrifice”. First, the leadership has asked its members to divorce by their husbands and wives, ordering”mass divorce.”
In the book “Memoirs of an Iranian Rebel,”the former member of MKO, Masoud Banisadr (not to be confused with the former president Abolhasan Banisadr) fled from the movement in 1996, recounts a meeting for senior officers of the movement page. 37 of the English version.
The first thing I was required to do in Baghdad was watch a videotape of an ideological meeting for “executive and high-ranking members.” The meeting, called “Imam Zaman,” (in the Shiite faith is the hidden Imam), started with a simple question: “To whom do we owe all our achievements and everything that we have?”… Rajavi did not claim, as I thought he might, to be the Imam of our times, but merely said we owed everything to Imam Zaman… The object was to show that we could reach Tehran if we were more united with our leader, as he was with Imam Zaman and God.
“He (Rajavi) was ready to sacrifice everything he had (which in fact meant all of us!) for God, asserting that the only thing on his mind was doing the will of God,….we were expected to draw the conclusion that no “buffer” existed between Rajavi and Imam Zaman; yet there was a buffer between ourselves and him [Rajavi] … which prevented us from seeing him clearly. This “buffer” was our weakness. If we could recognize that, we would see why and how we had failed in Operation Forogh [Eternal Light] and elsewhere. Massoud and Maryam [Rajavi] had no doubt that the buffer was in all our cases our existing spouse…
In the next letter, provide the following themes:
“Birth of dissent in Camp Ashraf”
“Violation and Abuse of Human Rights in Camp Ashraf”
“Testimonies collected by Human Rights Watch.”
Anticipation of the next letter:
Testimony of Sayed Amir Mowaseghi, collected by Human Rights Watch
Sayed Amir Mowaseghi entered a part of MKO in 1984 and was imprisoned by the Iranian government from 1984-1987. After his release, went to Pakistan, from where he could reach Iraq and join forces in the MK 1988.Nel in June 2001, had decided to leave the movement, but he was not allowed. A session of court”was agreed in September 2001 with the presence of Maryam and Masoud Rajavi, who have not granted permission to leave the MKO.
Immediately after it happened as testified:
“I was brought to a gathering of about 600 people. I was dragged into a crowd, I was taken to blows, kicked, verbally abused. I was then led in a caravan, which they called Bangala, I was confined in isolation until 2 June, 2002, and then I was handed over to Iraqi government forces (of Saddam Hussein). The Iraqi forces have put me in the prison of Abu Ghraib, I was then sent back to Iran on 18 March 2003.”
ANNA-MAHJAR of Barducci – Secretary of the”Arab Liberal Democrats
http://www.agenziaradicale.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7265&Itemid=52
Translated by Nejat Society
EU turning blind eye on MKO terrorism, says Iranian Embassy
London – Iran’s Embassy in Norway announced on Thursday that the European Union has turned a blind eye on terrorist activities of Mojahedin Khalq Organisation by deproscribing it from its terror list. In a statement, the embassy said the MKO has conducted many assassination and terror operations inside Iran and Iraq, claiming thousands of innocent lives.
“The EU’s move to take MKO out of its terror list is in contradiction with its decision several years ago to announce the grouplet a terrorist organisation,” the statement reads.
The embassy also said there is enough evidence that the MKO is a terrorist organisation and its leaders collaborated with Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran and suppression of his own nation.
“Based on verifiable documents and footages from Saddam’s intelligence unit, MKO leaders had met him and other Iraqi officials and briefed them on their involvement in the massacre of Iraqi people, especially the Kurds.”
The Iranian Embassy in Norway further expressed regret that the EU has isolated itself from the global community in its campaign against terrorism.
“The EU instead extended a hand for friendship and cooperation with MKO terrorists,” it said, adding that the EU’s move is in contradiction with the international laws and rights, as well as its commitments towards international anti-terrorism treaties.
zawya.com
many years, the roughly 3,500 members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) living quietly in Iraq drew little attention. But now the
relatively obscure group is at the center of an increasingly contentious argument among leaders in Baghdad, Tehran and Washington, where decisions the new White House makes about the rebels will probably set the tone for U.S. relations with Iran in the near term.
The simmering issue of the MEK’s fate flashed into the open earlier this month when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unexpectedly declared that the group would no longer be allowed to remain in Iraq. Shortly after that, Maliki’s national security adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, said the MEK’s camp roughly 40 miles north of Baghdad would be disbanded within two months, declaring during an appearance in Tehran that Iraq would not play host to threats toward its neighbor.
The issue grew more complicated on Jan. 26, when the European Union removed the MEK from its list of terrorist organizations, a roster that includes organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The E.U. move, which came after a long lobbying campaign by the MEK’s supporters in Europe, sparked an outcry in Tehran. About 300 people were gathered around noon on Wednesday in front of the British Embassy in Tehran to protest the E.U. decision. Some in the crowd threw stones at the embassy, while others held up shoes on sticks in a show of deep disrespect in the Middle East.
"What people side with the enemy and kill their own people in a war?" said demonstrator Sina Zamanian, 17, referring to the MEK’s alliance with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, which led them to settle in Iraq. "They are the worst kind of opportunistic terrorists and should be forever marked as such."
Nevertheless, some in Baghdad are calling for the group to be allowed to remain in Iraq, or at least to not be turned over to Iran, for political reasons. "We have to deal with this issue very delicately," says Ayad Jamal al-Deen, an Iraqi parliamentarian aligned with Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "I’m not here to defend this organization. I have no interest in them. But I am looking out for the Iraqi national interest." Al-Deen and other Iraqi political figures see the group essentially as a bargaining chip with Iran, one of the few Iraq holds against its powerful neighbor. They argue that simply shuttering the MEK camp as Iran demands squanders what precious little leverage Iraq has against Iran. Al-Deen adds, "In my opinion, Iraq has only this card, MEK, to pressure Iran."
At the moment, however, the MEK’s ability to remain in Iraq depends on the will of the Americans. The Bush White House continued to use the military to protect the MEK at Camp Ashraf despite its current status as a terrorist organization on the U.S. list and periodic complaints by the emerging Iraqi government and Tehran, which says the group is still involved in subversive activity inside Iran. Outwardly, U.S. officials have said disbanding the camp would be in contravention of international humanitarian law because the group’s members are likely to face persecution in Iran or Iraq. But many Iraqis and Iranians suspect that the U.S. keeps the camp open for intelligence purposes, since the MEK’s spy network played a key role in uncovering Iran’s secret uranium-enrichment program in 2002.
Maliki appears intent on pressing the issue anew with the Obama Administration, which will have to decide soon whether to keep offering U.S. protection to the group or to yield to Iraqi demands to close Camp Ashraf. If the White House allows the Iraqi government to close the camp, the Iranian leadership is likely to see the move as a sign that the new Administration is eager to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran. A continuation of the status quo, however, could chill Obama’s early outreach efforts.
At Camp Ashraf, MEK members simply wait for word on what may happen to them as discussions continue in Baghdad, Tehran and Washington. Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for the group, says a closure of the camp would be a disaster for those living in what amounts to a protective quarantine for roughly the past seven years. "Closing down Camp Ashraf and the displacement of its residents, who are protected by the Geneva Conventions, against their will is a war crime," says Kia. "This will cause a humanitarian catastrophe."
— With reporting by Tariq Anmar in Baghdad
By Mark Kukis / Baghdad
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1875917,00.html
A former member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO), who abandoned the outlawed group in protest at its terrorist operations, said the
European Union should take responsibility of supporting the MKO in its terrorist acts.
Masoud Khodabandeh said deproscribing the MKO by the EU is a politically-motivated move which leads to support for the terrorism spread by the MKO.
He told the Islamic republic news agency that Europeans should take the responsibility of future measures by MKO terrorists who are going to be allowed to enter Europian countries.
"You [the Europeans] cannot defend terrorists [by deproscribing the MKO] and at the same time claim you are countering terrorism," he said.
Khodabandeh, who is now the spokesman of a non-governmental organisation dedicated to help members abandoning the MKO, said European leaders have adopted a double-standard policy towards the issue of terrorism.
"The MKO case proves that the European Union behaves in a discriminatory manner," he said, adding that Europeans are well-aware that MKO members have conducted many terrorist operations in the past three decades.
He said the MKO bears "no significance" in international developments as "it has now expired".
Khodabandeh added that MKO members, if released from the Ashraf Camp in Iraq and admitted to European countries, would spread insecurity and terrorism across Europe.
He said the terrorist nature of the MKO has never changed as its members are wearing uniforms and taking military drills in the Ashraf Camp.
He added that Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation has not only slaughtered many Iranians but also "has been directly engaged in killing Iraqi Shiites and Kurds and suppressing even its own members".
Out of around 3,000 MKO members, he suggested, some 2,000 are in critical health conditions "and are willing to leave the Ashraf Camp."
Khodabandeh said if Europeans do really want to extend their help to these people trapped by the MKO, they should welcome them to Europe–a move he said his organisation will favour.
An Iranian lawmaker today urged France to relinquish any political pressure to remove name of the Iraq based – Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) out of the terrorist groups’ list and keep up its independent position. Iran considers the group to be terrorist.
Head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Ala’eddin Boroujerdi said in a meeting with French parliamentary delegation that the decision to bring MKO out of the terrorist groups’ list runs counter to anti-terrorist claims of European states and will have negative impact on Iranian nation’s public opinion.
Boroujerdi briefed the delegation on chronology of terrorist activities of the MKO as its leaders have confessed to that and also assassination of hundreds of innocent women, children and people in Iran.
He said, “French government is expected to maintain its independent position in that connection.”
Head of MKO Maryam Rajavi is expected to remain excluded from the UK despite the EU dropping the previously outlawed group from its proscribed list.
British Foreign Office said that although it does not discuss individual cases of exclusion, the government continues to believe that the MKO or MeK, as it prefers to call it, was “responsible for vile acts of terrorism over a long period.”
“If an individual has made public statements in the past supporting or condoning terrorism, and has not publicly and unambiguously apologized and refuted such statements, then this would constitute grounds for not admitting an individual into the UK,” Foreign Office spokesman Barry Marston said.
“We are not satisfied that the MeK has done enough to distance itself from its past. There is no dispute about its previous terrorist activity: it claimed responsibility for a large number of violent attacks inside Iran for a number of years,” Marston told IRNA.
Rajavi was subject to an exclusion order back in October 1997, which banned her entry to the UK on the grounds that the organization contained a large faction of terrorists. The Foreign Office at the time said her presence was ‘not conducive to the public good’.
The British government insists that the deproscription of the MKO was ‘a judicial and not a political decision’ both in the EU as it was earlier in the UK and that it opposed its removal.
“We have made it clear that we were disappointed by the verdict of the Proscribed Organizations Appeal Commission and of the Court of Appeal, but we had to comply with their decisions,” Marston said about the British decision last July.
“Equally, given the clear judgment of the Court of First Instance on December 4, 2008, annulling the MeK’s listing in the EU, the EU had no choice but to observe and respect the court’s judgment,” he added.
Asked whether the UK government still considered the MKO as a terrorist organization, he said that there were still ‘serious reservations about the MeK’s assertion that it represents a democratic opposition in exile’.
“We see no evidence of popular support for the MeK in Iran, because of its responsibility for terrorist attacks which resulted in the deaths of many Iranian citizens, and because it fought alongside Iraqi forces against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war,” Marston said.
Regarding the potential that the controversial decision could have an adverse effect on Iran’s relations with the UK and the EU as a whole, he stressed that it should ‘not be seen as a political decision’.
“We would not hesitate to re-proscribe the MeK if circumstances changed and evidence emerged that it was concerned in terrorism,” the spokesman said.
He also quoted Home Office Minister Tony McNulty insisting last June during the debate on the MKO that the UK government have “no plans to meet its representatives.”
An Iraqi politician said the recent decision of the European Union to remove the terrorist Mojahedeen Khalq Organization from the list of terrorist groups benefits only European countries and as such did not concern Iraq.
In an exclusive interview with the Iranian news agency IRNA, Spokesman for Iraqi National Congress Mohammad Hassan al-Mousawi said both the Iraqi nation and government strictly considered the group as terrorists and were opposed their presence on their soil.
He pointed out that the Iraqi Constitution has banned engagement of any group in terrorist activities against one of nation’s neighbors.
He stressed that Iraq was strongly in favor of expelling the group from its soil.
Pointing out that his party, led by Ahmad Chalabi, was working on a plan to set up a strong regional union to include Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, he said the presence of such terrorist groups as the MKO and the PKK in Iraq prevented materialization of the plan.
arabicnews.com
