The United States has called for a "negotiated plan" to facilitate the move of the Iraq-based terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to another country.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Iraqi authorities on Tuesday to allow UN officials to visit the terrorist group’s base Camp Ashraf, located north of the capital Baghdad, AFP reported.
"We’re prepared to help the government of Iraq develop and execute a negotiated plan — and the emphasis on ‘negotiated’ — that addresses the future of Camp Ashraf," said the US official.
Earlier on Monday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf and disband the terrorist group, noting," The council of ministers has been committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group by the end of this year at the latest."
According to AFP, 10 people were reportedly killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf last Friday.
The MKO has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, near the Iranian border. More than 3,000 MKO members reside in Camp Ashraf.
The organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds. Much of the international community, including the US, considers it as a terrorist group.
Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government not to do so.
