The MEK aka MKO/PMOI seems to believe it can keep control of Camp Ashraf, its longtime compound near the Iran-Iraq border, and Clinton will still be under pressure to delist the group, this official said.”What bothers all of us working for a peaceful solution is that the MEK seems to believe all they have to do is hold firm and do whatever they want. They are being encouraged in this view by some of their American supporters..
The U.N. held a resettlement conference on March 27 in Geneva and the response was”not overwhelming, to say the least,”Kobler said…Part of the difficulty of dealing with the MEK group members at Camp Ashraf is that they have been cut off from the world for years”My message to these supporters is, spend your energies not so much on attacking the United Nations or others. Spend your energies to convince your governments to take them into your countries..
However, according to an Obama administration official who works on the issue, it’s actually the MEK aka MKO/PMOI that is trashing Camp Liberty — literally. According to this official, the U.N. has reported that MEK members at Camp Liberty have been sabotaging the camp, littering garbage and manipulating the utilities to make things look worse than they really are. While there are some legitimate problems at the camp, the official admitted,..
Clinton didn’t comment on the”concentration camp”charge and simply emphasized that the U.S. was working hard to safely relocate the MEK to Temporary Transit Location, keep the Iraqi government from harassing the MEK, and ensure that the U.N. monitors the camp and provides help for refugees. She also said that if the MEK really wants off the list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), it should get with the program at Camp Liberty( Temporary Transit Location).
“The residents of Camp Ashraf must make the decision to start this relocation process. Camp Ashraf is no longer a viable home for them. They have no secure future there,”said Fried…Fried urged the MEK aka MKO/PMOI to make the decision to move to Camp Hurriya, and he asked the group’s many supporters in Washington to convey that message directly to the MEK.
Nobody knows how many people are in Camp Ashraf, because nobody can go inside. The residents are also suspected to be well armed. There could be as many as 3,200 people there, according to the State Department. If they are evicted from the camp, some will voluntarily go back to Iran and some will go to other countries. Others still may not actually be MEK aka MKO/PMOI members but could be living there for their own reason,..
The MEK, whose ideology fuses Islam and Marxism, was formed in Iran in 1965. It allied itself with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and fought against the Shah and his Western backers during the Iranian Revolution. After falling out of favor with Khomeini, the group was given shelter in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, who used them to conduct brutal cross-border raids during the Iraq-Iran war. After the fall of Saddam, the United States helped broker an agreement whereby ..