Two of the officials said to be under consideration for secretary of state, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, traveled to Europe to speak to followers of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq aka MEK/PMOI/MKO, or the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, while the group was still on the terrorist watch list….
The first 400 of the more than 3,000 members of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran – which Iraq earlier this year had threatened with mass expulsion – are ready”as a goodwill gesture”to transfer with their movable property and vehicles”at the first opportunity”to the former Camp Liberty at Baghdad International Airport, the group’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, announced.
Although UNHCR won’t require the dissidents to disassociate from the group, it said in a recent statement that refugee status could be granted only to individuals and not to the group as a whole. In effect, the MEK aka MKO/PMOI, as its known by its Farsi language initials, appears to be on the verge of accepting the demand by U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey in July to disband as a military formation.
Ambassador James Jeffrey said Saturday that the U.S. was working with the United Nations to move the 3,000-plus Iranians”to a place that is a bit safer, a bit further from Iran,”but they would have to disband and allow themselves to be registered as refugees by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.But the Paris-based leadership of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran rejected the idea as a”non-starter”and said the Iranians would prefer to die where they now live, a location known as Camp Ashraf, than to relocate within Iraq.
After Rohrabacher later announced his investigation to the media, al-Maliki, who’s currently acting minister of defense as well as commander in chief, apparently hit the roof. ..The U.S. Embassy issued a statement explaining that Congress is a separate branch of government whose members often disagree with the executive branch. It said it was important for members of Congress to meet and exchange views with Iraqi leaders, “even when there are disagreements.”..
The U.S. declared the MEK/MKO/PMOI a terrorist organization in 1997, citing a series of attacks in Tehran.When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 it disarmed the group, seizing thousands of weapons from Camp Ashraf. The residents lived an almost monastic life, separated by sex and observing a strict ban on alcohol and smoking. Iran has demanded that camp residents be repatriated to Iran and has promised to reintegrate them into Iranian society,..