On the eve of the trial of the toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, some former members of the Mojahedeen Khalq Organsation (MKO) aka PMOI demanded that the leader of the outlawed Organisation and some of his close associates be also tried for “crimes against both the Iraqi and Iranian peoples”.
The toppled regime of Saddam Hussein actively supported international terrorism, and the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation, led by Massoud Rajavi, was at the top of the list of these terrorist organisations.
— The Mojahedin as part of Saddam’s military played a decisive role in the suppression of the internal uprisings in Iraq in 1991, and are responsible for the massacre of many Iraqi Shiites and Kurds who opposed Saddam.
..the Mujahiddeen /PMOI/NCR/MKO stays on the terrorist list for at least another two years and in return for this goodwill, Iran is more forthcoming in its nuclear pledges…the exiled Iranian resistance groups’ terrorist label can either be used as little more than a bargaining chip or -less likely- they might find that they might be fitted into a US cooked up plan for inciting popular uprisings inside Iran. Both ends of the spectrum have implications that might be unforeseen….”The MKO are highly disliked and disregarded by Iranians worldwide. During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein financed and utilized the MKO to institute several attacks against Iranians,”
The main message of “Recognizing Sectarian Terrorism Seminar”, expressed briefly in its final statement, is that “The mafia-like inhuman organizational structure- established by a number of MKO ringleaders- is the only obstacle in the way of those members who want to choose freely and leave the group, ….MKO’s propaganda system revealed reasoning and cases reserved for the time after the confirmation of Iraqi constitution
Human Rights Watch reasserted claims of abuses by an Iranian dissident group Wednesday even after a report compiled by a European Parliament delegation denounced its initial report as”devoid of any truth.”… the global watchdog group published a report alleging serial abuses at Camp Ashraf, the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq headquarters, six miles north of Baghdad. The report described the MeK as an extremist sect, whose leaders had exerted a manipulative psychological influence on their followers
The German weekly “Focus” quoted a former CIA employee and said that the US is spying on Iran by using Mojahedin-e Khalq members.
Beside the pictures of MKO tanks (which were received from Saddam Hussein), Focus quoted Ray McGovern saying: “There’s no doubt in Washington that this group (MKO) can be a good leverage against Iran.”
President George W. Bush employed two major pretexts to dupe Americans into supporting the Iraq War: (1) extend the war on terror to Iraq, a major sponsor of terrorist organizations such as the MEK (2) find and destroy weapons of mass destruction….The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune have published claims contrary to American government reports.
It would seem that there is a great deal at stake for the 150 MEK supporters in Congress. Whether it is these congressional members who are providing Jafarzadeh, the MEK spokesman, with aerial photos of Iran’s nuclear facilities, or vice versa, the Bush administration is having a field day with it at the UN General Assembly.
Unlike other cases, this time there are witnesses (with enough evidences such as Abu Ghraib prison and registered by Red Cross as prisoners), ready to give testimony anywhere anytime. As an opponent of HRW’s report said, one should look at the faces of victims when giving testimony in order to find whether their testimony is true or not.
In order to understand its importance and influence, one should consider how far they are from the latest analysis of US government about the terrorist group they support. A terrorist group on US terror list, offices of which were shut down by the government of George Bush.