Dialogues

Mojahedin Khalq Organisation should be tried in Iraq

Last week, Habilian association had a meeting with some Iraqi NGOs officials and talked about Iraq status and position of Mujahedin in there.

In this meeting, Mr. Sheikh Emadodin Tamimi, director of Ansar-ul-hojjeh association in Baghdad, Sheikh Safa Tamimi, Friday Prayer Leader of Baghdad’s Mosques, and Asadollah Feli, secretary of Shiite Kurds Islamic movement in Iraq, met and talked to Habilian general secretary and executive director about Mujahedin terrorist group’s crimes and determination of nation and government to expulsion of them.

Mr. Sanavi, executive director of Habilian association, after welcoming them reminded on last negotiation with Iraqi friends, in which was not necessary to explain more about Mujahedin status and we became so glad that Iraqi nation know backgrounds of this terrorist group.

Then Sheikh Safa condoled and expressed his sympathy to family of martyrs, who have been martyred by Mujahedin.

Then Sheikh Emadodin Tamimi refused any claims of Mujahedin and occupiers to presence of this terrorist group in Iraq by according to Iraq’s constitution and criminal backgrounds of this group and also stressed that: “Munafeqin as Saddam’s mercenaries and murderer of Iran and Iraq’s children, would be expelled early and in this issue nation and all political group of Iraq have solidarity”.

Sheikh Emadodin Tamimi expressed his regret on their terrorist actions in Iran and also represented some recent events that happen in Iraq, especially the oppression and prosecution of Shiite.

Mr. Emadodin also noticed that now the occupiers support Mujahedin without any attention to Iraq nation and interests.

Then Mr. Feli, secretary of Islamic movement of Iraq Shiite Kurds, condoled martyrs’ families and explained the role and criminal actions of Munafeqin group on suppress of Kurds and described it as a massacre case, which caused that Munafeqin leaders can’t leave Iraq without trial and replay to Iraqi Kurds.

Mr. Hasheminejad also expressed his regret on Iraq recent status and expressed hope that terrorist activities and occupation of Iraq land will be ended and Iraqi people live in safe and comfort.

After that participants started their negotiations by according to agenda.

May 31, 2007 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

Total may have helped finance terrorist group

According to Italian investigators, Total in 2002 unwittingly helped Baghdad finance an Iranian group, the Mujahidin Khalq, or People’s Mujahidin, which is on the U.S. government’s list of terrorist organizations. Less than a year later, in 2003, France’s counterintelligence agency stormed the group’s headquarters in Paris on terrorism charges. Besides collecting illegal funds through the surcharges, Baghdad also helped friends and allies around the world by awarding them oil contracts. A multinational committee led by the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker, found that with this arrangement, Saddam was able to finance journalists, politicians and diplomats who he apparently believed would support his effort to lift the UN sanctions.

Seven oil contracts were also awarded to an Iranian exile organization, the Mujahidin Khalq, fiercely opposed to the government in Tehran, which was hostile to Saddam.

In 1992 the Mujahidin was blamed by the U.S. State Department for the almost simultaneous attacks on Iranian facilities in 13 European countries.

Investigators in the United States have a copy of a 1999 Iraqi memo summarizing an exchange between Iraqi intelligence and Iraq’s Oil Ministry regarding a request for oil received from the Mujahidin. The Iranian group had asked for the oil as a gift but, because of UN sanctions, the ministry could not comply.

The ministry was, however, willing to give the group a contract for two million barrels. The intelligence director had then provided the ministry the name of a company that the Mujahidin wanted to use as a front – Century Marketing Associates.

Contract M/11/44, which awarded more than five million barrels of oil to Century Marketing on Dec. 23, 2001, was signed by Haftavaradan Reza as a director of that company. Better known with his pseudonym of Saeed Mali, or Saeed Finance, Reza was at the time the No. 2 person in the finance department of the Mujahidin Khalq, according to Massoud Khodabandeh, a former executive committee member of the group.

At least some of that oil was bought by Betoil, a company controlled by an Italian trader, Fabrizio Loioli. An internal Betoil accounting document found by the Italian Guardia di Finanza indicates that 1,041,970 barrels of that contract was loaded onto the tanker Yannis P and sold to Total.

According to Loioli’s records, he received $156,295 in premium payments from Total for that shipment. "It was out of that money that Loioli would have paid the fee to the contract holder, that is Century Marketing," an Italian investigator said.

Almost a year later, in June 2003, the French riot police stormed the suburban Paris headquarters of the People’s Mujahidin. The investigation is still open.

Total declined to comment on the case.

Claudio Gatti

International Herald Tribune

The New York Times Media Group

17 May 2007

May 21, 2007 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Dr Banisadr delivered speech in London University

On Saturday 5 May 2007, Dr Masoud Banisadr Writer and Former Member of the Mojahedin-é Khalq Organisation (MKO), participated in a day long seminar in London School of Economics & Political Science and delivered a speech on The Use of the Philosophy of Martyrdom within Religious Cults for Acts of Terrorism.

At the opening of the seminar it was stated that: “Death and dying are universal facts of life to which all faith traditions offer responses. The doctrinal and practical responses of the mainstream religions are well known, but some new religious movements develop startlingly novel ways of coping with death and dying. The views of scholars will be considered alongside those of the movements’ members and former members.”

In this seminar, Dr Banisadr examined the topic of his speech from a variety of perspectives. When discussing about Cult and Terrorism, he described how terrorist cults such as Al-Qaeda or Mojahedin of Iran show their “list of martyrs as their flag of glory and honour”.

In his speech Dr Banisadr stated: “For example in 2003 when the co-leader of the MKO; Maryam Rajavi was arrested for few days in France, eleven members of the organization set themselves on fire in front of the French embassies in several countries and two of them, one in London, were killed as a result.

Tom Spender, in new shoppers, writes about one of those who set himself on fire in London but survived. He writes: “Hamid, 21, of Lanacre Avenue, Grahame Park, was one of several Iranians across Europe to register the most extreme of protests at the arrest in France of about 160 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) – including the group’s leader Maryam Rajavi …. What followed stunned the Western world. Images of men and women silhouetted in flames on the streets of London and Paris dominated the television news. One Iranian in London, Neda Hassani, a 26-year-old Canadian computer science student, later died of her burns. Another woman in Paris also died.” When Hamid is asked why did he set himself on fire? He replies:” “I wanted to shock the world. Injustices are committed all over the world but most of them are not reported well.” And when he asked if he regret? He replies: “It was definitely worth it. I have not for one second thought that I shouldn’t have done it.”

If they can set themselves on fire over the arrest of their leader, what can stop them from using martyrdom as a mean for any end?”

Dr Banisadr then emphasised: “How could they persuade their followers to ignore all Islamic norms and limits, and do whatever they were asked to?

The answer to these questions doesn’t lie in understanding Islam or the different sects of Islam, but the relation between Cults and Terrorism.

Religious cults are not a new phenomena; their history goes back perhaps to the beginning of the history of mankind.”

He continued his speech by referring to the relationship between the desire to be martyred and abandoning passions and emotions of a normal life. He added: “Interestingly, the Mojahedin (MKO), the organization that I was a member of for almost seventeen years, had almost the same idea (of most cults) about the relation between sex and preparation for dying or becoming a martyr (to love martyrdom we should reject life, and sex as its most joyful act). They were not castrating us (the same as some cults of past centuries) as it is not practical in modern day to castrate thousands of young men; instead they forced their followers; men and women alike, into celibacy. In a single day, the guru or leader of the organization asked us, all of us except himself, to divorce our spouses and forget about sex as long as we are alive. This order was given with the pretext that this was necessary for overthrowing Iranian Regime and for materialization of his rule over the Iranian people. We did as he said and all of us, in a single day, decided to forget about sex, emotions and feelings toward our families, as long as we are alive.”

Dr Banisadr further described Martyrdom “as an asset for a cult” and mentioned that: “in modern day Iran we can see the Mojahedin’s list of martyrs as their flag of glory and honour. Why martyrs are so important? Mojahedin’s leader says it all by few words to his enemy: ‘for any person you take from us and make him or her Shahid (martyred); he or she will be replaced by hundred if not thousand.’

He then took the subject of “Suicide bombers” to discuss about and argued as: “Although one might say that the modern history of suicide attacks started with the Japanese Kamikazes. But I think the new phenomenon called suicide bombers started with the Mojahedin’s suicide attacks against Iranian authorities during 1980’s. Let me read part of the will of one of them mentioned in the publication of MKO 19th of June 1982, Gohar AdabAvaz. She killed the Friday Prayer Imam of Shiraz after praying with a few others who were present there. She writes in her will, “I don’t think my life belongs to me, it belongs to God and the people and the Mojahedin Organization. If a new path can be opened with my life, then I will be very happy that I be small token in this path. I have chosen this path knowingly, and am waiting that moment of martyrdom, impatiently.”

Self burning of a Mojahedin’s member in Paris after arrest of Maryam Rajavi. 2003

Self burning of another member of Mojahedin in Paris 2003

A scene from ceremony of signing an oath with Mojahedin’s leader in Iraq.

Another scene from ceremony of signing an oath with Mojahedin’s leader in Iraq.

Finally under the title of Cults and New Meaning for Old Ideas, Dr Banisadr concluded that: “Modern Cults have given new meaning not only to martyrdom but Jihad, both greater and lesser. They have superseded the religious conditions put on these terms, such as conditions put on Jihad or who is an enemy. According to the cult’s definition there is no grey area, either others are with you or are against you. Al Qaeda, and Wahabism divides the world between Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb, and the Mojahedin of Iran divide all Iranians between followers of themselves and followers of the Iranian Regime, either you are with them, or with the enemy. If you are with them and are killed you will be martyred and go to heaven, and if you are not with them, then you are with the enemy and if you are killed it is just, and you will go to hell. Therefore, as we could see during the eighties in Iran, they did not show any hesitation in killing anybody who was not with them.”

Dr Banisadr continued saying: “Let me conclude that the use of the rich philosophy of martyrdom within a cult has given new meaning to martyrdom; it has changed it into new tools for materialization of the goals of the cult. To conclude we have to separate terrorist cults from mainstream Muslims and never never call them Moslem, as they are not.

May 14, 2007 0 comment

Habilian Foundation

The Report of Habilian Exhibition in Tehran Congress

The First International Congress on Resistance Culture was held under the name of “Islamic World, Victim of terrorism” during 1, 2 May at OIC Summit Hall in Tehran.

In this meeting, intellectuals and cultural figures from different countries have been gathered to derivation of terrorism and the way to confront it and also stressed on role of imperialist powers on this issue and asked to limit terrorists.

The participants emphasized on the historical and organic relation between terrorism and radical thoughts against humanity such as Nazi, fascist, Zionist and imperialist groups.

Habilian associations held an exhibition as a main part of congress on Munafeqin (Mojahedin Khalq Organisation. aka: Rajavi cult) terrorist group’s crimes and a lot of people also came and visit it eagerly.

For the first time in this exhibition, a list of 16000 victims was presented into divided and provincial parts with the name of place.

Also some pictorial documents and evidence of terrorism case in Iran were shown in this exhibition and they were noticed perfectly by visitors and especially young people.

Detailed report of this exhibition and visits and meetings of Habilian association’s members with some figures will be published in next days.

Pictorial report

May 10, 2007 0 comment

France

New Charges Added to MKO’s Criminal Case

French prosecutor announced that new charges have been added to the case against MKO and the head of the group Maryam Rajavi.

AFP’s report from Paris on Wednesday indicate that prosecutor general has asked the court to add money laundering and fraud charges to the case, which includes connection with terrorism and saboteur groups.

According to the report, prosecutor has submitted this request to anti-terror court on March 19.

MKO collected public donations in Paris and sent the money to bank accounts abroad, judges say.

On June 17, 2003, French police attacked MKO headquarters in the suburbs of French capital and arrested 164 MKO members including Maryam Rajavi.

The group has been listed as terrorist by the US and EU.

IRNA, April 07, 2007

April 10, 2007 0 comment

Iraqi Authorities' stance on the MEK

MKO Supports Terrorists

Zari Al-Fahad Al-Asadi, senior member of Governor’s office in Diyala province, said: "citizens of this province will never forget crimes of the MKO during the uprising of Shaabanieh in the south and Kurds’ uprising in the north in 1991; their operation was performed by the assistance of Saddam regime."

"People of Diyala have repeatedly asked for the expulsion of this group from the province but Americans refuse to accept it," he added.

In response to the comments of MKO representatives, published in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Al-Asadi told a PUK reporter that: "On their comments that 132000 Iranian agents are working in important Iraqi posts, government and parliament should respond. But as far as the governor office of Diyala is concerned, I should stressed that residents of Camp Ashraf are still involved in terrorism and they support anti-government rebels and give them shelter. This organization has close ties with terror groups. This organization, unlike the claims of Noroozi, is not in financial crisis and even rewards its supporters with millions of dollars."

"Ashraf residents continue political activities and they have been able to attract pro-Baathists. They cooperate with some former intelligence officers and some tribes. They have established so-called "Diyala’s Salvation Association", headed by former governor "Abdullah Jaboori," he added.

He also said that: "This group claims that it enjoys political refugee status, but I say that it’s a sheer lie. We have asked the government and parliament to expel these people from our country but the US obstructs our requests."

"This regime has a long history of cooperating with the former regime and no one can forget their role in suppression of uprising in the south and killing the people of Kalar and Kafra. They still hold conferences and welcome terrorists. They claim that their camp has school and hospital and that it has served local residents for the past 20 years, but I should say that no one has access to their remorse camp. The simplest reason is that Saddam’s secret agents who work with this group have warned the residents that no one should near the camp because they are familiar with Farsi (the language of MKO members) and this may lead to the leakage of intelligence.

He stressed the requests of people of Diyala and called for the expulsion of MKO members from Iraq, saying: "We ask for the expulsion of this group from Iraq because we are living in the neighborhood of Iran and establishing good relations with Iran benefits us. Not supporting this group means no interference in other countries’ internal affairs and we don’t want our soil to become a haven for terrorists. We should avoid issues that create tension. Destruction of cities like Mandali, Ghoranieh, Khaniqin and … is enough for us."

April 7, 2007 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

The speech delivered by Mr. Sobhani to the European Parliament

Transcription of the speech delivered by Mr. Sobhani to the European Parliament

Explanation:

In an assembly held on March 27, 2007 at the invitation of the European Parliament in Brussels, the topic of "maintaining the Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organisation (MKO) in the list of proscribed terrorist groups after the verdict of the Luxembourg Court" was discussed. The assembly was chaired by Ms Angelika Beer, the member of the European Parliament responsible on the Iranian affairs. In this Assembly more than 70 individuals including members of the EP, particularly from the Green Party, experts on the issue of terrorism, and journalists were present. Groups of former members of the MKO who represented some human rights and anti-cult and anti-terrorism societies and centres were also present in this assembly.

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani:

I salute the respected ladies and gentlemen here. I particularly wish to thank Ms Angelika Beer the respected chairperson of the assembly. I also thank Senator Josie Doubiee for his valuable speech on the MKO. I am most pleased to be present in your assembly and I will try to use the limited time that I have to describe my bitter experiences during three decades of my activities and cooperation with the MKO as well as my research on this religious cult. My past organisational position in the MKO is quite clear according to the organisation’s publications and documents. I was a member of the central council of the organisation; therefore I am presenting my own experiences of my close involvement inside the organisation. I have gained these bitter experiences through much suffering and pain. I spent more than eight years “ I emphasise more than eight years “ in the solitary confinement of the MKO in Ashraf Camp since I criticised the strategy of armed struggle and terrorism and cooperating with Saddam Hussein. The related documents have been published in Mojahed publication No. 592 dated August 2002; you can see the actual publication here. According to this document, the MKO has published my handwriting which they forced me to write under torture. This of course is my handwriting, but as I explained, I was forced to write it under torture. According to this letter in my handwriting which has been published in Mojahed, the weekly publication of the MKO, No. 592, page 3, I was jailed in solitary confinement in Ashraf Camp on September 1992. Then after eight years, by the order of Massoud and Maryam Rajavi the leaders of the religious sect, I was submitted to Saddam Hussein’s intelligence and security prison in Baghdad. I was in that prison for 35 days and then I was transferred to Abu-Ghraib prison in which I remained for one year. What I am unfolding now are not just my own experiences and are not just those which were imposed on me. There are a number of individuals in this assembly who were also subjected to violations of human rights and there are many others who could not appear in this session. Therefore I must declare that Ms Angelika Beer’s valuable speech based on the report given by Human Rights Watch is a drop in the ocean of the violation of human rights in the MKO religious sect. I have been invited to this assembly and I deliver my speech here as an expert and researcher on the MKO affairs. If there was a session to speak about the violation of human rights in Iran, I would naturally speak about that subject.

The point I wish to bring up is the fact that the MKO claims they have not attempted any armed or terrorist operation after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The organisation has therefore presented this to the Luxembourg Court as evidence to require its name be extracted from the list of terrorist groups issued by the EU. Nevertheless it is well clear that when the former dictator of Iraq was toppled, the organisation had no backup of arms and ammunitions to carry on any sabotage activities. Therefore the matter brought forward by the MKO that they have not committed any terrorist activities since the invasion of Iraq, by no means proves that the organisation has ruled out the idea of armed struggle. The MKO is based on a deep cultic ideology which was well shown in the speech delivered by Senator Josie Doubiee and I along with my colleagues have witnessed these matters very closely. The position of the leader in the organisation is such that he must be totally praised. Several times a day, in the mornings at noon and in the afternoons, the slogan of salute to Rajavi must be shouted loudly in special ceremonies and this is repeated everyday. I would like to ask those who support the MKO, and I am glad that they are present here at the moment; would a liberal or democrat individual submit to the self invented rule of abandoning marriage? Why is the marriage of men and women forbidden in the organisation and why is the punishment for adultery the death sentence? Why was Ali-Naqi Haddadi executed on this charge? Why have many discontented members of the organisation been jailed in Abu-Ghraib prison? An organisation which violates human rights within its own establishment could not call for democracy and claim to be striving for it. The MKO, falsely, I emphasise falsely, claimed after the verdict given by the Luxembourg Court on 12th of December, particularly in Ashraf Camp, that the name of the organisation has been removed from the EU list of terrorist groups. Referring to the explanation given by Mr Passau as one of the legal counsellors of EP in this assembly, such claims are baseless and not true. I draw the attention of those who support the MKO (Mr Sobhani was referring to Mr Paulo Casaca MEP from Portugal) and other participant in this session to an interesting point. You are now seeing a publication which belongs to the MKO and it is its official organ. In the emblem of the MKO a Kalashnikov firearm appears as a symbol of armed struggle. If the MKO is serious about ruling out terrorism and the use of violence, why do they not change this emblem and remove the sign of violence and terror?

Since my time is very short and Ms Angelika Beer has already spoken relating to this matter, I wish to pay my gratitude to the Council of the Ministers of Economy and Finance of the EU which issued a declaration relating to the EU Court verdict and emphasized that the MKO is a terrorist group. I also wish to draw the attention of MEPs to the very fact that since the MKO is a terrorist group with deep cultic structure, we should not neglect them due to the problems with the Islamic Republic. This would be in contradiction with the primary principles of human rights and democracy. One should bear in mind that the MKO has a record of assassination of Americans in Iran in the era of Shah and has carried out hundreds of street clashes and assassinations during the rule of Islamic Republic. They have also killed many of their own discontented members both before and after the revolution. Therefore my colleagues and I, as persons who have illustrative experiences from this organisation could not easily accept that the MKO be removed from the list. Unless the leadership of the MKO, namely Mr Massoud Rajavi and Mrs Maryam Rajavi, bear their responsibility of more than two decades of bloodshed, armed struggle and terrorism which delayed the process of moving toward democracy in Iran. In this case there are International Courts which, naturally, would deal with the matter according to their own rules and regulations.

My time is over now, I am most grateful for your attention to my speech.

April 7, 2007 0 comment

Belgium

Meeting with Senator Luc Willems of Belgium

A committee from Iran Peyvand Association represented by Mr. Behzad Alishahi and Karim Haggi met with Mr. Luc Willems from the liberal democrats. The private meeting which took place inside the main senate building lasted more then two hours.

AS the head of the judiciary committee of Belgium, Mr. Willems also overlooks the state of cults within Belgium. Mr. Behzad Alishahi & Karim Haggi explained in detail their own personal experience with the cult of Mojahedin. They went into great details of the inner workings of this cult (MKO).

Mr. Willems confirmed that Belgium regards the Mojahedin-E khalq of Iran as a dangerous cult, and that his talks with both gentlemen further confirmed his stance.

Finally there was discussion on how to go about limiting the works of the cult of Mojahedin.

Iran Peyvand Association, April 03, 2007

April 5, 2007 0 comment

USA

U.S. financially supports Iranian opposition

The U.S. daily Washington Prism has reported that the United States is officially funding terrorist organizations opposed to the government in Iran.

Reese Elrich of the Washington Prism and author of the book “Target Iraq”, who recently visited Iran and the Kurdish regions in northern Iraq, reports on the U.S. government’s financial support for armed groups.

Elrich who visited Iran for the presidential elections with Hollywood actor Sean Penn, says Washington’s support is primarily focused on media propaganda.

In response to questions on whether the support is strictly limited to media or includes other activities such as military, he said; “Intelligence agencies in the U.S. also sponsor secret armed attacks within Iran. I have found that the U.S.

and Israel support the military wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PEJAK) and Mojahedin Khalq (MKO).

"The U.S. asks members of these groups if they have left the organization, if they answer yes, they will be given military training for secret operations inside Iran."

“Although these organizations are supported from the outside, there is absolutely no support for them inside the country.”

Elrich, a freelance journalist, has been working with different newspapers and American radio stations for the past twenty years and is currently working on his latest book: “The Iran Agenda: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis”, due for release in September from Polipoint Press.

pressTV – 27/03/2007

April 4, 2007 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq 's Function

MKO hired actors for demonstration in Brussels: German news magazine

The MKO (Mojahedin Khalq Organisation) terrorist group (Rajavi cult) hired extras for a demonstration in Brussels on March 8 in a bid to cover up the small number of protestors, the weekly Focus news magazine reported Monday.

Around 60 Iranian actors and actresses who were not informed beforehand about the action, were paid the usual 50 euros per day fee to take part in the recent demonstration in Brussels where the MKO was protesting its continued blacklisting as a terror group by the European Union.

The extras were hired by a German casting agency, named ‘House of Extras’, which transferred them via two busses from Cologne to Brussels.

According to Focus, most of the side actors and actresses were duped into believing that the MKO demonstration was part of a movie and not a real event.

Once the extras arrived at the scene of a demonstration they were shocked and most of them broke away from the other demonstrators.

Meanwhile a representative of the German casting agency said that extras were also hired for another MKO demonstration in New York in fall 2005.

Jochen Cerff confirmed that 50 actors and actresses were hired in Hamburg and Leipzig to take part in a New York rally in front of the UN building.

The extras received reportedly a one-week complimentary trip to New York.

The MKO had also paid poor European-based immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, most of them social welfare recipients, to attend demonstrations in Berlin.

Several of the paid African demonstrators were told by the MKO that they would go on a sightseeing trip to Berlin.

The MKO was earlier found guilty of massive social welfare fraud in Germany throughout the 1990s.

Link to the original article by Focus.de

http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/gekaufter-protest_aid_51864.html Iran-interlink, cologne, April 2, 2007

April 4, 2007 0 comment

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