For many years Mujahedin-e Khalq received direct assistance from Saddam Hussein. They are on the U.S. government’s official list of terrorist organizations, that is to say, it’s a serious crime for any American to deal with it. The US banks have a responsibility to freeze MEK assets and any member caught anywhere in the world will be arrested.
MEK militants operate out of a camp protected by American military police, are routinely escorted by the U.S. military on their supply runs and Major Gen. John Gardner has prounounced his command as "deeply committed to the security and rights of the protected people of Ashraf (MEK’s base camp)".
MEK is an Iranian "Shiite-Marxist" guerrilla group based in Iraq, making forays into Iran to blow things up and, apparently, to gather intelligence. The value of whatever intelligence MEK claims to have is the quid pro quo for using U.S. troops to provide safe haven for a group of terrorists who had been deemed beyond the pale of any human contact by the State Department. Apparently even the Shiite government in Baghdad wants the MEK out of the country – they’ve given them six months to go. But who knows? If it serves U.S. interests to harbor anti-Iran terrorists on Iraqi soil, they may well continue to get a pass.
To add to the "complexity" of the US harboring MEK, according to numerous sources, this outfit originally settled in Iraq for its base of operations in 1986, and not only was funded by Saddam’s government for it’s actions against Iran, but MEK fighters assisted Saddam in his bloody suppression of the Shiite rebellion in 1991.
Posted by Reg – 08/04/2007
