The Iraqi government’s holding control of Camp Ashraf may lead to adverse consequences for the cultist group of Mojahedin (also known as MKO, MEK, PMOI) one of which is the fact that they would be forced to weigh anchor from Iraq and drop it in another country in a little while. The news about the U.S. agreeing to take 16 MKO leaders as refugees may confirm this supposition. Where Mojahedin are destined to settle is a matter of uncertainty. Jordan was supposed to be a possible alternative; however, despite the MKO high-rankings’ conferral with Jordanian parliamentarians, its government refused to provide a place of residence for MKO. At any case, Mojahedin are well aware that their settlement in Iraq is temporary and they have to look for settlement in another country.
Undoubtedly, Mojahedin are willing to grow roots in a country where they would ensure the integrity of their cultic relations. At the time being, Auvers-sur-Oise seems to be their first preference since they have managed to turn it into a bastion of terrorist plots. There are many evidences that Mojahedin have constructed a cult-like enclave in France. Much to the surprise of those visiting Auvers-Sur-Oise, Mojahedin have provided modern security systems therein and can survive there for a long time without coming into contact with the world outside. Furthermore, DST has repeatedly stated that Mojahedin are about to turn Auvers-Sur-Oise to another Camp Ashraf in the Europe. It seems that Mojahedin consider France as their potential alternative for abiding after their expulsion from Iraqi soil.
However, it is evident that France can hardly consent to provide a shelter for the organizational body of MKO whose ranking members have already settled there. It has paid considerable cost as for the presence of Mojahedin leaders and their atrocities like that of the case of June 17th, illegal and criminal activities of MKO inside France, cult-like behavior of MKO members (self-immolation in Paris streets) and the like. In addition, it has to be pointed out that before the designation of MKO as a terrorist organization, Mojahedin had claimed to be perpetrators of almost all terrorist operations inside the Iranian soil to give a show of their military potentialities. As reported by DST:
Since 1998, the PMOI, which had been the principal opposition party to the Teheran regime, has lost its political influence. It has radicalised its activity and increased the number of terrorist and military attacks on Iran. On 2 June 1998, the PMOI issued a press release, in French, claiming responsibility for a bombing of the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office in Teheran. Ten people were killed or wounded. On 3 June 1998, in another press release, the movement claimed it was responsible for a mortar attack on the Pasdaran Headquarters. Two months later, a dispatch received in the Nicosia Bureau (Cyprus) of Agence France Presse claimed responsibility for the assassination of Assadolah Ladjevardi on 23 August 1998. He had been the warden of Evin Prison in Iran. In 2001, the PMOI claimed authorship of 195 attacks against Iran. The organisation makes many of these claims for actions in Iran from the PMOI’s French base. They are disseminated either by fax or by the organisation’s Website: http:/www.iran.Mojahedin.org. 1
Also, Mojahedin have reportedly resorted to propaganda blitz in order to incite readers to carry out aggressive and terrorist actions against the Iranian leaders visiting France:
Some articles that are particularly violent in tone and call outright for tile physical elimination of the main leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These titles show in a concrete and significant way how dangerous the organisation is and the incitement to violence contained in its leaders’ language, published in their newspaper. The tone of these articles shows how its circulation in France constitutes a risk for public order. It incites its readers to murder the Iran’s highest leaders who, in turn, are possible official visitors to France. 2
Other illegal activities pertaining to MKO headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise are as follows:
We have been able to identify numerous PMOI members recruited and housed in France, making regular trips to Iraq. This is, of course, where the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLAI) camps were: the armed wing of the PMOI. We have also established that these members have been able to use false documents or false identities. They also follow several different routes to Iraq: passing through Jordan, Egypt, or Turkey. They make their connections through different European countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands. The clandestine protocols are, of course, designed to avoid any tracing of their travels. Once in Iraq, the militants undergo various levels of political and military training. The NLAI fighters coming from Iraq regularly visit PMOI HQ in Auvers-sur-Oise, while veteran soldiers are installed in France and remain continuously active in promoting the organisation. 3
Accordingly, it would be an act of high risk and cost to establish a refugee camp for Mojahedin. In the political scene, the government inevitably has to reconsider its political relations with Iranian regime and then, other members of the EU have to be convinced why the heart of Europe has to set up a bastion for terrorism. Besides, will French people tolerate a cultic gang living next door? In the recent years, as the reports indicate and the ex-members disclose, the main cause behind separation of several thousand members has been the hegemonic and egocentric rule by the ideological leaders Maryam and Masoud Rajavi. The wife is already running a majestic life in Auvers-Sur-Oise waiting for the husband to join as well as the other rank and file. It all depends on French government.
References:
1. Gessler, Antoine, Autopsy of an Ideological Drift, chapter 14, DST report on MKO.
2. ibid
3. ibid