Iraq serious to expel MKO

The Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie is said to have arrived to Iran on Monday June 19 to seek boosting ties between Tehran-Baghdad and other regional countries and finalizing security victories in Iraq and the two countries agreements reached in Iraq. Upon his arrival, he is reported to have stated that “under no circumstances” can the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) members stay in Iraq.
“The Iraqi government has made a serious decision to expel the residents of Camp Ashraf and has informed them that they have only two options: they can either return to Iran or go to another country,” he told reporters at Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran.
The Iraqi government took over the control of Camp Ashraf, home to 3,500 MKO members on January 1, as part of a bilateral security deal between the U.S. and Iraq. al-Rubaie reiterated that the MKO’s terrorist members must soon leave Iraq since Iraq could no longer be a haven for groups that could jeopardize the country’s security and peace.
MKO members, who had the support of the ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, are now temporally staying at Camp Ashraf in northern Dyala Province. The US forces transferred responsibility for guarding the camp to the Iraqi government at the start of this year. Iraq says it wants to close the camp but will not force residents to leave.
Both Iraq and the US consider the group to be a terrorist organization although MKO says it has renounced violence. The claim is made after it was disarmed by the coalition forces but the military nature and discipline have hardly left the camp and the residents are still living under harsh military commands in the absence of the leaders running an easy, luxurious life in France.
Mojahedin.ws –  January 20, 2009