France says it has filed an appeal to an EU court to keep the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) on a list of banned terrorist groups.
"Our appeal was filed the day before yesterday," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux Friday. On Thursday, an EU diplomat said the bloc had decided to remove the anti-Iran group from the EU list of banned terrorist groups. The source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said EU foreign ministers should approve the consensus before it can be fully implemented.
MKO terrorists, banned by many countries including the US, have claimed responsibility for numerous terror attacks inside Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The group is also responsible for assisting Saddam in the massacre of thousands of Iraqi civilians. The EU move to remove the MKO from its banned terrorist group list has provoked widespread condemnations inside Iran as well as among the families of the terror attacks victims. The French spokesman said Friday that Paris was pressing ahead with the appeal to keep the anti-Iran group on the list.
Indymedia-Letzebuerg