How can we stop the repetition of the disgrace brought to EU policy by the illegal non binding resolution pushed into European Parliament in support of Terrorism? (Open letter to Lady Ashton)
Dear Lady Ashton,
On 25 November 2010, the European Parliament voted for a resolution asking you “to urge the USA to follow the example of the EU by removing the PMOI from its blacklist and to urge the UN to provide urgent protection for [Camp] Ashraf“.
As you are aware, the Mojahedin Khalq organisation (aka PMOI, MKO, MEK, NCRI, Rajavi cult) has a long history of lobbying in the European Parliament to influence the perceptions and beliefs of Members of the European Parliament in relation to Iran and Iraq. As you are also no doubt aware such lobbying has depended on lies and deception which unfortunately have not been sufficiently investigated and exposed. One such blatant lie, which appears in the resolution, is that the PMOI are ‘Protected Persons’ under the Fourth Geneva Convention. They are not. I am sure you would agree that only this one lie told on behalf of a parliament would not only render the resolution illegal (although non-binding), but also makes it insulting to those to whom it is directed.
Fortunately the resolution does not try to present the PMOI as a legitimate or popular Iranian opposition group. It is not. Nor does it try to pretend that the residents of Camp Ashraf are refugees in Iraq. They are not.
It instead names them as “Iranian dissidents”. In fact, as you know, they are all involuntary members of a dangerous destructive personality cult. In this respect, if Mr Struan Stevenson, as Chair of the Iraq Delegation, has genuine concern and any evidence of a “merciless siege” of Camp Ashraf by the Iraqis at the camp, should he not, in the first instance, take this matter up with the Government of Iraq, rather than embroil the leading members of the European Union in an issue which has not actually been investigated or even shown to exist at all.
The advocates of the PMOI in the European Parliament deceptively portray the situation of Camp Ashraf as a humanitarian issue. Behind this façade – which ignores the real human rights disaster which does exist inside the camp and which the Iraqi Human Rights Minister is trying to alleviate in spite of the negative interference of UNAMI and the US embassy in Iraq – is the real agenda of the resolution.
As much as this could be interpreted as a push by the anti-Iran lobby in Europe to sabotage your meeting next week with the Iranian negotiators over the remaining issues concerning Iran’s uranium enrichment and the necessary safeguards to ensure civilian use of the outcome, it is now clear that the aim of the lobbying has not been to stymie better relations with Iran, but the deliberate sabotage of the success of the Iraqi people and their leaders who managed to come to agreement over the creation of a government comprising all the democratic parties involved.
It is deeply disappointing that the signatures collected in the parliament and the timing of this disreputable support for the murderers of Iraqis, Iranians, Americans and European citizens has been planned and carried out simply owing to the unchallenged – unquestioned even – misuse of the powers invested in Mr. Sturan Stevenson and Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras as elected Members of the European Parliament. Mr Stevenson has regular contacts with the remains of the former Saddam regime in Brussels, London, Jordan and Baghdad. He is a tireless advocate for the PMOI in the European Parliament. As you know, the PMOI in Camp Ashraf is the only part of the former Saddam regime’s infrastructure which remains intact in Iraq and, as such, it still plays an unwarranted role in the current political scene of that country. I am sure that if any MEP was aware of these connections they would never sign such a petition and I am sure you are now sadly aware of the political consequences of this disgraceful resolution for both the EU and the US across the world.
Dear Lady Ashton,
Without going into the details of the connections and the practices of some of the lobbyists in the European Parliament who have turned the EP into a playground for Saddamists and the likes, let me just say that some MEPs are now afraid of even talking aloud in their own offices as they are rightly fearful of the reaction of the “terrorist PMOI Mafia haunting the EP buildings” on a daily basis. I wonder if there are no procedures to look at the evidence available in this regard.
I am sure you are now aware – as the Iranians have announced – after the assassination of the nuclear scientists in Tehran immediately following the written support of the EP for terrorism, that the first card laid on the negotiating table will by connected to this issue. But then, perhaps you have already accepted to surrender this first card as a loss at that table.
Dear Lady Ashton,
I am sure you would agree that investigation into the misuse of parliamentary powers, especially lobbying for foreign terrorist organisations, would be an appropriate step to safeguard the interests of the European Union, its members and its allies, particularly in regard to serious issues like the 5+1 negotiation with Iran over the safeguards needed for enrichment of uranium. To forfeit trust and confidence in exchange for five minutes of fame for the Saddamists and their private army in the western media is a high price to pay.
May I finish this letter by suggesting that this kind of behaviour has not only placed the EU in a checkmate position in the international diplomatic arena over its conflicts with Iran, but it has not helped the EU’s fragile relations with Iraq either.
I am sure your advisors are well aware that Mojahedin Khalq lobbyists in the EP, Mr Struan Stevenson and Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, left the Iran Delegation before the start of the new session and joined the Iraq Delegation under the surprised eyes of the Iraqi foreign ministry, and have since been engaged in shuttle diplomacy between the Saddamists bases in London, Brussels and Jordan to undermine and hinder any possibility of political progress in Iraq. Their meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq on behalf of Saddamists has already caused Iraqis from every faction and party to react on variety of occasions, not least the open written complaints from the Ambassador of Iraq to Brussels in his article in Shargh al Awsat against the use of Mojahedin Khalq terrorism and the remains of Saddam in Iraq with the support of known lobbyist MEPs.
Reacting to this resolution one official in the Government of Iraq told me that Mr. Maliki did not respond a similar themed letter sent to him previously by the EP as “we Iraqis do not usually respond to hate mail. We ignore it until it turns to action and then we deal with it”. As to this latest resolution he commented that “the Americans can follow the advice of the EP to take the MKO off their terrorism list if they wish, and we will be more than happy to see them take Mojahedin Khalq with them when they leave”.
Due to lack of oversight and due diligence as to the facts about the Mojahedin Khalq and its misuse of parliament, this resolution has damaged the reputation of the European Unions internationally. Your reaction to it will either compound the effect, or dismiss it as the pernicious nonsense that it is. More importantly, your reaction could discourage such reckless behaviour in future.
Yours
Massoud Khodabandeh
MESConsultants LTD, UK
December 01, 2010