A group of Iraqi tribal leaders and officials, as well as some foreign agencies have called members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to be expelled from the country, Press TV reports.
At a Friday conference held in Iraq’s capital Baghdad, the participants discussed the presence of the MKO in the country and its consequences for the Iraqi people .
“The Iraqi government has responded to the people’s calls and decided to evacuate the MKO camp in Iraq and expel its members from Iraq by the end of the year,” said Nafe al-Esawi, an organizer of the conference .
Members of the MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where they enjoyed the support of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala near the Iranian border .
Conference participants criticized the US for its failure to help put an end to the presence of the terrorist group in Iraq
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“Unfortunately the American forces have failed to dismantle this camp and have left it on the hands of the Iraqi government. I thank the Iraqi government for their patience; I thank the Iraqi people for their patience,” said head of the Middle East Strategic Delegation Massoud Khodabandeh .
The group has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials
The terrorist organization is also known to have cooperated with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the north .
“The MKO has left bloody memories in the Iraqi people’s minds, and the Iraqis today will not tolerate their presence. No country will accept to allow such terrorists on its soil,” said Adnan al-Shahmani, Iraq’s State of Law Coalition MP .
Tehran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US blocks the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.