Al-Maliki: We agreed with UN that Half of the Mojahedin Khalq leave Iraq now and the other half in the next 6 month time
(…)
Camp Ashraf,
With regard to Camp Ashraf, Al-Maliki says "it is a breach of Iraq’s sovereignty. It is an organization accused of terrorism and it is classified by the United States, European countries, and Western states as a terrorist organization. Its presence is not in line with our constitution, which forbids the presence of any terrorist organization inside Iraq, or even an organization that is not a terrorist one but harms the security of another state."
Al-Maliki further adds: "Along with this organization, there is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], and the Party of Free Life in Kurdistan [PJAK]. We reject the use of Iraq as a platform for harming the interests of others or for exploiting terrorist organizations."
Al-Maliki then says: "The Mojahedin e-Khalq Organization [MKO] is occupying a city in Iraq, not a camp as it is reported in the media. The Iraqi Government is not permitted to enter this city or to know what is happening inside it."
Al-Maliki goes on to say: "We ask some European states why they support them, and, if this falls under the context of a regional conflict, Iraq rejects being a part of any regional conflict." He adds: "That is why we have decided to order the departure of this organization, and we have given them the end of the year as a deadline."
With regard to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s request for a six-month extension of the deadline for the departure of MKO from Iraq, starting from November, Al-Maliki said: "We will consider that, but we demand that half of them leave within the deadline, and we will grant the other half the six-month deadline. The United Nations agreed."
Al-Maliki adds: "The United Nations thanked us, but, when they brought it up with the MKO, they barricaded themselves, poured fuel into ditches to light fires, and set up checkpoints as if they were an independent state."
Al-Maliki then says: "We left the matter for the United Nations. We do not want to hand those people over to Iran, or to kill, oppress, or starve them; but their illegal presence must end."
(…)
Al Iraqiyah TV, translated by BBC Monitoring
