A group of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) members have reportedly defected from the terrorist group as internal dissensions intensify within the MKO. 
At least 17 MKO members have fled Camp Liberty near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad so far in December.
They have requested UN officials in Baghdad to help them leave Iraq and seek asylum in a European country.
A former MKO member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he managed to escape from the former US military base near Baghdad International Airport on December 5, despite strict measures and tight controls on the movements of all MKO terrorists.
The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up its camp near the Iranian border.
The group is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and carrying out the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The MKO has carried out numerous acts of violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.
