The relocation of members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (the MKO) from Iraq to Albania has raised concerns among European countries, particularly the Balkans that are already faced with various crisis in their
As the residents of the temporary Transit Location, Camp Liberty are transferred to Tirana, the risk of using the new base as a camp of preparation for fighting against the Islamic republic is increasing day after day.
Joudith Nourink Dutch journalist and the correspondent of Kurdish Website RUDAW reports that the MKO has bought land and properties in Albanian capital. She refers to Iraqi newspaper Assabah Aljadeed citing sources in Paris who claim that the alleged plans are leading to a political storm in Tirana.
"The Albanian government fears that the camp will turn into something like Camp Ashraf in Iraq, which was previously the base for military training, planning and preparation for military operations in Iran and abroad," the Assabah Al Jadeed reported.
The threat of the MKO resettlement in Albania is then investigated by a Croatian writer, N.Babic of Alter Mainstream Info.com. He has a different point of view on the issue. His concerns about the controversial American backed terrorists of the MKO may not seem likely but it is realistic. The Croatian writer’s focus is mostly on the number of the Liberty residents mentioned in Portal of Iraqi Kurds RUDAW.
Nourink states in the report that Camp Liberty is home of about 1000 members of Mujahedin Khalq. Considering the aforementioned number, Babic points to another report published in December 2013 according to which 3000 MKO militants were supposed to be transferred to Romania. The writer wonders where the 2000 missing members of the group are.
The Croatian website cites from the British Daily Telegraph that on December 30, 2013 published the news of an agreement between the US administration and Romanian authorities to relocate the 3000 Liberty residents to the Romanian city Craiova on the border with Bulgaria.
The news was leaked from the conversation of two employees of the Romanian Foreign Ministry, who said that "the United States and the Romanian government are negotiating on the deployment of 3,000 members of the" former "terrorist organization Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) on the territory of Romania."
”Is it possible that between 1 000- 2000 militants MEK finally arrived in Romania, as the government in Bucharest totally dependent on Washington and seldom dared to oppose the then request?’’ Babic asks.
Since December 2013, when the contents of the conversation of the two Romanian diplomats were revealed, various scenarios that would make this group a "guest" for the Romanian government began to appear. Thus, regarding the consequences of the US support for Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan terrorist groups, the Croatian author warns about the presence of another US backed terrorist group in Balkan territory. He suggests, “This group is the ideal force to get closer to Moldova and Ukraine, two countries where Washington has implemented and carried out a policy of "controlled chaos".”
His warning gets sharper when he asserts,” It is clear that the MEK is not a pacifist organization, or opposition groups, and the evidence of this are numerous… Mujahidin-e-Khalq are all militant armed groups, like Al Nusra Front, or some other branch of Al Qaeda.”
He is concerned about their “future neighbors” because the arrival of these former fighters in Albania as a key factor of stability in the Balkans poses a serious threat to security. “The crisis in Greece, the situation in Macedonia, tensions in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the polarization of the population that mimics the entry into NATO, while the other half is against it, are the reasons why this group would have to be away from the Western Balkans,” he explains.
He thinks that the MKO’s presence in their neighborhood should be closely monitored because of “many reasons” referring to the MKO’s history of terror and violence and its share in the crisis in Iraq and even Yemen. He investigates, “If until now the militants group Mujahedin-e Khalq were undesirable in Iran, Iraq, and many other Western countries, the question is why it now needs to be placed in Albania and where the "missing" two-thirds of the militants who were found at Camp Liberty near Baghdad in late 2013?”
By Mazda Parsi
Reference:
Babic, N., The remains of the "former" terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq-coming into Albania – where the 2013 2,000 of their militants "disappeared"? , Alter Mainstream Info.com, June 24, 2015