Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek correspondent in Iran, in an article published in blog.washingtonpost under the title of “An Iranian Dissects U.S.-Iran Talks” states that both the US and Iran have lost opportunities to get engaged in a dialog about issues of interest that matter to both countries. He believes that “There are four issues Americans can start having a dialog about with Iran to get the ball rolling”, the first of which is “Disbanding the Iraqi-based Iranian terrorist group PMOI (People’s Mujaheddin of Iran aka MKO aka NCRI)”.
He further elucidates facts about the terrorist nature of the group and the terrorist atrocities its members perpetrated in Iran and the Iraq under Saddam.
The Iraqi-based PMOI is a terrorist organization that killed an American citizen in the 1970’s and helped Saddam to massacre the Kurds after the First Gulf War. If you think Al Qaeda or Hezbollah came up with the idea of suicide bombing you should know that PMOI pioneered suicide bombing in Iran in the early 80’s when they killed a number of Iranian senior officials as well as innocent people. PMOI was in turn ruthlessly punished by the Iranian government. In the mid-80’s PMOI moved to Saddam’s Iraq and became part of his army. Since then they have been regarded as traitors and lost any sympathy inside Iran. But through a powerful public relations campaign and focused lobbying in Washington they managed to present themselves as a viable alternative to the "regime of mullahs." PMOI was put on the American government’s list of foreign terrorist organizations in 1997. But the neo-cons thought that following their success in Iraq they could conquer Tehran with the help of PMOI. As a result the U.S. government gave the members of the terrorist group protection.
As things stand today PMOI members in their base north of Baghdad became more of liability than help to the American forces in Iraq. These days the Kurdish president of Iraq, Jalal Talibani, whose people were killed by the PMOI want them out of there and the Shia Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri Al Maliki, last September asked PMOI to find a new base within six months. It’s difficult to prescribe to anything to do with three and something thousand Shia Iranians stuck in the middle of Sunni Triangle but it’s time to at least start talking to Iran about the fate of PMOI members. If not for political reasons at least for humanitarian reasons.
Maziar Bahari’s conclusion is a fact that all Western supporters of MKO should pay some attention to; Mojahedin are most detested both in Iran and Iraq regardless of their public relations potentiality to establish close identification with mavericks and intransigents.
The Iraqi people, especially the Kurdish people, in no wise forget Mojahedin’s collaboration with the ousted Saddam against the innocent Iraqi people, neither do the world. Dr. Amir Matin in his comment on Mr. Bahari’s article expounds that:
PMOI exemplifies terrorism. They acted as professional militia in Iraq to help Saddam massacre Kurdish innocent people. They killed civilian Kurds on large scales in most brutal ways possible. An ex-member of PMOI reported that they used tanks to overrun bodies of old Kurdish villagers and could hear their scream while they were being crushed! There is a tape of Massud Rajavi reporting on these massacres. With pride, in a meeting with Iraqi officials, he was describing it as only fulfilling his duties and also saying "your enemies are my enemies".
Besides, the issue of those members who reside in Camp Ashraf in Iraq should be taken into consideration as a humanitarian issue rather than political. Nearly 3000 members are living under harsh conditions in the camp while the group’s leaders are concerned about the refugee state and insisting to stay in Iraq. No body cares the less about these members as individuals who have rights to decide for their own destiny.
The international bodies should act before it is too late because Mojahedin, as a terrorist cult, do not exempt their own insiders from the innate violence to pave the way towards the fulfillment of the goals.
A. Afshar – Mojahedin.ws – November 28, 2006