The Iraqi government has denied that any members of an anti-Iranian terrorist group were killed during a Tuesday raid on its base in northern Baghdad. Earlier reports said between four to eight residents had been killed when Iraqi security forces stormed Camp Ashraf – the base of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO).
US officials are reportedly “not happy” with the situation unfolding in the MEK’s Camp Ashraf, following yesterday’s raids by Iraqi forces. Today, the Iraqi government says that it plans to close the camp down entirely..Though the MEK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the US State Department, it has a complex relationship with the US. The Saddam-backed group has supplied the US with considerable information regarding Iran
“We continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the residents of Camp Ashraf are treated in accordance with Iraq’s written assurances that it will treat the residents there humanely,”Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing in Washington on Tuesday.”This is in accordance with the constitution, laws, and international obligations of Iraq,”he said.
Iraq flexes its muscles at Camp Ashraf and shows military independence from America, as the Iranian exile group’s long strange trip draws to a close..Camp Ashraf, the object of the raid, has been the principal home of the MKO since the Iranian group allied itself with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, receiving weapons and training from his regime. Hussein used them as shock-troops against Iraqi Kurds and Shiites who rose up against his regime in the 1990s.
The Iraqi government refuted suggestions today that Iranian pressure had prompted a raid on a camp belonging to an Iranian opposition group, saying that Iraqi security forces are merely seeking to extend sovereignty over all Iraqi territory…The Mujahedin Khalq (MEK), a militant group that has long opposed the Iranian government, claimed that seven of its members died in clashes with Iraqi security forces after Iraqi police attempted to
“After the failure of negotiations with the Mujahedeen[MKO/MEK/PMOI] to enter peacefully, the Iraqi army entered Camp Ashraf with force and it now controls all of the interior and all entrances to the camp,”an Iraqi military source said. ..Iraqi soldiers and riot police stormed a camp housing Iran’s main exiled opposition on Tuesday, triggering violent clashes that left at least 260 people wounded. ..About 60 members of Iraq’s security forces were also wounded, 20 seriously, he said, adding that 50 camp residents were detained..
A government spokesperson on Tuesday dismissed news that Iraqi forces had broken into Camp Ashraf earlier today, saying they entered the camp to enforce security within handover measures..The entrance of the Iraqi forces into Camp Ashraf is not a break-in, but rather a well-coordinated operation to stabilize the security situation inside the camp, which is an Iraqi land that cannot be outside Iraqi sovereignty,” Spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh
Iraqi security forces have stormed the base of the anti-Iranian terrorist group the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization. An Iraqi military official has said that Iraqi forces have taken complete control of the camp..An Iraqi military official has said that Iraqi forces have taken complete control of the camp. MKO spokesman Shahriar Kia said that four people were killed and 300 wounded when Iraqi soldiers and police stormed Camp Ashraf on Tuesday
(An interview with Batool Soltani on MKO self-immolations – Part seven)..Members in Camp Ashraf are on alert of committing mass suicide on the grounds that there are many blind spots round the camp through which outsiders might easily infiltrate to either kidnap the members of the Leadership Council and use them as hostages or kill them. The possible reaction to these threats could be a mass suicide of the insiders.
I have no knowledge of intimidation in the manner that the noble Lord suggests..My Lords, the answer is already in the noble Lord’s question. Iraq is a democratic and independent sovereign state. The United Kingdom, and even the United States, which handed over control of the camp from 1 January, have to recognise that fact. However, that does not prevent us making representations, hence my invitation for any evidence.