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Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Second report on 19th June families’ gathering

Second report on the 19th June 2010 gathering of the families outside Ashraf garrison

As you were informed previously, some chiefs of tribes as well as officials of Diyala province in Iraq participated in the gathering of the families outside Ashraf garrison and delivered speeches for them. These people went there with the intention of trying to pursue the leaders of Rajavi cult to let the families visit their loved ones, but their attempt failed like the earlier ones and they even faced insults and horrific behavior from the elements of the cult.

if even one person is forced to stay in this confinement garrison against his or her will, we would not leave this place

When the chiefs and officials directly learned about the rules and regulations inside Rajavi cult told by the freed members, they were astonished and described them totally in contradiction with Islamic codes and social norms. They admitted that they did know about the collapse of morals in that cult to this extent.

some chiefs of tribes as well as officials of Diyala province in Iraq participated in the gathering of the families outside Ashraf garrison and delivered speeches for them

They invited the families to travel to the centre of province (city of Baquba) and speak in the gathering of officials and chiefs of the province and also they announced that they are prepared to set an exhibition for the people of the province to let them know more about the nature of MKO.
Describing about topics such as compulsory divorces, weekly immoral sessions, the view of the cult about family, free thinking, friendship with other members and so on inside the cult amazed them and the reporters present in the gathering. Chiefs of tribes of the province of Diyala called such relationships inhuman and disgusting.

In this regards the Iraqi paper Badr wrote on 20th June 2010 quoting the deputy governor of the city of Khalis (the city near to the Ashraf garrison): “a delegation from the local authorities and tribe personalities went to the Ahraf camp to persuade the leaders of MKO to let the families to visit their relatives on humanitarian grounds, but their attempt failed exactly like the previous ones”.

During this gathering formed outside Ashraf camp, the leaders of the cult brought a few mind manipulated elements to insult and threaten the families. This action well exposed the nature and the situation of Rajavi cult.

Also in a telephone contact between the gathered people and the conference in Paris, Ms Abdullahi and Mr. Akbarzadeh described the situation on behalf of the families. In this conversation which was simultaneously broadcasted for the Paris conference as well as the gathering outside Ashraf camp, Ms Batul Soltani, former member of the MKO leadership council, said in Paris: “your action made us to move more jointly and you all must be sure that we would not rest a moment until we fulfill your demands”.

Ms Abdullahi said: “if even one person is forced to stay in this confinement garrison against his or her will, we would not leave this place. It is nearly 5 months that we are sitting in this place and everyday we learn more about the wicked character of Rajavi cult. We are not afraid of the threats made by the leaders of the cult. Today many reporters and a number of local chiefs and officials are our guests (at this moment the participants in Paris conference applaud)”.

Mr. Iman Yeganeh who has recently been freed from the captivity of the cult talked to the reporters gathered around him and explained about the internal relationship and physical and psychological situation of the members and revealed many facts for them.

The news of the mentioned gathering was covered by many Iraqi and international news agencies, radios, televisions, and newspapers.

June 23, 2010 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization as a terrorist group

Who are the terrorists?

As Mujahedin-e-Khalq’s propaganda campaigns and lobbies in the United States government make efforts to gain American politicmen’s support in order to remove the name of their notorious organization from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) of Department of State, Keneth Timmerman ,a contributing editor for Newsmax Media wrote an article "Timmerman: who are the terrorists?" on The Washington Times enlightening his fellowmen on terrorist nature of Mujahedin Khalq, Timmerman suggests that MEK should never be removed from the FTO list ,accusing MEK of committing terrorist activities against American military personnel and Iranian civilians. While Timmerman presents evidences on MEK’s terrorist nature, he believes that MEK is a more dangerous group than PJAK, another terrorist designated Iranian opposition.
Here is an extract of Timmerman’s article:

TIMMERMAN: Who are the terrorists?

By Kenneth R. Timmerman – Washington Times – Tuesday, June 22, 2010

PJAK is a danger only to the Islamic regime
A bipartisan group of House members last week unveiled a resolution in support of the Iranian TIMMERMAN: Who are the terrorists? "resistance," a code word for an opposition group known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) that has been on the State Department’s list of international terrorist organizations since its inception in the late 1980s.

The MEK has a long record of carrying out violent attacks inside Iran. During the period leading up to the 1979 revolution, the group proudly murdered U.S. military officers and civilians working in Iran. And while the group’s current leadership and its apologists claim that those attacks were carried out by a splinter group no longer associated with the MEK, eyewitnesses tell me that the MEK continued to celebrate the anniversary of those murders in ceremonies and song in their training camps inside Iraq all through the 1980s.

In the power struggle that followed the 1979 revolution, the MEK actively promoted the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and planted a bomb that wiped out the leadership of the Islamic Republican Party led by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, arguably the last of the "moderate" leaders of the revolution.

More recently, MEK operatives inside Iran have carried out hit-and-run terrorist attacks on regime officials and have planted bombs in urban areas that have randomly killed civilians. The MEK and its supporters call these attacks acts of "resistance" against the regime.

Senior State Department officials have stated that their condemnation of the MEK’s use of random violence against civilians stems from a desire not to use a "double standard" when it comes to terrorism. The MEK and its supporters claim that keeping the MEK on the State Department’s list of international terrorist organizations benefits the Iranian regime. Some even argue, incorrectly, that the group was placed on the list in 1994 by the Clinton administration as a sop to the regime. (While the Clinton folks kept the MEK on the list in hopes it would encourage a rapprochement with Tehran, the MEK was placed on the list years earlier).

Contrast the MEK’s record of random violence against civilians with the use of violence by the Free Life Party of Iranian Kurdistan, PJAK, a group that was designated by the Treasury Department as a terrorist organization in February 2009.

PJAK guerrillas operate inside Iran in trained groups. Their primary mission is political: That is, they seek to spread a message that Iranian Kurds must abandon tribalism and traditional politics if they want to aspire to democratic self-governance.

Indeed, at PJAK camps I visited in northern Iraq in October 2007, the emphasis was on the political indoctrination of new members, not military training. PJAK prides itself on its inclusiveness: More than 30 percent of its guerrilla fighters and leadership are women.

PJAK makes no bones about its use of violence. Indeed, a Google search of the terms "PJAK attack" results in dozens of incidents in which PJAK guerrillas have attacked Iranian military targets and bases inside Iran. Almost all of these attacks have targeted the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

But PJAK uses violence in defense of the Kurdish population, not as an instrument of terror against civilians. In contrast to the MEK, PJAK has never planted bombs in public areas or targeted regime officials for assassination.

By Mazda Parsi

June 23, 2010 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Camp Ashraf Families of Mojahedin Cult Offered Solidarity by Paris Conference

A conference in Paris on Saturday asked international human rights organisations to be more involved in rescuing victims trapped in a violent cult in Iraq. Families and ex-members of the Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq (MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult) linked up from Paris with the families who have camped outside Camp Ashraf in the Diyala province of Iraq for over four months. In Iraq, tens of journalists and local tribe leaders joined the families, while in Paris, Swiss author Anton Gessler, Dutch journalist Nelly Tomasini and MKO expert Massoud Khodabandeh analysed the group.

The families’ only demand is unrestricted visits with relatives outside the camp. In a telephone link up with Iraq, Soraya Abdollahi, speaking for the families, thanked supporters, saying, "We have no choice but to stay and insist on our and our children’s’ minimum rights." Camp Ashraf (now Camp New Iraq) has housed Mojahedin-e Khalq members for thirty four years. Once allies of Saddam Hussein, the leaders disarmed in 2003 when American forces attacked their bases. But Mojahedin leaders, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi refused to surrender to the allied forces or Iraqi authorities and for seven years have held their followers hostage inside the camp. Members have no access to outside information and are subjected to a daily regime of indoctrination and hard labour.

Iman Yeganeh, who escaped the camp in April 2010 after 22 years of captivity, described the situation for people inside the MKO as despairing. He said, "People are being told the Iraqis will kill them if they leave. Knowing about Saddam’s security services, when I left I believed I would be killed. Even then I had to plan carefully how to finally get out." In Iraq, victims and their families are helped by Sahar Family Foundation; established in 2008 by ex-members and families with support from Iraq’s authorities who also want to see a swift end to the self-imposed MKO siege. From Iraq, the website www.SaharNGO.com was announced, providing up-to-date information about the camp.

The conference, attended by people from Europe and North America, produced a statement stressing that more must be done to challenge the stalemate at the camp where 3400 people are imprisoned by cult leaders. The statement also forms the basis of a cooperative working document for the next year between the Camp Ashraf families and the conference delegates.

June 22, 2010 0 comment

Mujahedin Khalq Organization members' families

Meeting in Paris – Gathering in front of Ashraf garrison

Simultaneously with the meeting in Paris:
Gathering in front of Ashraf garrison in Iraq

On 19 June 2010, a large hall in Paris was a place of a meeting of more than 200 former members of MKO (Rajavi cult), families of present members trapped inside the cult in Iraq, and a number of reporters and human rights activists.

In this meeting titled “rejecting violence, terrorism and cultic behavior, as well as aiding the families of the victims of Rajavi cult in Ashraf garrison in Iraq”, dozens of foreign personalities, reporters and camera men from various organizations and media were present.

In this meeting Iranian and non-Iranian speakers provided reports about the latest developments related to the MKO situation in Iraq and urged the leaders of the cult to let the families who have been waiting outside Ashraf garrison for more than 4 months in the worst psychological and physical situation, to be allowed to visit their loved ones.

Simultaneously, families in front of Ashraf garrison in Iraq made a gathering which many Iraqi officials and personalities and the representatives of various media as well as Iraqi citizens and the chief of tribes of Diyala province and international and humanitarian activists participated. A number of families in this gathering including Mr. Iman Yeganeh made a direct contact with the meeting in Paris and let the participants and reporters present in Paris meeting learn about their demands.

Families in front of the main gate of Ashraf garrison let everyone present know that it is nearly 5 months since they have been waiting there and their only demand is to visit their loved ones freely and without any interference, which the leaders of MKO (Rajavi cult) have denied it. They also emphasized that if the Europeans wish to support Rajavi cult why they do not take them to their own countries and why do they impose them to the nation and government of Iraq. Families welcomed any action to move the inhabitants of Ashraf camp to Europe and vigorously demanded it.

Additional images and reports of this gathering would follow in the coming days.

June 21, 2010 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

Self-Immolation by the MKO Must be Re-Examined

Setting Oneself Ablaze—For What? Self-Immolation by the MKO Must be Re-Examined

It has been seven years since the arrest of Maryam Rajavi, the leader and so called president of the Mujahedin–e-Khalq (MKO), a foreign terrorist organization. The arrest took place at the MKO headquarters located in Auver Sur d’Oise, Paris, France on June 17th, 2003. Devoted members faced a shocking challenge as their leader was incarcerated. Some even resorted to a violent extreme political protest over the arrest of Maryam Rajavi when they set themselves ablaze. Two women died as a result. These alarming acts of self-immolation pinpoint a human tragedy in the midst of a cult mentality. The tragedy lies not only in the act itself, but in cult members’ numb emptiness and canopy of devotion for their leader, Maryam Rajavi, who used the Paris headquarters as her private sanctuary.

The 2003 arrest came as part of a raid by French police, whose government felt it was a necessary reaction to the MKO conundrum. Along with the arrest of Maryam Rajavi, the raid ended with about 160 other arrests of members and the confiscation of millions of dollars and technical materials.

After the raid, a judicial source told the la-Croix, a French newspaper, that “The intervention of security forces was conducted as part of a commission issued by the anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louice Bruguiere. It particularly results from a long investigation of financial flows which could fall within the ‘financing of terrorism.’ The raid was led by the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST),” [1]

At the time, the BBC reported that Nicholas Sarkozy, now the French President, and then the Interior Minister, said [during the French Assembly on June 17, 2003] that the MKO”recently wanted to make France its support base, notably after the intervention in Iraq. We cannot accept that.”[2]

Such interest and involvement by authorities was crucial for the French government because the MKO has, in order to further their agenda, conducted and participated in violent political attacks against American, Iranian and Iraqi citizens. For too long, France had been tolerating their presence. In the midst of the crackdown, the head of France’s domestic intelligence service, Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, said the group was”transforming its Val d’Oise centre [near Paris] … into an international terrorist base.”[3] In a bizarre show of devotion, after the arrests took place, it became clear that members continued to be forthright and obliging in their blind commitment towards their leader. Ten members, committed senseless acts of self-immolation in an extreme response to the arrest of the leader—for the sake of the leader—not for the sake of the Iranian people. There was outrage among people who follow European news. A contributor to the French website aufeminie.com who under the name Yelann, posted an Agence France-Presse (AFP) article referred to the stories of self–immolation and found the group’s history shocking—from the immolation to the hunger strikes. She surmised they were posing as martyrs, but speculated, “Are they really doing it for their people? It seems they are extremists and fanatics. And generally these actions do no good.” [4] In 1963, with the self sacrifice of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc, self-immolation became spotlighted and has since become a popular tactic for gaining political attention. But historically, the act goes back thousands of years. Psychologists suggest it is the result of extreme mental distress—particularly those who have had distress from being culturally isolated from the mainstream, and programmed with a distorted ideology, and who view self-immolation as an option. The International Study for the Center of Terrorism is developing The Global Self-Immolation Events Database (GS-IED). The database, a multi-year project, seeks to identify and track the prevalence and spread of self-immolation in the context of political conflict. Preliminary results from this project will be published in late 2010/early 2011. [5] While studies are needed regarding the relationship between self-immolation and terrorism, it is important to closely examine the possibility of a disturbing predilection. Will others in the MKO French headquarters use this type of aggressive “protest” on European soil in the form of a suicide bomb or with other emblematic terrorist-type acts?

In an article titled, “Sad Spectacle” published in Iranian.com shortly after the coverage of the raid on the MKO, Babak Mazarei, who at the time was a fourth year political science major at Carleton University in Canada, and who knew the brother of one of the people who set themselves on fire, wrote an opinion in response to the tragedy. Mazarei comments, “I wrote a brief piece on the unconditional right of the Mujahedin to express themselves. I, however, do not believe that self-immolation is a legitimate means of protest. Therefore, it is only logical to write a piece that explains my reasons for holding this view, in light of the Mujahedin’s extensive use of self-immolation and the resulting death of a young girl who had so much more to live for.

“The quasi-terrorism engaged in by Mujahedin of late is a testament to their ideological bankruptcy and the hypocrisy of their pro-human rights stance. I was very much angered and disheartened when I learned of the news of Neda Hassani’s death, if not for the hypocrisy this act of human degradation sheds, then certainly for the loss of life. What remains are the People’s Mujahedin. The record of this organization is marred by acts of violence both historically, and most recently, the materialization of protest-suicide in the form of self-immolation. In the 1970’s the Mujahedin assassinated US military personnel, supported the nonsensical siege of the American embassy, and in 1990 under the operation name ‘Operation Great Bahman’ in February 2000 attacked Iranian military sites and government buildings. These acts of violence have only detracted from the credibility of the exiled opposition movement. The very simple, but nonetheless true rule of conduct ‘two wrongs do not make a right’ comes to mind.

“Finally, recently the Mujahedin have resorted to self-immolation. What is disturbing about these latest acts of non-sensical violence is the purpose for which they are being committed. It is not in pursuit of freedom for Iranians that Mojaheds are now immolating themselves, but rather in protest at the incarceration of select members of their leadership.
“This reaction only proves that People’s Mujahedin are not a flexible, open organization, but rather a dogmatic entity with little hope for survival, let alone a legitimate political claim in Iran.”[6]

According to a June 25, 2003 report by New York Times correspondent Elaine Sciolino, French Counter Intelligence service prepared a classified report on the group and its activities. Sciolino details that “An Iranian opposition group operating in France that was the target of a large police operation last week had plans to attack Iranian embassies and assassinate former members working with Iranian intelligence services in Europe.” [7] The [Intelligence] report also said the group, known as the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People’s Mujahedin, had discussed having their members commit suicide by setting themselves on fire to draw attention to their cause.” [8]

Sciolino furthered in a later New York Times article that “it was devotion to Mrs. Rajavi, who is about 50 years old, that led several of her supporters throughout Europe to set themselves on fire to protest her arrest. Although Mrs. Rajavi sent a message from jail asking her supporters to stop, former Mujahedin members said that in training camps in Iraq, self-immolation was praised as a fitting response to the possible persecution of the Rajavis.” [9]

On July 13, 2003, Elizabeth Rubin wrote an article titled “The Cult of Rajavi” for the New York Times. In this article Rubin details her encounters with MKO members she met in Camp Ashraf. Rubin concluded that the Rajavis lead a sect hated in their home country and clarified that,”While Mujahedin press releases were pouring out last month, taking undue credit for the nightly demonstrations, many antigovernment Iranians were rejoicing over the arrest of Maryam Rajavi and wondering where Massoud was hiding and why he, too, hadn’t been apprehended. This past winter in Iran, when such a popular outburst among students and others was still just a dream, if you mentioned the Mujahedin, those who knew and remembered the group laughed at the notion of it spearheading a democracy movement. Instead, they said, the Rajavis, given the chance, would have been the Pol Pot of Iran. The Pentagon has seen the fatal flaw of hitching itself to volatile groups like the Islamists who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and, more recently, the Iraqi exile groups who had no popular base at home.” [10]

As we observe the anniversary of this human tragedy where members of this cult were either ordered or felt compelled to set themselves ablaze in several European cities, let us remember the deaths of two women who created dreadful scenes—a shameful way to publicize and denounce the arrest of an alleged “resistance movement” leader. Before any more senseless deaths occur, the reality of the MKO must be re-examined not only by the French but by all by European government officials.

References:
[1] Guillemoles, Allain and Emmanuelle Rejue,”Opération contre Les Moudjahidines”. la-Croix.com. 13 June 2010 <http://www.lacroix.com/article/
index.jsp?docId=494032&rubId=4076>.

[2] BBC NEWS,”France investigates Iran exiles”. BBC MMX. 2003/06/22 07:03:17 GMT <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3010422.stm >.
[
3] ibid

[4] Agence France Presse,”Yelann”.”Maryam radjavi, personnage emblématique des moudjahidine, emprisonnée”. aufeminin.ca/société .
posté le 22/06/03 à 14:40 http://forum.aufeminin.com/forum/actu1/__f12971_
actu1-Maryam-radjavi-personnage-emblematique-des-moudjahidine-emprisonnee.html.

[5] Horgan, John, Director.”International Center for the Study of Terrorism”.
Penn State University. 11 June 2010 http://www.icst.psu.edu/current_projects.shtml.

[6] Mazarei, Babak.”Sad Spectacle”. Iranian.com. June 30, 2003 <http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2003/June/BM/index.html>.

[7] Sciolino, Elaine.”Iranian Rebel Group Had Attack Plans, French Report Says”.
New York Times. June 25, 2003 <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/25/world/
iranian-rebel-group-had-attack-plans-french-report-says.
html?scp=1&sq=Iranian%20Rebel%20Group%20Had%20Attack%20Plans,%20French%20Report%20Says&st=cse 4](http://www.icst.psu.edu/current_projects.shtml>.

[8] ibid

[9] Sciolino, Elaine.”Iranian Opposition Movement’s Many Faces”. New York Times.
June 30, 2003 <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/30/international/
middleeast/30PROT.html?ex=1057550400&en=0d936b988c92e183&ei=5062&partner=
GOOGLE&pagewanted=2NewYorktimes, ELAINE SCIOLINO, June 25,2003>.

[10] Rubin, Elizabeth.”The Cult of Rajavi”. New York Times. July 13, 2003, 2003 <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/magazine/the-cult-of-rajavi.html?scp=1&sq=the+cult+of+rajavi&st=nyt>.

By Mazda Parsi

June 17, 2010 0 comment

Terror Teams of the MEK

Mojahedin Khalq Terror team instructed to deny European links

Mojahedin Khalq Terror team instructed to deny European links As MKO leaders dissociate from their operatives

MKO terrorists confess to bombing plots

Two Iranian terrorists confessed to plotting to plant bombs in busy Tehran intersections after receiving guidance from Europe-based handlers belonging to Mojahedin Khalq (MKO) terrorist group.

In a televised confession, the two men stated that they receive bomb-making instruction through email and were then directed by two female handlers, one based in London and the other based in Sweden, as to where and when to plant their explosives.

The terrorist noted that they were instructed just before they were to plant their bombs that in case they were caught, they should deny their affiliation with the MKO since the terror organization is making headways in getting off the terror list of the US and Europe.

According to the terror suspects, they planned date for planting their explosives was June 10 – 20, around the June 12 anniversary of Iran’s last year presidential elections that was followed by foreign-backed riots.

The two terrorists also stated that they had visited MKO terrorist camp in Iraq in recent years to receive terror training.

The terrorists were reportedly being monitored by Iranian intelligence agents all along and were captured just before they were to plant their bombs.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi has charged Britain, France and Sweden of backing and providing safe haven to the MKO terrorists.

June 17, 2010 0 comment

Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Mojahedin Khalq and contradictory positions!

Do U.S. families have greater rights to visit children than Iranian families?

I read in a number of newspapers, that the Iranian government decided to approve the visas for three American families to visit their children, who had been arrested inside Iranian territory on charges of illegal entry.

Demanding a simple visit to his captive son

… The dialogue that took place between Iranian and U.S. sides which resulted in the Iranians’ approval to allow these families to visit their three children must, for those following this story, focus attention on facts and issues that are linked to each other. Among the most important thing being that the charges levelled at the regime of Iran by the Americans are that it is a totalitarian dictatorial regime which is, as well, doing all in its power to covertly possess nuclear capability, and that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. I am not, here, …dwelling on the charges made against Iran. In addition I am not obliged to defend this country. But the truth must be stated within the framework of logic and objectivity. When we talk about rights and subject them to evaluation, we are going to find that what distinguishes this man from the other one is based on their proximity to the hearts of the people. And this is undoubtedly true of Iran and its neighbours. The relationship of Iran to its credit is that while Iraq was still going through many crises, what will determine the nature of their relationship in the future, is the position as to whether they [Iraqis] were Arabs or Muslims, or human beings.

It is known that the MKO, which is notorious in the international community as a terrorist organization, is now outside the authority of the Iraqi government. And this strengthens the view of those whose voices have grown to hold them accountable for activities and crimes committed against our people…

But the Iraqi government has not succeeded yet in its demand that the group leave Iraqi territory, despite the fact that what would achieve justice is that the criminals in the organisation, whose hands are stained with the blood of our people, be held accountable before leaving Iraqi land.

What is happening inside this organization is that those …whose conscience urges them to want to meet their families and loved ones, who are led to rise up in a revolt against their leaders and try to break free from the group’s values and objectives which are based on a desperate fascist hatred, are arrested and imprisoned and suffer woe and destruction.
And when I tried to visit these people, following a large body of news about the suffering of its people under the penalty of the dictatorship of the Mojahedin, my visit was met by the face dark and abusive behaviour of the Mojahedin leaders at the Camp Ashraf garrison, and the families, facing the walls of humiliation and shame and confusion created by them, failed to achieve their goal, which was to see their children.

These families staged a sit-in four months ago, in front of the notorious camp in Diyala province. They have asked the United States Ambassador Christopher Hill to intervene and pressure the leaders of the organization and its officials to end their suffering and find a solution meeting their children.

This reinforces the fact that the Iraqi government does not have the resolution to rein in the Mojahedin, and this has directed these families to writing an open letter to Hill, urging him to speed up the intervention and end this suffering.

The United States of America… asked for American citizens to visit their children who were arrested inside Iran on charges of illegal entry, and Iran allowed them to do so. The U.S. is called upon today to take a humanistic counterpart to the situation of Iran and to get the Mojahedin organization to lift the injustice against those who are detained inside the garrison and let their families and meet with them. But, how far is the one situation from the other?

Kazem Sami Farag,Baghdad

June 13, 2010 0 comment

USA

US to close base near camp housing MKO exiles

The U.S. military will relinquish control of a base near a compound housing an Iranian opposition group next month, a move that will close a chapter on one of the most intractable issues in U.S.-Iraqi relations.

The presence of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran at Camp Ashraf has long been an irritant to Iraq’s Shiite-led government, and the exiles expressed fear that they would face violence without the Americans there to protect them.

The announcement Thursday of the base closure on July 1 came nearly a year after Iraqi security forces raided the camp, prompting a melee that officials said left 11 residents dead and dozens injured.

The U.S. military guarded the camp since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 under an agreement that made its more than 3,000 residents "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions. The military stopped observing the agreement after a new security accord with the Baghdad government took effect last year but maintained the nearby base.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bob Owen said Thursday that the closure of the base known as Camp Grizzly is part of the transition as American forces prepare to leave the country by the end of next year.

"U.S. forces will continue to reduce our footprint in Iraq, and this is another base that will be turned over to the (Iraqi government) as we continue our transition to stability operations," he said.

Members of the Iranian faction, which fought with Saddam Hussein’s forces against Tehran in the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, have made several claims about a host of alleged abuses and pressure tactics by Iraqi authorities who are eager to oust them from the country.

Ashraf’s residents are very reluctant to leave the camp because of fear of being detained and threatened with deportation.

Iraqi officials could not immediately be reached for comment. In the past, the government has said the exiles will not be forcibly returned to Iran, where the Islamic leadership considers the People’s Mujahedeen, or MEK, an enemy of the state.

The United States lists the MEK as a terrorist organization, though one that has provided the Americans with intelligence on Iran. The European Union removed it from its terror list last year.
A member of the European Parliament sent a letter this week to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton raising concern about a U.S. departure from the area.

Struan Stevenson, the European Parliament’s point man on relations with Iraq, warned it would "be an extremely dangerous development that could lead to a new humanitarian catastrophe with far greater dimensions compared to the events of last July."

Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for the group who lives at the camp, expressed fears about the future.

"The American government is responsible for the future of the people in this camp," he said in a telephone interview from the camp. "This will give a green light to the Iranian regime for any future attack especially when a new government in Iraq hasn’t been established."

Iraqi politicians are jockeying over the formation of a new government after inconclusive elections on March 7.

Iraq’s two largest Shiite political blocs signaled Thursday that their alliance is still strong by giving it a name, keeping them on track to form the core of the country’s new government.
The alliance between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition and the hard-line religious Iraqi National Alliance was created more than a month ago. But there have been no outward signs of progress on key steps toward forming the government such as bringing in other partners that would give them a ruling majority in parliament or naming a candidate for the top government job, prime minister.

With behind-the-scenes negotiations moving slowly, there has been speculation in the Iraqi media that the alliance might not last.

But in a sign of its strength, lawmaker Khalid al-Attiyah said Thursday the union will now be called "National Alliance."

He said the coalition would have 159 seats in 325-member parliament, still four seats shy of a ruling majority.

No group won an outright majority in the parliamentary election, but the rival Sunni-backed Iraqiya list claims it should be allowed to form a government because it won the most seats, with 91 compared to State of Law’s 89.

Parliament must still formally approve the National Alliance as a recognized coalition after it convenes for the first time on Monday. Lawmakers will also elect a new president, who will task the largest bloc with forming the new government — including designating a prime minister, Cabinet officials and awarding other top political jobs to supporters.
——
Associated Press Writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Hadeel al-Shalchi and Lara Jakes contributed to this report

June 12, 2010 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq confirms its intention to remove the Mojahedin Khalq

Iraq confirms its intention to remove the Mojahedin Khalq and the U.S. offers to host them in Europe

Iraq’s new National Security Adviser, Safa al-Sheik, stressed that the new Government of Iraq The National Security Adviser said that the organization "has, in the recent parliamentary elections, provided a European Member of Parliament with misrepresentations on the issue of fraud in the elections in Iraq would end the presence of the Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq (aka PMOI, MEK, MKO, NCRI) in Iraq because its role in Iraq, past and present, was negative. He noted that the West’s position on the issue of the organization was simply paradoxical. The U.S. government has called for Iraq to deal humanely with the members of the organization, and has accused Iraq of dealing ‘roughly’ with members of the organization.

In an interview for Alsumaria News, al-Sheik said there were "a number of important files that need to be addressed by the new government, most notably the file of the PMOI opposition". He noted that, "the new Iraqi government will put an end to its presence due to its negative role in Iraq before and now."

The National Security Adviser said that the organization "has, in the recent parliamentary elections, provided a European Member of Parliament with misrepresentations on the issue of fraud in the elections in Iraq, and after we looked at the source of the news, we know it came from [the PMOI]."

Al-Sheik said, "The Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization working in Iraq under the guise of a number of organizations is deceptive, used as a front to play a negative role in Iraq against the parties and the government". He said, "Baghdad has the names of those pseudo organizations used by the organization as fronts".

The National Security Adviser lamented the lack of cooperation by European countries and the United States and Iraq in this area, asserting that "the States is concerned with the subject of the Mojahedin but refuses to accept any of the members of the organization in their country as refugees because it is classified as a terrorist entity”. According to al-Sheik, “At the same time, the States demands that Iraq keep the members on humanitarian grounds, which is an irresolvable and duplicitous way of dealing with the subject”.

In late January 2009, the European Union removed the PMOI from its list of terrorist organizations; a move strongly condemned by the Iranian government and the Government of Iraq which has long sought a solution to closing the organisation’s base Camp Ashraf in Khalis district, Diyala (55 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, either by voluntary repatriation to Iran, or by transferring them to places deep in the desert, or to a third country. But things have remained the same.

The new National Security Advisor said that "the negative role played by the Mojahedin organization in Iraqi affairs was stopped significantly after the Iraqi security forces took control of Camp Ashraf," pointing to "the organization’s involvement in previous operations to oppress the Iraqi people during the former regime."

The regime of Saddam Hussein provided the organization with a lot of financial, military and political support, particularly during the Iran-Iraq war.

Safa al-Sheik said the organization was "involved in providing support for some political actors and others to incite violence against the current government," pointing out that the former National Security Adviser, Dr. Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, had disclosed this information in 2008. He stated that Iraqi politicians had seized money from the organization and said, "We have full confidence that al-Rubaie had sound information."

The new National Security Adviser, a former Deputy since 2004, can effect the removal of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization from Iraq "positively as regards Iraqi-Iranian relations". But he also said that Iraq was "not prepared to compromise on their presence in Iraqi territory, and remains committed to observing human rights conventions while it takes any action toward the Organization".

For his part, U.S. forces spokesman General Stephen Lanza, said in an interview with Alsumaria News that his country’s troops "had started to close the military base Camp Ashraf used by the People’s Mojahedin Organization based in the province of Diyala."

Lanza said, "The Iraqi government and the U.S. Department of Defense will be holding a special meeting in the coming period with the MEK to make representation to the members of the Mojahedin on their accommodation in European countries", pointing out that "The Iraqi government is required to deal with them humanely."…

… Lanza said that "Iraqi security forces imposed full control over Camp Ashraf, which includes 3400 members of the Organization, after taking over security responsibility from U.S. forces, but they deal with them harshly," stressing "the need to resolve Camp Ashraf peacefully and not stir up trouble with the government of Iraq".

The Mojahedin organization was founded in 1965 by academics and intellectual Iranians to overthrow the Shah’s regime. It started as a left-wing Muslim opposition to the Shah’s regime, but disagreed with the system of Islamic rule in Iran after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 .. it later became, and still is, a fierce opponent of Tehran…
Al Sumaria News, Baghdad

June 9, 2010 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Another MKO defector returned home

Mr. Ali Barzegar, a former member of MKO, returned home after twenty years of membership in the organization, reported Nejat Society Gilan Office.

Mr. Barzegar was welcomed by his family who had been awaiting his return since he had gone on compulsory military service twenty years ago when he was captured by MKO.

During those twenty years, he was under psychological manipulation by Rajavi’s destructive cult and deprived from enjoying a normal life.

Nejat Society congratulates Mr. Barzegar and his family for their reunion after long years of separation.
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June 8, 2010 0 comment

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