The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis call for expulsion of MKO

The presence of the MKO/ Mojahidin Khalq Organization in Iraq and its consequences still remain among the main topics discussed in the country’s political circles.

In a conference organized by the Iraqi Center for Media Development, a number of Iraqi officials and ordinary people came together in capital Baghdad to talk about the issue.

The expulsion of the MKO members as scheduled was the main point the attendees agreed on. According to the latest statement of the government, Iraq will not host them and the expulsion will be completed by the end of 2011.

The head of the Iraqi Center for Media Development said the withdrawal is a must to prevent security deterioration across the country.

In the mean time, analysts say the US is now making every effort to keep MKO in Iraq.

Many Iraqis also complain that over the past eight years, the organization has committed a range of crimes against humanity in the country.

a number of Iraqi officials and ordinary people came together in capital Baghdad

Mojahidin Khalq Organization is especially notorious in Iran for having sided with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and carrying out numerous terrorist acts against both Iranians and Iraqis. It is also listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community.

November 22, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Talks underway on closing MEK exile camp in Iraq

Negotiations are underway on relocating several thousand exiled Iranian opposition members from a camp north of Baghdad to another location in Iraq, officials said on Friday.
the UN secretary general's special representative for Iraq
The European Union, meanwhile, urged further cooperation between UN negotiators and Iraqi officials in "difficult" efforts to close Camp Ashraf, which has hosted members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) since the 1980s.

Iraqi authorities have decided to close the camp by the end of 2011.

"The primary and overall responsibility to deal with the situation in Camp Ashraf lies with the government of Iraq within its sovereignty," Martin Kobler, the UN secretary general’s special representative for Iraq, told AFP on Friday.

"In agreement with the government, we are in continuous contact with all parties, including the residents of the camp and the members of the international community to facilitate a peaceful and durable solution," Kobler said.

"In this, I count on the full cooperation of the government of Iraq, the Camp Ashraf residents and the international community. International humanitarian standards and human rights have to be respected."

"We are ready to assist," Kobler said. "It is in everyone’s interest to find a peaceful solution."

According to an Iraqi official, the object is to move the PMOI to another location, then for the United Nations to help repatriate those with dual citizenship to their second countries and the rest to Iran or another state.

The UN insists that repatriation to Iran will be on a voluntary basis.

"The EU is following very closely the current negotiations between the UN, UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) and the government of Iraq about Camp Ashraf," said a statement issued by the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"These negotiations are very difficult but we trust the UN negotiators to conduct them with the safety of the residents as their main preoccupation," it added.

"The EU is also in regular contact with the Iraqi authorities and encourages them to be as flexible as possible with the modalities of the evacuation and to cooperate with UNHCR in order to facilitate the relocation of the residents," the EU statement said.

Earlier in Brussels, the head of the European parliament’s delegation for relations with Iraq challenged the country’s determination to close the camp as "a virtual declaration of war on the UN and international community and a death warrant" for Ashraf residents.

"Ashraf residents … have accepted the European Parliament plan to be transferred to third countries. And we are working full power in this direction," PMOI spokesman Shahriar Kia said by email.

"The problem is that the precondition for transfer to third countries is confirmation of the refugee status of residents by the UNHCR," he said.[..]

Camp Ashraf, which has become a mounting international problem, has been in the spotlight since a deadly April raid on the camp by Iraqi security forces.

The camp was set up when Iraq and Iran were at war in the 1980s by the PMOI and later came under US control until January 2009, when US forces transferred security for the camp to Iraq.

The PMOI has been on the US government terrorist list since 1997.

November 20, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraq urged to expel MKO terrorists

Iraq has held a conference urging the expulsion of members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country, Press TV reports.

Iraqi Center for Media Development Director Adnan al-Sarraj

In the event, organized by the Iraqi Center for Media Development, a number of Iraqi officials and scholars discussed the insecurity that the MKO members had caused in the country, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday.

“The Iraqi government has responded to the people’s call and decided to evacuate the MKO camp [Camp Ashraf] in Iraq and expel its members from Iraq by the end of the year,” the center’s Director Adnan al-Sarraj said during the gathering.

On Friday, a large number of Iraqis staged a protest rally in the eastern province of Diyala, where Camp Ashraf is based, to urge the authorities to close the outpost down.

Baghdad has repeatedly said it is determined to shut the camp down by the end of 2011.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against both the Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled to Iraq in the 1980s, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up the camp in Diyala near the Iranian border.

Over 3,000 MKO members are currently residing at the camp. In addition, the group sends elements to Iran on spying and terrorist missions.

The MKO also cooperated with Saddam in the massacres of Iraqi Kurds and helped the former dictator suppress 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq.

Since Saddam was deposed in 2003, the Iraqi government has set numerous deadlines for the terrorist group to leave the country, but the MKO has managed to maintain its base due to US backing.

Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been putting pressure on Baghdad to block the expulsion.

November 20, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

MKO will be forced to leave Iraq

The chairman of an Iraqi committee in charge of supporting the victims of terrorist actions carried out by the members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) has said that the group will be forced to exit from Iraq if they refuse to leave the country by 2012, ISNA reported on Saturday.

Recently, a number of demonstrations have been held outside the Camp of New Iraq calling for MKO members to be expelled from Iraq.

November 20, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Army Chief: Iraq to expel MKO terrorists by 2012

Iraqi Army Chief Lieutenant General Babakir Zebari has announced Iraq’s plans to expel members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) by the end of 2011.

Iraq’s Army Chief Babakir Zebari Lieutenant General Babakir Zebari

Members of the MKO are not only the enemies of Iran but they are also the adversaries of Baghdad, Zebari said in a meeting with Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari in the Iranian capital of Tehran late Monday, IRNA reported.

Zebari also noted that the Iraqi officials are seeking “stronger” ties with the Islamic Republic.

During the meeting, IRGC chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari expressed his optimism that Iraqi authorities would adopt concrete steps to remove MKO’s Iraq-based terrorist Camp Ashraf from the country and expel its members, who are “the common foes of both nations of Iran and Iraq,” as soon as possible.

Jafari said that Iran and Iraq could thwart the threats of their enemies “through unity and cooperation between the armed forces of the two counties.”

The top IRGC commander added that the US and the Israeli regime are angry at the steady expansion of Iran-Iraq ties, adding that they have, however, failed in their attempts to sow discord between Tehran and Baghdad.

Members of the terrorist MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where they enjoyed the support of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf.

The group has carried out numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The terror organization is also known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the north.

Tehran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been blocking the expulsion by pressuring the Iraqi government.

November 16, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

MKO fears that withdrawal of US troops from Iraq will leave them orphaned

Two weeks ago, speaking with certainty and resolution, President Obama announced that “after nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.” [1] Obama spoke after a private video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and he offered assurances that the two leaders agreed on the decision, reported the Associated Press on October 21, 2011. [2] Now that the official countdown has begun, American troops are organizing their departure.

This is good news for troops who want to come home, but bad news for the members of the MKO housed in Camp Ashraf who have tenuously benefited from the troops’ presence; Ultimately America’s departure from Iraq will conclude the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) presence in Iraq. One sticky problem on the final departure is the disagreement between Baghdad and Washington over “the issue of immunity for American soldiers from Iraqi law” reports The Wall Street Journal. For those American trainers and advisors that the US is willing to maintain in Iraq beyond the end of the year “it’s impossible to grant immunity to a single American soldier,” Maliki told reporters. [3]

The Wall Street Journal also reported Iraqi Shiite Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s reaction to the announcement. According to Cleric Sadr’s website—the official website of his political movement—Americans are “all occupiers and must be resisted after the end of the [withdrawal] period.”[4] Many Iraqi officials share this opinion particularly in regard to the MKO. According to Aswat Al-Iraq, Premier Nouri Al-Maliki had a discussion with Martin Kobler, the new UN representative to Iraq. They spoke about the necessity of evacuating Iranians in the Ashraf camp by the end of this year. Furthermore, the Iraqi government issued a final resolution to end the presence of the MKO—also by the end of this year—[5] mainly because the group is a terrorist organization whose members are pro-Saddam, anti-Iran, and they participated in killing thousands of Iraqi people. It’s clear, despite the fact that members of the MKO are Iranians who have been living in Iraq for decades, that the terrorist group has no place in the final Iraq-Iran equation. About a month ago, Moqtada Sadr strongly condemned the crimes committed by the MKO against Iranian and Iraqi nations, and further stressed his country’s determination to expel the terrorist group from Iraq. [6]

This scares the MKO so much that their headquarters in Paris has launched a propaganda campaign to help purify their image in hope of gaining Western support. The MKO asked Lord Corbet, a longtime paid supporter of the group, to write articles and beef up misinformation about the alleged “inhuman siege [of Camp Ashraf] by Iran’s Qods Forces and Iraqi government.”[7]There’s no doubt, the fate of the MKO is connected to the withdrawal of US forces. Supporters of the terrorist group are worried that when the US leaves, the MKO will be defenseless in a hostile country, suggests Bahman Kalbasi of the BBC.[8] But Kalbasi also points out that many blame the leadership of the MKO for the predicament facing the residents of camp Ashraf. [9]
Leaders of the MKO seem not to care about the destiny of their members. Author of two books about the MKO and former member of the group, Ann Singleton, in her letter to the European foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, points out that the issue of Camp Ashraf is totally irrelevant to what the group leaders launch propaganda about—such as Iran’s nuclear program, MKO delisting by the US government, and American troops withdrawal from Iraq. [10]

As a prerequisite to withdrawal, Singleton argues that “the government of Iraq demands that the MEK leave Iraq before the end of the year, certainly before American troops are withdrawn. For this reason, there is an urgent need to find an effective solution.” She finds the situation dangerous for Ashraf residents. Essentially they are trapped in the camp because they are victims of a cult system which is always ready to sacrifice them for its cause. She adds, ”on two occasions, August 2009 and April 2011, when Iraqi security forces attempted to enter the Camp to impose the rule of law on the Camp, Massoud Rajavi ordered his special forces, his *fedayeen*, to force the brainwashed residents to confront these efforts with a suicidal resistance which led to the deaths and injuries of many rank and file members as well as injuries to Iraqi security forces.”[11]

References:
[1] Feller, Ben, AP, Obama Complete Troop Withdrawal from Iraq, Oct.21, 2011
[2] ibid
[3]Dagher, Sam, Wall Street Journal, Maliki Takes Hard Line on American Withdrawal, Oct.23, 2011
[4] ibid
[5]Aswat-al-Iraq, Maliki, Kopler discuss evacuation Iranian Ashraf Camp, Oct. 16, 2011
[6]Fars News Agency, Moqtada Sadr Reiterates Iraq’s Demand for Expulsion of MKO, Sep.19, 2011
[7]Lord Corbett, The Huffington Post, MPs Demand UN protection at Camp Ashraf Oct.25, 2011
[8]Kalbasi, Bahman, BBC, Iran Exile Group seeks US Terror de-listing, Sep.24, 2011
[9] ibid
[10]Singleton, Ann, Open Letter to Catherine Ashton on hostages in Camp Ashraf, Oct26, 2011
[11] ibid

By Mazda Parsi

November 10, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis Rally to Protest at MKO Presence in Diyala

A large number of the people staged a rally in Northern Iraq on Tuesday to protest at the presence of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in their country, and called for the expulsion of the terrorist group from Iraq’s soil.

"Expulsion of the MKO from Iraq is a demand of all people that should be respected and obeyed," Mayor of al-Adhim town in Diyala province, Abdul Jabbar Ahmed al-Obeidi, said during the rally.

According to a report by the Middle-East Association for Defending the Victims of Terrorism, over 750 academic, political and tribal figures of the Diyala province took part in the rally.

Al-Obeidi said that the Iraqi population of the province want the fertile lands under the MKO occupation to be freed and given back to the people and farmers for the agricultural and economic development of the province.

The Baghdad government has assured Iranian officials and people that it is determined to expel the MKO from Iraq by the end of 2011.
The MKO has been in Iraq’s Diyala province since the 1980s.

Iraqi security forces took control of the training base of the MKO at Camp Ashraf – about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad – in 2009 and detained dozens of the members of the terrorist group.

The Iraqi authority also changed the name of the military center from Camp Ashraf to the Camp of New Iraq.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.

The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).

Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.

A May 2005 Human Rights Watch report accused the MKO of running prison camps in Iraq and committing human rights violations.
According to the Human Rights Watch report, the outlawed group puts defectors under torture and jail terms.

The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.

November 3, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Pictorial – Iraqis participated in a seminar titled ‘Get Out of Here, Curse You’

750 people participated in a seminar titled ‘Get Out of Here, Curse You’ on Tuesday. Academics, intellectuals, activists, elders and elders of the province of Diyala gave their support to the government’s decision to expel the Mojahedin-e Khalq from Iraq and that the MEK must obey Iraqi law. The participants agreed that the land occupied by the MEK should be restored in order to revive the economic and agricultural prosperity of the region.

November 3, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Iraqis united: Get Out of Here, Curse You

According to Iraqi al-Qanun independent news agency, 750 people participated in a seminar titled ‘Get Out of Here, Curse You’ on Tuesday. Academics, intellectuals, activists, elders and elders of the province of Diyala gave their support to the government’s decision to expel the Mojahedin-e Khalq from Iraq and that the MEK must obey Iraqi law. The participants agreed that the land occupied by the MEK should be restored in order to revive the economic and agricultural prosperity of the region.

Director of the greater Khalis region, Abdul-Jabbar Ahmed al-Obeidi, said many victims of MEK terrorism have filed complaints with Iraq’s Judiciary.

Secretary General of the Association of Justice to defend the victims of Mojahedin Khalq in Iraq, Dr. Nafie Isa, described how the MEK used occupied land to attack Iraq’s citizens. He said the media should expose the MEK’s crimes and interference in the internal affairs of Iraq and support the efforts of the government to expel the MEK by the end of 2011.

many victims of MEK terrorism have filed complaints with Iraq’s Judiciary.

The Mayor of Khalis, Uday Alkhaddran, described how the MEK launch false accusations and create anonymous groups on the Internet which have no reality on the ground in the province of Diyala.

The police chief of Diyala province, Brigadier General Jamil Kamel Shammari, stressed that the UN Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the MEK. He also stressed that under Iraqi law MEK terrorists cannot be granted political asylum in Iraq.

Brigadier General Jamil Kamel Shammari, stressed that the UN Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the MEK.

The seminar exposed the names of fake groups created by the MEK and foreign intelligence services in order to condemn the government of Iraq. Participants reiterated their support to remove the MEK, as a terrorist organization which participated in killing Iraqi civilians, from Iraq in its entirety by the end of 2011.

Iraqi al Qanun news, Khalis, Iraq,Translated by Iran Interlink

November 3, 2011 0 comments

The MEK Expulsion from Iraq

Zebari Reiterates”Definite”Expulsion of MKO

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Baghdad will definitely expel the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq’s soil by the next one or two months.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi in Baghdad today, Zebari said, "MKO’s expulsion from Iraq by the end of 2011 is definite."

"Based on agreements, MKO members will be expelled from Iraq’s soil at the end of 2011 and should be transferred to a third country," the Iraqi premier reiterated.

Yet, he pointed out that it is not yet clear which country will host the terrorist group once they are expelled from Iraq.

The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.

Since the beginning of this year, the Baghdad government has repeatedly assured Iranian officials and people that it is determined to expel the MKO from Iraq by the end of 2011.
"Expulsion of the MKO from Iraq’s soil and termination of its presence which has lasted for several years is a definite decision," Iraqi Government Spokesman Ali Al-Dabbaq told FNA in April, adding, "The MKO will be expelled from Iraq by the end of the current year."

"The only option for the members of the MKO is leaving Iraq and they have no other choice," he reiterated.

Reminding the black record of the terrorist group and its crimes against the Iraqi people, Dabbaq said, "Collaboration with the former Iraqi dictator and massacre of thousands of our people is just part of their crimes".

Dabbaq announced in early April that the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf located North of the capital, Baghdad, and disband the terrorist group.
"The council of ministers is committed to implement the earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group by the end of this year at the latest, and is well informed of the necessity of getting it out of Iraq," the official noted.

But, the US is trying to convince Iraqi officials to relocate MKO members within Iraq.

Under the US plan, the approximately 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf would be temporarily relocated within Iraq, farther from the border with Iran, a US State Department official announced.

The relocation would be temporary, the official said, with final settlement of the inhabitants in other countries.

That would not include the United States, the official said, "Since US law bars anyone associated with a terrorist organization from settling there".

November 1, 2011 0 comments

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