Iraqi MP Sheikh Jalaleddin al-Saghir has said the government will expel MKO members if they fail to leave the country before their six-month deadline is reached. “After the deadline passes, the Iraqi government will not tolerate any pressure, or interference aimed at keeping MKO members in the country,” Arab media quoted Sheikh Jalaleddin al-Saghir as saying. “The procedure will be carried out according to a government decision. MKO members will be handed over to the Red Cross so that they can leave for another country,” said al-Saghir. The Mujahedin Khalq Organization [MKO] is recognized as a terrorist group by Iran, Iraq, Canada, the United States, and the European Union. The organization, closely allied with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has carried out numerous bombings, assassinations, and terrorist attacks in Iran and Iraq over the past 25 years.
The MEK Expulsion from Iraq
Iraqi cabinet rules to expel Mojahedin Khalq terrorists (Rajavi cult or MKO) as Iran accuses UK of using the sameTerrorists Iraq’s cabinet says it is adopting the appropriate measures to expel the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraqi soil.
According to the cabinet’s ruling, MKO terrorists will remain on Iraqi soil, however, they will be required to comply with Iraqi regulations until they leave the country.
Based on the ruling any transaction with the terrorist group or any connection with its members, who assisted former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the massacre of thousands of Iraqi civilians, is strictly forbidden.
In the Iraqi cabinet statement Multi National Forces have been urged to allow Iraqi authorities to deal with MKO terrorists and to hand over checkpoints and all other related issues.
According to a source close to the ruling coalition in Baghdad, the Iraqi government is currently negotiating with US forces to take control of MKO bases in the country.
The MKO has been blacklisted as a terrorist group by many countries and international organizations.
Iraqis to stage rallies against the presence of Mojahedin Khalq Terrorists (Rajavi Cult) in their country People of Khalis called for staging demonstrations against MKO terrorists. According to FNA foreign policy correspondent after issuing several resolutions against MKO by Maliki administration on June 18, Sunni people in Khalis called, through different announcements, for all Iraqis Demonstration against MKO presence in Iraq.
Khalis is a region between Karkuk and Baghdad, while only 28 kilometers away from camp Ashraf (MKO main base). The recent announcements by the people in this region for staging rallies against MKO presence in Iraq, has made the atmosphere suitable for the expulsion of this terrorist group from Iraq.
Noticeably, after the issuance of several resolutions by Maliki administration making any engagements with this group illegal and prohibited, all Iraqi as well as non-Iraqi organizations, parties and groups are strictly banned from selling goods to MKO or buying goods from them or else the offender would face the law.
Iraqi cabinet has in its latest meeting stressed expulsion of the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization ”MKO” from Iraqi territory.
Meanwhile, A recent cabinet approval bans any engagement with the MKO by any Iraqi or foreign organization, party, institution or person inside Iraq.
It says any person dealing with the MKO "law breakers", will be treated based on the anti-terrorism rulings and will be handed over to legal authorities under the law.
It also called on all the multinational forces to stop considering themselves responsible for the MKO and cede all the checking and monitoring affairs to Iraqi authorities.The cabinet members in
their meeting also urged investigation of the judicial claims lodged against the MKO members, who have committed enormous crimes in the case of Iraqi people. Translated by Habilian
TEHRAN, June 18 (MNA) – Iraq is seeking to expel the Mujahedeen Khalq Organization, the largest armed Iranian dissident group for interfering in Iraq’s domestic affairs and inciting terror acts against the Iraqi nation.
“Baghdad regards the MKO as Saddam’s accomplice” and is opposed to its presence in Iraq, an informed official who requested anonymity told the ISNA news agency.
The MKO was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the country’s revolution but soon launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran.
The group, supported by Saddam Hussein’s regime, moved to Iraq in the early 1980s where it fought Iran’s new ruling system until the U.S.-led invasion against Iraq in 2003.
“The Iranian government has repeatedly called on Iraq to prevent the activities of Iranian dissident groups and the MKO is among them,” said the official.
“The MKO has also got tired of the so-called U.S. supports and is seeking to leave Iraq… its case is now being pursued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees,” he added.
The Iraqi administration on Tuesday issued a statement designating the MKO as a terrorist organization and calling on the U.S. to stop supporting the militant group, London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh as saying.
“The cabinet decided to ban any dealings with this organization by any Iraqi or foreign individual, organization or party,” the statement said on Tuesday.
It also warned that those who violate the order will face charges under the anti-terror law.
Baghdad is determined to fully monitor the MKO’s activities until its full expulsion from the country, al-Dabbagh added.
Mehr News, June 18, 2008
http://mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=702005
Iraqi Ambassador to Tehran Abu Heidar al-Sheikh said on Monday that the Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is to pay an official two-day visit to Tehran next week.
Speaking to reporters at Iraq’s embassy, he said the upcoming visit would leave huge impacts on expansion of political and economic relations between the two countries and would also help accelerate such a trend.
New political system in Iraq has opened new chapters for expansion of mutual relations between the two countries; he said adding that Iraq seeks to broaden friendly ties with its neighbors and with the Islamic Republic of Iran in particular.
The Iraqi defense minister and minister of electricity and water resources will accompany Maliki during his two-day visit, he said adding that the Iraqi delegation is to discuss implementation of agreements sighed between the two countries.
The Iraqi delegation is also to sign some new memoranda of understanding (MoUs) during their visit to Tehran, he said.
Exchange of visits between the two sides’ high ranking officials will help bolster ties between Iran and Iraq, said the Iraqi ambassador.
The Iraqi premier is to confer with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on security pact between Iraq and the US, he pointed out.
On presence of MKO in Iraq, he said the Iraqi government would under no circumstances let any individuals or organizations take action against its neighboring countries and the Iraqi government is to expel them.
No country in the world would host MKO, he underlined.
TEHRAN — Petitions signed by the Iraqi people show that about 18 million Iraqis want to see members of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization expelled from their country, Iraqi MP Honein Qaddu said Sunday in a meeting with a number of Iranian political figures in Mashhad.
“The MKO have killed a thousand of our people,” Honein Qaddu, who is also the secretary general of the Iraqi Democratic Society, stated in a meeting with Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, the secretary general of the Iranian Habilian Society.
“Since their arrival in Iraq, the MKO began to serve Saddam. They are complicit in the mass murder of Iranian and Iraqi people, so the Iranian and Iraqi people have the right to call for expulsion (from Iraq),” Hasheminejad stated.
Saddam Hussein assassinated some 3000 individuals from the big family of the Iraqi Democratic Society and leveled 23 of their villages, the Iraqi lawmaker said.
However, Honein stated that despite repressions by the MKO and the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the relations between Iranian and Iraqi people are improving in social, economic and political dimensions.
Political analyst Dr. Khaldun (first name not given), who was present at the meeting, also said a petition bearing the signatures of 18 million Iraqis is ready for submission to Iraqi criminal courts and human rights organizations.
The Habilian Society, established in 2005, aims to fight terrorism, disclose the criminal actions of the MKO to the Iranian nation, file complaints against MKO assassins, and honor the memory of their victims
Tehran Times Political Desk, April 22 2008
Encampment of MKO, after its expulsion from Iraq, in France and other European countries as well as the United State of America for the reasons discussed is out of the question. The next option, then, might be the region Arab countries, Latin America and the continent Africa.
Jordan, because of its strategically geographical location, seems to be of undeniable priority for MKO; Iraq is the sole country that separates Jordan from Iran. Naturally an opportunist group, MKO made attempts to establish close relations with Jordan prefiguring it as the alternate option after Iraq and Rajavi had repetitive meeting with King Hussein of Jordan. Even before Rajavi’s flight to Iraq, he met with King Hussein when he was on a visit in France. The meeting was said to have been arranged by Saddam. Although King Hussein was a figure of disrepute among the left groups and MKO in particular, it was so important a matter for Rajavi to establish relations with him as a prospective patron since King Hussein and Saddam were close alliances. However, all these expectations and anticipations have proved to be fruitless since Jordan has utterly rejected to grant asylum to members of MKO.
Jordan and Iran restored diplomatic ties in the early 1990s after the two states severed their relations in 1980 following the outbreak of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and the King Abdullah paid an historic visit to Tehran in September 2003. In September 2007 some news reports broke that Jordan had granted asylum to members of MKO. Immediately, Nasser Judeh, the Jordanian government Spokesperson, acted in response that the Kingdom did not receive any leader or member of Mujahedin-e Khalq, and does not allow the organization to operate on Jordanian soil”. He reiterated that His Majesty King Abdullah was determined to build brotherly relations between the two countries based on mutual respect and understanding and that, Jordan never consented to grant asylum to a terrorist group which was harbored by the former Iraqi regime and was designated as a terrorist organization by the US, Canada and the EU.
Syria, maintaining a long, friendly relationship with Iran even in the course of Iran-Iraq war, is already an impossible option. The case of two MKO members, Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Jamil Bassam, who were arrested and returned to Iran from Syria in 2003, well indicates that the country is in no way a safe haven for members of MKO.
In respect to other Gulf region countries, Bahrain, Qatar, they prefer not to be engaged in the issues that might generate further tension between them and Iran. Besides, Iran’s sovereignty over the Persian Gulf actually paralyzes any move by the group’s so-called liberation army in the embryo.
At the first look, Latin America, because of a variety of scattered active militia and guerrilla groups, might seem an appropriate option. But it should be noted that a number of Latin countries have come to enjoy periods of peace and tranquility after long periods of various revolutions and opposition conflicts. They need peace to reconstruct their countries and avoid whatever might lead to the escalation of any tension. Latin America is politically divided into two groups of countries and territories; ruled under dictatorial militarism and independant revolutionaries. The former countries absolutely disapprove military and terrorist groups since the presence of any alien opposition that might collaborate with the internal opposition builds up a potential threat against the ruling power. Significantly, MKO has long been under the influence of the Latin theoreticians of the urban and rural guerrilla warfare. Besides, MKO’s natural potentiality to enter any illegal and underground trade in union with other active professional smugglers and gangs worsens the problem these countries can hardly overcome at the present.
The second group of countries are stabilized through revolutions and have developed close political and economic ties with Iran. Regardless of their ties with Iran, traumatic effects of revolutions need peace and tranquility to be healed and consequently, any equivocal move is under severe surveillance. For sure, an alien group that is a globally blacklisted terrorist organization can never be trusted to be granted asylum by these countries; a number of these countries are already facing allegations of harboring terrorism and of course, any sign of favor shown for MKO works as evidences against them.
The next only option, then, is Africa. The settlement of the organization in Africa, provided that any country there let it in, is equal to absolute political isolation. Relocation of MKO to any African country means political suicide of an organization that considers itself as the vanguard of a democratic move to liberate not only Iranian people but the mankind in general. The abject misery of being expelled to African countries, after living seemingly glorious days in European countries, is too much for MKO to endure and the group never consents to encamp in African countries.
Considering that there is no option for MKO after Iraq, the question is what is the appropriate solution for Mojahedin to save their organizational structure and entity? No doubt, Mojahedin necessarily have to change their tune and before anything, they need to have another internal revolution in all aspects of organizational structure, ideology, strategy, and leadership. The first rational move will be reconsideration of two alternative options; either dissolve the organization and let the members free or reorganize a logically democratic struggle. The options have to be discussed in detail.
Iraqi govenment seriously angered by the US’s conduct in supporting Mojahedin Khalq Terrorist group (Rajavi cult or Saddam’s Private Army) in Ashraf camp in Dialy province against the will of the Iraqis
…
Q- A while ago, the Iraqi government had asked for the expulsion of Monafeqin [hypocrites; term used to describe opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization based in Iraq], but we are still witnessing their presence and the American support for them. What happened to this issue?
A- The position of the Iraqi government in expelling the Monafeqin group remains in place. Unfortunately, the American support for this group is obvious and against the will of the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has announced that the area which is under American control should be returned to the government and according to the legislation approved by the Iraqi government the members of this group must leave Iraq once the area is returned to the Iraqi government.
Considering the very negative role that this group has had in the security situation of Dayaleh Province and intensifying the insecurities in this region, the government of Iraq is seriously angered by their conduct and is making efforts to take control of this issue.
BBC Monitoring Middle East, October 03, 2007
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Full Report:
Iranian envoy says US Senate’s plan to”divide”Iraq against will of people
Text of interview conducted with Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hasan Kazemi-Qomi by Ehsan Taqaddosi headlined”Tehran’s dissatisfaction with American Senate’s plan”published by Iranian newspaper Iran on 30 September
The plan to divide Iraq presented by the chairman of the American Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, Joseph Bayden, which was later approved has created a lot of controversy. This plan was presented at a time when the neoconservatives of the White House found all their strategies in Iraq unsuccessful and the Democrats stepped into the Iraq war policy room and delivered the plan to divide Iraq. The Senate’s plan for Iraq has been copied from the well-known Dayton Treaty in Bosnia, which in the eyes of the democrats, is a solution for controlling and ending the wave of violence in Iraq.
The Senate’s plan recommends a federal government for Iraq that would include separate and autonomous Shi’i, Sunni and Kurdish regions.
Although this plan was immediately rejected by all Iraqi groups and figures but is still making headlines in Iraq. We have discussed this issue with our country’s ambassador in Baghdad, Hasan Kazemi-Qomi which is as follows:
Q- What is the aim behind the Congress and Senate’s plan?
A- The political system of Iraq has been defined based on the central and federal government within the framework of the constitution and the people of Iraq have confirmed this. According to the Iraqi constitution, each province or a combination of more than one province could submit their request for federalising that region. Given the cultural, social, political and economic structure of Iraq, naturally a political systems based on federalism could secure both the interests of social groups and the national interests of Iraq.
Even the mechanism for materializing federalism has been included within the framework of the Iraqi constitution. What has been notable in terms of the people of Iraq and this country’s constitution is safeguarding the solidarity, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq. Whatever, is outside the principles embodied in the constitution would be unacceptable in the view of the Iraqi people.
In addition to Iraqi people, the neighbouring countries of Iraq are also opposed to any division of Iraq under any circumstances as the Iraqi experience [the occupation] and the division of this country is neither in the expedience of the Iraqi people nor the countries of the region.
Q- Do you think this plan could be accepted inside Iraq?
A- The reaction of Iraq’s political leaders and the people of this country to what was approved in the American Senate were strongly negative. In their view, this legislation was a kind of interference in Iraq’s internal affairs and no political group in Iraq supported this plan.
Q- What thought and policy has the White House been pursuing in Iraq after the well-known Crocker-Petraeus report?
A- The report that was presented to the Congress by Crocker and Petraeus was in fact a staged scenario and had no new point that would have been derived from a new strategy. In the view of the Iraqi people, this report was not an Iraqi report but a report to eliminate the domestic problems of America. That is why it was received with indifference by the Iraqi people.
The Americans have not presented a new plan but what was seen in this report indicated that the Americans are after a long-term presence in Iraq and this issue is definitely in contradiction with the will of the people and government of Iraq.
Q- From now on, how would the Americans establish their relations with the Iraqi government in the diplomatic dimension?
A- From the Iraqi point of view, America must end its military presence in Iraq and define its relations with Iraq like other countries. The Iraqi government considers no concessions for America and is willing to have good and balanced relations with all countries and particularly its neighbouring countries. This also includes America – of course, without giving any special concessions. In addition, in the view of the Iraqi government the issue of the office for security affairs should be returned to the government.
Q- A while ago, the Iraqi government had asked for the expulsion of Monafeqin [hypocrites; term used to describe opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization based in Iraq], but we are still witnessing their presence and the American support for them. What happened to this issue?
A- The position of the Iraqi government in expelling the Monafeqin group remains in place. Unfortunately, the American support for this group is obvious and against the will of the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has announced that the area which is under American control should be returned to the government and according to the legislation approved by the Iraqi government the members of this group must leave Iraq once the area is returned to the Iraqi government.
Considering the very negative role that this group has had in the security situation of Dayaleh Province and intensifying the insecurities in this region, the government of Iraq is seriously angered by their conduct and is making efforts to take control of this issue.
Source: Iran, Tehran, in Persian, on 30 Sept 07, p21
"There are legal rulings on the leaders of MKO and PKK. However, what prevents their expulsion from Iraq is that no country is willing to accept them," said Hussein Kamal, representative of Iraqi Interior Ministry, during "Security Conference" in Damascus.
"We don’t want these groups to disrupt the stability of our neighboring countries."
"With the cooperation of the UN, Iraq is negotiating with some countries to convince them to accept the MKO," he added.
It should be noted that the security experts of Iraq’s neighbors joined the security conference in Damascus on Wednesday and Thursday; permanent members of the UN Security Council also participated in the conference.
Sotaliraq – 2007/08/14
An Iranian anti-terrorism association has called on the Iraqi government to expel the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country.
A representative of the Habilian Association, Javad Hashemi, made the request during a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minster Barham Saleh on Wednesday.
The US administration has blocked efforts for expulsion of the terrorist group from the Iraqi soil.
Hashemi, representing almost 16,000 families of victims of the MKO’s terrorist attacks, also briefed the Iraqi official on the activities and objectives of the association.
Saleh, for his part, said the the issue was being examined.
The Iraqi deputy premier expressed his sympathy to the martyrs’ families, saying that the Iraqi government and nation are aware of the hostile disposition of the terrorist group and believe that their illegal presence harms the country’s interests.
Referring to a report by the commission investigating the MKO dossier in Iraq, Saleh stated that there is sufficient evidence to prove the direct involvement of the MKO in military operations under former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.
He gave assurances that the Iraqi government is determined to force them out of the country.
"Our nation, especially people living in the Kurdistan region, have suffered substantial harm by the group and want them to be expelled," he concluded.
Press TV – Thu, 14 Jun 2007