Iraq

Iraq: Ashraf camp victims killed by own guards

Deaths resulting from an Iraqi army raid on an Iranian opposition camp on its soil were caused by the camp’s own guards firing on residents attempting to escape, an Iraqi spokesman said Thursday.

The comments from Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh came shortly after a United Nations spokesman in New York said 34 people were killed in the April 8 raid on Camp Ashraf, the residence of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), in Diyala province north of Baghdad.
"Our Iraqi security forces believe that this (the deaths) has been done by their (the PMOI) guards killing those who were willing to escape from the camp," Dabbagh said in a text message to AFP, adding that the government was investigating the issue.

"Similar methods have been used before by them."

Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq earlier told AFP in New York: "We are aware of 34 bodies at Camp Ashraf and nearby."

A spokesman for the camp gave the same death toll, but Iraqi security and hospital officials have said three died.

The PMOI used Camp Ashraf, which houses some 3,500 people, as a base for launching attacks on Iran during the rule of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, but US forces disarmed the group after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Dabbagh also said that Iraq was willing to provide "all logistical support to facilitate the desires of Camp Ashraf residents who want to leave Iraq."

On Monday, Dabbagh said that the PMOI had to leave Iraq by the end of the year.

April 16, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq detains six MKO terrorists

Iraqi security forces have detained six members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in Camp Ashraf located north of the capital Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi government, the MKO members were taken into custody for interrogation during Friday’s clashes with security forces.

The Iraqi parliament has passed legislation, under which the government is obliged to expel members of the terrorist organization.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and is responsible for numerous acts of terror and violence against Iranian civilians and government officials.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border.

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

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

April 14, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Talabani informs European ambassadors with the Iraqi stance toward Mujahideen Khalq

President jalal Talabani informed the European Union, Russian, and Turkish ambassadors in Iraq with the Iraqi stance toward the Mujahideen Khalq Organization and its presence in Iraq now.
A presidential statement mentioned that political developments, regionally and internationally, were discussed during the meeting.

Also, the preparations for the Baghdad Arab Summit were all affirmed ready to hold the Summit on time.

For their part, the ambassadors expressed happiness for holding such meetings in Iraq which contribute in showing the image of understanding between Iraq and the EU.

Present at the meeting were, Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshiar Zibari, Head of the Presidency Office, Nasir Al Ani, and a number of officials.

NINA – National Iraqi News Agency

April 13, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq to probe Camp Ashraf deaths

Iraq’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it would probe claims that 34 residents of an Iranian dissident camp died during an Iraqi military operation last week and suggested some may have been killed before troops moved in.

Iraqi authorities have said three people were killed at Camp Ashraf on Friday when security forces responded to rock-throwing and threats by residents during an operation to reclaim land from the camp and return it to farmers.

Ashraf advocates say 34 were killed when Iraqi forces launched a “criminal attack” and shot residents.

The controversial camp northeast of Baghdad, which houses a guerrilla group that opposes the Shi’ite cleric leaders of neighbouring Iran, has been a thorn in the side of Washington, Baghdad and Tehran for years.

Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the disparity in the death tolls prompted the government to open an investigation “to look into the real details of the operation, to know how many people exactly were killed, the reasons for the deaths and the date of the deaths”.

“We, at this time, can’t give sufficient answers to these questions,” he told reporters in Baghdad.

Ashraf is the base of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which the United States, Iraq and Iran consider a terrorist group.

Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein gave it refuge in Iraq in the 1980s and some of its fighters joined him in the battle against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to US forces after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.

QUESTIONS
Askari said the government had evidence that some residents had wanted to leave Ashraf but were prevented from doing so by camp leaders, and that some of the alleged victims were shot “in a professional way, in the head, chest and heart”.

“This makes us believe that it was a pre-orchestrated operation,” he said. “Are these killings done by some elements from inside the camp? Are these previous deaths or even deaths that happened after the event?” “All these questions will be answered by the investigation.” In an emailed statement, Mohammed Mohaddessin of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI’s political wing, called Askari’s comments “worthless lies … the final episode of a ridiculous scenario by the Iraqi government that initially claimed that in the attack no violence was used.” Iraqi officials have said the three residents who died were run over by military vehicles.

The council said many victims were shot. A source at the hospital where victims were taken said many had bullet wounds.

Askari said soldiers had been ordered not to use live ammunition during the operation at the camp, which is located in restive Diyala province about 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad in an area largely inaccessible to journalists.

The camp’s fate has been in question since the US military turned it over to Baghdad in 2009 under a bilateral security agreement. An Iraqi government spokesman said on Monday Ashraf residents would be given until year-end to leave the country.

Washington blamed Baghdad for the violence at Ashraf and the United Nations has sought access to monitor the camp.

April 13, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Deadline Set For Iranian Dissidents To Leave Iraq

The Iraqi government has set the deadline for members of Iranian dissident group being housed at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province to leave the country, stressing that they will be removed from the country by the deadline using "all means" available.

"The council of ministers has committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), by the end of this year at the latest, and the necessity of getting it out of Iraq," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said late Monday. "They need to leave Iraq by the end of the year. Iraq is not the choice for them,"

Indicating that the Iraqi government was "taking into consideration the wish of the PMOI members to choose the country in which they wish to reside," Dabbagh added: "We have to find a nation where they can go, and we will look to the U.N. to help."

Dabbagh also declared that the Iranian dissidents would be expelled from the country "by using all means, including political, diplomatic, and co-operation with the United Nations and international organizations."

The development comes days after violent clashes erupted at Camp Ashraf last Friday after Iraqi security forces raided the camp after its occupants allegedly threw rocks at the security forces during a "riot."

Iraqi government said later that three people were killed in the raid and denied allegations that its troops had opened fire at the occupants of the camp during the raid. But the PMOI alleges that Friday’s military operation at the camp killed at least 34 people and left more than 300 others injured.[..]

The Iraqi government has since announced that it has launched an investigation "to look into the real details of the operation, to know how many people exactly were killed, the reasons for the deaths and the date of the deaths".

Camp Ashraf, located in Diyala province to the north of Baghdad, has served as a refugee base for members of the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), an exiled Iranian opposition group, for almost two decades.

The PMOI was founded in 1965 to oppose the Shah of Iran, but the group later turned against Iran’s regime that ousted the Shah in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Camp Ashraf was opened in the 1980s after then-President Saddam Hussein allowed the PMOI to set up bases in Iraq. Saddam also armed the group’s military wing, the National Liberation Army of Iran, to fight along side Iraq troops in the 1980-88 war against Iran.

The U.S. troops disarmed the PMOI fighters in 2003 and confined the nearly 3100 residents to the camp. The U.S. military placed the camp’s residents under its protection, before Iraqi forces took over its security from the U.S. earlier this year.

RTTNews

April 13, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Dabbagh: Cabinet committed to end MKO presence in Iraq

Minister of State and Official Speaker of Government, Ali Dabbagh, said, "The Council of Ministers asserted its earlier decision to liquidate the presence of the Iranian Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), by the end of the current year.

In a statement to the press on Monday, Apr. 11, Dabbagh said, "The Council of Ministers stressed the necessity to get MKO out of Iraqi territories through the use of all means, including political and diplomatic, and to cooperate with the UN and international organizations, taking into consideration the desire of MKO’s members in choosing the country they want to settle in."

National Iraqi News Agency – NINA

April 13, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Iraq: MKO should leave by end of 2011

Iraq says members of the terrorist group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) holed up in the country must leave by the end of the current year.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Monday that the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf located north of the capital, Baghdad, and disband the terrorist group, AFP reported.

"The council of ministers has committed to implement an earlier decision about disbanding the terrorist group by the end of this year at the latest, and the necessity of getting it out of Iraq," said the official.

Dabbagh further underlined that the ministers had decided that the MKO members would be forced to leave Iraq "through all means, including political, diplomatic, and cooperation with the United Nations and international organizations."

According to AFP, 10 people were reportedly killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and MKO terrorists at Camp Ashraf last Friday.

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

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq’s executed dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, near the Iranian border.

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

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

April 12, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Iraqi government says it is fed up with the MKO terror group

Ten people have been killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in the central province of Diyala.

The incident occurred on Friday when the armed forces clashed with stone-pelting crowds at Camp Ashraf where the members of the notorious group are based, AFP quoted an Iraqi security official as saying.

"The clashes started at around 4:40 a.m. (0140 GMT) as the army was taking positions inside a cemetery in Ashraf," said Major Hassan al-Tamimi of the Iraqi army in Diyala’s provincial capital, Baqouba.

"The latest toll is three people killed and 27 wounded, among them 13 members of the security forces," Tamimi said.

A source at Baqouba’s main hospital confirmed they had received three bodies.

The MKO, however, claimed 31 of its members had died and 300 were wounded in what it alleged was a full military assault.

AFP reported that ten people had been killed and over 40 injured.

Visiting a US military base in northern Iraq, Pentagon chief Robert Gates expressed concern at reports of casualties and urged Iraqi authorities to exercise restraint.

But the Iraqi government said it is fed up with the terrorist group which has been launching attacks against people and officials in neighboring Iran over the past three decades.

The terrorist group is also known to have collaborated with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the massacre of Iraqi Kurds in the north and the Shia community in the south.

Baghdad would no longer tolerate an organization that had been involved in "terrorist activity and harms relations with neighbors," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s media advisor Ali Musawi stated.

Musawi said Maliki has asked European Union ambassadors to "accept them (MKO) and put them wherever they like, because Iraq cannot bear this any longer. It harms our relations with our countries."

Blacklisted as a terrorist entity by Tehran, the MKO was removed from the EU blacklist in 2009 but remains on the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

The MKO set up Camp Ashraf in the 1980s as a base to launch attacks against the Islamic Republic.

April 11, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Six Mojahedin Khalq members arrested in Diala, Iraq

DIALA- Six members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq were arrested in Diala on charges of involvement in the acts of riot in Camp Ashraf on Friday, an official government source in the province said on Sunday.

“The six MEK members were arrested by Iraqi forces in accordance with Article 413 of the law after they were suspected of involvement in recent incidents in the camp that left dozens of its inhabitant and Iraqi security forces killed or wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

He did not elaborate on the nature of charges that will be pressed against them.

Iraqi security forces had said on Friday that three Iranian MEK refugees in Camp Ashraf in were killed while the Iraqi security forces were trying to set up a security point inside the camp.
“The Iranian group clashed with the Iraqi forces, prompting the Iraqi security to open fire on them, killing three MEK refugees,” an Iraqi security source said.

“Two Iranians set themselves alight in front of the Iraqi forces prior to the clashes, while others pelted the Iraqi soldiers with stones, injuring six of them,” he added.

However, MEK sources had said on Friday that a Youtube clip showed an Iraqi army force storming Camp Ashraf, leaving 28 people killed and dozens others wounded.

The clip, shot by MEK supporters, showed Iraqi forces using armor vehicles in their raid on the camp, which had been under the protection of U.S.

forces after they entered Iraq in 2003 prior to transferring the responsibility of its protection to Iraqi security agencies.

MEK has been based in Camp Ashraf in Diala province, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, since 1980s during the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war.

Several politicians within the Iraqi government have been striving to drive the organization out of the Iraqi territories, claiming that the MEK fighters took part in suppressing the Shiite uprising that broke out in southern Iraq after the second Gulf War in 1991 against the former regime.

April 11, 2011 0 comment

Iraq

Government forbids MKO terrorists from operating in Iraq

Iraq Forces impose security in Ashraf Camp

Iraq’s government took control of Ashraf Camp in the wake of violent clashes between Mujahideen Khalq and Iraqi Forces on Friday.

Iraqi State Minister and Cabinet spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said in a statement to Alsumaria News that riots were spurred by Mujahiddeen Khalq members around the camp which required the intervention of security forces.

Iraqi security forces showed high self-restraint with rioters, Dabbagh said adding that 5 officers were seriously wounded after Mujahideen Khalq members attacked them by throwing stones.
Mujahideen Khalq group on the other hand accused Iraqi security forces of killing 28 people and wounding around 300. No sources confirmed this death toll while Baaquba public hospital confirmed it received 9 killed and 20 wounded, a medial source told Alsumaria.

Alsumaria TV, April 09 2011

Also on Al Iraqiyah TV (Reported by BBC Monitoring Middle East):

Iraqi official says Iranian opposition camp raid legal
Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television in Arabic, in its evening newscasts on 8 April, reports on the assault against the Al-Iraqiyah TV cadre that was covering the protests in the Al-Tahrir Square; Ali al-Musawi, media adviser to the prime minister, saying that the Iraqi Constitution rejects hosting any terrorist organizations in Iraq; Sayyid Hazim al-A’raji, leading figure in the Sadrist Trend, calling for supporting the Bahraini people in achieving their constitutional demands; and other political and security developments. Political Developments

Within its 1300 gmt newscast, the channel reports on the following:
– "The Al-Iraqiyah TV cadre, which was covering today the peaceful protest in the Al-Tahrir Square, has been assaulted by individuals who were backed by some media outlets with private agendas and forces that oppose the patriotic views of the channel. Some of the protestors assaulted correspondent colleague Haday Shakkur and attacked the cameraman, destroyed his camera, cut the transmission cables, and then headed towards the car to destroy the live broadcast equipment. The protestors banned the [Al-Iraqiyah reporters] to broadcast events in the Al-Tahrir Square."

Within its 1700 gmt newscast, the channel reports on the following:
– "Ali al-Musawi, media adviser to the prime minister, says that the Iraqi forces were executing a judicial decree to return 50 square kilometres around the camp [Ashraf] to their owners. Al-Musawi described the [Iranian] Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization as a terrorist organization that cannot force an independent country such as Iraq to approve its existence on its territories. He highlighted that the Iraqi Constitution rejects hosting any terrorist organization that severs ties with neighbouring countries."
– "Sayyid Ahmad al-Safi, representative of the religious authority in Karbala, has stated in the Friday sermon that the reason behind the widespread administrative and financial corruption is the result of a weak sense of loyalty to Iraq felt by a large population of employees and officials."

At 1716 gmt, the channel conducts a telephone interview with Ali al-Dabbagh, state minister and spokesman for the Iraqi Government, to comment on the Camp Ashraf incident.

Al-Dabbagh says that the government is working to forbid terrorist organizations from operating in Iraq.

– "Sayyid Hazim al-A’raji, leading figure in the Sadrist Trend, has called for standing by the Bahraini people in achieving their constitutional demands. Al-A’raji highlighted in the Friday sermon that the United Nations and Arab League has been called on to stop the bloodshed in the kingdom." Security Developments

Within its 1300 gmt newscast, the channel reports on the following:
"Tahah Ja’far al-Alawi, leading figure in the Iraqi Al-Da’wah Party and manager of the Al-Masar Satellite Television, has been martyred in a terrorist assault in southern Baghdad. A security source said that terrorists driving a civilian Mitsubishi car opened fire at Al-Alawi and Abd-Farhan Diyab, employee at the Department of Political Prisoners, in the Uwarij area near Al-Durah."

April 10, 2011 0 comment

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