Pars Iran - Dissociated Members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran

U.S. respects any Iraqi decision on MKO members

U.S. respects any Iraqi decision on MKO members

... Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Friday that while Washington recognizes Iraq's sovereign right to exercise authority over group, human rights should be observed ...

UPI, December 12, 2009
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2009/12/11/US
-urges-caution-with-PMOI-in-Iraq/UPI-65091260575079/

WASHINGTON , Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Washington respects any Iraqi decision regarding members of the dissident group People's Mujahedin of Iran but urges caution, the U.S. State Department said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said this week that members of the PMOI would be relocated from their Camp Ashraf enclave in Diyala province first to Baghdad and then to a desert outpost in the Shiite south of the country.

The PMOI opposes the clerical regime in Iran. Washington lists the group as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of opposition, though the group surrendered is weapons in 2003 and now claims its policy is based on peaceful dissent.

Iraqi forces stormed the Camp Ashraf enclave when U.S. combat forces pulled out of major cities to their military bases earlier this year. Several Ashraf residents died during the raid.

The group claims Iraqi authorities are acting out against its members under pressure from Tehran.

Amnesty International said Baghdad gave the group until Tuesday to leave the camp or they could face deportation to Iran.

Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Friday that while Washington recognizes Iraq's sovereign right to exercise authority over group, human rights should be observed.

"Diplomatically, we respect Iraqi sovereignty," he said. "But of course, we're making it clear that we would expect the residents of Camp Ashraf to be treated well and with respect."

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Also read:
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=7355

While Iranian students protest their government, MKO plots against the Iraqi people fail

... while he was in Jordan, Mr Stevenson again raised the issue of the MKO in Iraq and how they could be helped. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that Mr Stevenson “could resolve the situation by offering all 3400 PMOI refugees visas to come to live in Scotland!” No doubt this was not the kind of help Mr Stevenson was looking for ...

(Alejo Vidal-Quadras , Mojahedin Khalq logo, Struan stevenson )

By Anne Singleton, Iran-Interlink, December 8, 2009

Just as the MKO (aka NCRI) had no presence in Iran during the protests following Iran’s June elections, this time on 7th December (16th Azar - the day of national student protests) the MKO were also nowhere to be found. Instead, the next day, after trawling the Iranian newspapers for lists of protests throughout Iran, Maryam Rajavi kindly and thoughtfully (in case we didn’t know) informed the world through her websites that many Iranians vehemently and vocally oppose their government.

Without doubt the era of Rajavi’s association with Iranian politics has come to its inevitable end. Indeed, since 2002 the MKO have had no involvement in Iranian affairs except as second-hand news peddlers.

Still, the group is extremely active, lobbying parliaments and media. But on what issue?

The simple answer is – Iraq. The MKO’s websites are focused on Iraq and the cult’s situation there. The latest legal straw the group is grasping at is to somehow exploit an aspect of Spanish law which deals with international issues. But with no connection to Spain and no legal status in the international community except as a terrorist entity, the MKO really does not have any realistic hope that Spanish law can be used to force the Government of Iraq to allow it to remain as a terrorist group in their country. No doubt this will be a deep disappointment to the MKO’s backers and advocates – particularly those in the European Parliament.

Now, another huge blow has been dealt the MKO as Iraq's parliament has unanimously approved a new electoral law, paving the way for elections early next year. Although the US’s RAND report makes it clear that the MKO should have been disbanded in 2003, the Americans have preserved and promoted the group for a specific task – to facilitate the eventual return of pro-western elements (such as former Saddamists) into the Government of Iraq.

Since 2003, the MKO’s base at Camp Ashraf has been the meeting place for former Saddamists, insurgent Baathists and Al Qaida in Iraq. Countless meetings have taken place under the eyes of the American soldiers at the camp – 14 of whom lost their lives protecting the MKO.

No surprise then that at the start of the new European parliament, well-known MKO lobbying MEPs, Mr Struan Stevenson and Mr Alejo Vidal-Quadras, made a significant leap from membership of the Iran Delegation to sit on the Iraq Delegation, where Mr Stevenson is Chairman.

One of the issues to be raised as an immediate concern in the Iraq Delegation’s first meeting in September was not the desperate plight of 31+ million Iraqis suffering massive bomb blasts and consequent insecurity (let’s generously assume that was a given concern) but to support the demands of the MKO leaders to keep their 3400 Iranian cult members trapped in Camp Ashraf in Diyala province.

Members of the Iraq Delegation plan to visit Iraq in early January. But by the time the second meeting of the Iraq Delegation was held in November, the Chair, Mr Stevenson , had been invited to visit Jordan – where the former Saddamist Baathists including Izzat Ebrahim, Massoud Rajavi and Saddam Hussein’s family have taken refuge – to “have an exchange of views with various political figures involved in the political process in Iraq”.

(Izzat Ebrahim and Massoud Rajavi still at large)

Mindful that the MKO will not be able to remain in Iraq and a new terrorist base will have to be found for the cult, while he was in Jordan, Mr Stevenson again raised the issue of the MKO in Iraq and how they could be helped. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered that Mr Stevenson “could resolve the situation by offering all 3400 PMOI refugees visas to come to live in Scotland!” No doubt this was not the kind of help Mr Stevenson was looking for.

The MKO’s activities are currently linked to their role in Iraq. The group has been used as a cover to meddle in Iraq’s political process and facilitate – through a violent insurgency – an increase in the role of Saddamists in the country. The agenda has not been successful and the demise of the MKO to those promoting this agenda is sad but inevitable. It remains to be seen who will have the heart to rescue the 3400 cult members who have so far had no say in their situation and no escape from their exploitation.

Although it was not seriously expected that Mr Stevenson offer asylum to the whole MKO in Scotland, it is surely not unreasonable that these people be offered asylum and dispersed between the many European countries which make up the European Union.