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Baghdad government seeks to deport MEK elements from Iraq
01/12/2011 15:17
BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (AKnews) - The Iraqi government informed international authorities that if will deport the Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf, known as the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), or Mujahedine Khalq of Iran (MEK).
Abdul Hussein al-Jabiri, an official in the federal government, said the MEK issue will be resolved this year.
"Iraq seeks to create friendly relations with Iran based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs," Jabiri said.
Iran has been actively mounting pressure on the Iraqi government to expel the Iranian dissidents.
Camp Ashraf, 60 km north of Baghdad in Diyala province, is home to some 3,400 Iranian exiles, including members of the banned PMOI. It was established in the 1980s during Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran and served as a base from which the Mujahadeen launched military attacks against the Islamic republic in a bid to oust the clerical regime that took power in Tehran in the 1979 revolution.
Since the 2003 allied toppling of the Saddam regime, the camp has come under repeated attack from Iraqi government officials who resent the Mujahadeen’s alliance with the former Iraqi dictator and accuse them of participating in his attacks against the country’s Shia and Kurdish populations.
In April this year, Iraqi security forces reportedly attacked the camp, killing as many as 35 people and wounding dozens more.
Iran meanwhile is keen to repatriate members of the Mujahadeen – a declared enemy of the Iranian government – though officials in Tehran insist that no harm will befall those who sever ties with the group.
Camp Ashraf has posed a growing problem for the Iraqi government since the US handed over the security of the camp in 2009, amid international pressure to assure the welfare of the camp’s residents and pressure from Tehran to extradite them.
The Iraqi government has repeatedly expressed its intentions to close the camp by the end of the year. On Oct. 12, the Iraqi re-confirmed its earlier decision to end the presence of the PMOI in Iraq by the end of this year.
Maryam Rajavi, chairwoman of the MEK, has called on the United Nations to protect her people. Rajavi said in a statement that forced removal is a "crime against humanity" and paves the way for a "massacre" planned by the Iranian and Iraqi authorities.
"The only acceptable choice inside Iraq is the protection of the residents of Ashraf by the United Nations' blue-cap forces [peacekeepers] and the deployment of international observers until the last individual is moved to another country."
"Moving the residents inside Iraq is not an accepted choice at all, in particular for women and children"
By Mohamed Tayyeb
RN/CU/AKnews
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
01/12/2011 15:17
BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (AKnews) - The Iraqi government informed international authorities that if will deport the Iranian dissidents from Camp Ashraf, known as the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), or Mujahedine Khalq of Iran (MEK).
Abdul Hussein al-Jabiri, an official in the federal government, said the MEK issue will be resolved this year.
"Iraq seeks to create friendly relations with Iran based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs," Jabiri said.
Iran has been actively mounting pressure on the Iraqi government to expel the Iranian dissidents.
Camp Ashraf, 60 km north of Baghdad in Diyala province, is home to some 3,400 Iranian exiles, including members of the banned PMOI. It was established in the 1980s during Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran and served as a base from which the Mujahadeen launched military attacks against the Islamic republic in a bid to oust the clerical regime that took power in Tehran in the 1979 revolution.
Since the 2003 allied toppling of the Saddam regime, the camp has come under repeated attack from Iraqi government officials who resent the Mujahadeen’s alliance with the former Iraqi dictator and accuse them of participating in his attacks against the country’s Shia and Kurdish populations.
In April this year, Iraqi security forces reportedly attacked the camp, killing as many as 35 people and wounding dozens more.
Iran meanwhile is keen to repatriate members of the Mujahadeen – a declared enemy of the Iranian government – though officials in Tehran insist that no harm will befall those who sever ties with the group.
Camp Ashraf has posed a growing problem for the Iraqi government since the US handed over the security of the camp in 2009, amid international pressure to assure the welfare of the camp’s residents and pressure from Tehran to extradite them.
The Iraqi government has repeatedly expressed its intentions to close the camp by the end of the year. On Oct. 12, the Iraqi re-confirmed its earlier decision to end the presence of the PMOI in Iraq by the end of this year.
Maryam Rajavi, chairwoman of the MEK, has called on the United Nations to protect her people. Rajavi said in a statement that forced removal is a "crime against humanity" and paves the way for a "massacre" planned by the Iranian and Iraqi authorities.
"The only acceptable choice inside Iraq is the protection of the residents of Ashraf by the United Nations' blue-cap forces [peacekeepers] and the deployment of international observers until the last individual is moved to another country."
"Moving the residents inside Iraq is not an accepted choice at all, in particular for women and children"
By Mohamed Tayyeb
RN/CU/AKnews
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
