Iraq sets deadline to dismantle Iran exile camp

Iran, Iraq sign extradition accord
25 Apr 2011 08:51

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Iran-Iraq ties strengthened since Saddam's fall

* Media speculate about MKO extraditions from Iraq

(Corrects first paragraph to ...refuge in Iraq)

TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Iran and Iraq have signed an extradition agreement that Iranian media speculated could lead to members of an Iranian militant group that used to enjoy refuge in Iraq being sent home for trial.

The accord, signed by justice ministers of both countries in Tehran late on Sunday according to official news agencies, follows a raid by Iraqi forces on April 8 on Camp Ashraf, home of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, which wants to overthrow the Iranian government.

According to the U.N. human rights chief, 34 people were killed in the raid on the camp [ID:nN1557497] which was set up under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but which the new government has said must close.

Iraq, Iran and the United States consider the PMOI, also known as the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO), terrorists though the European Union removed the group from its terrorism blacklist in 2009.

The group, seeking the overthrow of Iran's Islamic government, mounted attacks on Iran from Iraq before Saddam's 2003 downfall. In the 1970s, it led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran, including attacks on U.S. targets.

Saddam gave it refuge in Iraq in the 1980s and some of its fighters joined him in the 1980-1988 war against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.

The camp's fate has been in question since the U.S. military turned it over to Baghdad in 2009 under a bilateral security agreement. Baghdad has said Ashraf residents would be given until year-end to leave the country. (Reporting by Hossein Jaseb; writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by Tim Pearce


===
11 Apr 2011 19:57

Source: reuters // Reuters


* Iranian dissidents must leave by year-end

* Decision follows violence at camp last week

* Exiles say death toll has reached 34


By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD, April 11 (Reuters) - The Iraqi government has set a year-end deadline for residents of an Iranian dissident camp to leave the country, a government spokesman said on Monday, after a violent crackdown last week in which at least 10 people died.

Camp Ashraf, a dusty, 25-year-old village in a rural area northeast of Baghdad, is the base of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, a guerrilla group that opposes the Shi'ite cleric leaders of neighbouring Iran.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI's political wing, said 34 people died, some by gunfire, in a "criminal attack" by Iraqi security forces on the camp early on Friday.

Iraqi military officials said three residents died in clashes when soldiers responded to provocation after being pelted with rocks and threatened by camp residents, but denied using firearms. A hospital source put the toll at 10 dead and 40 wounded and said most of the victims bore gunshot wounds. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called the PMOI a "terrorist organisation" and said the government would enforce a previous decision to close the camp, giving residents until the end of December to leave Iraq.

"This organisation must be removed from Iraqi territory by all means, including political and diplomatic, with the cooperation of the U.N. and international organisations," Dabbagh said in a statement.

Ashraf has been a sore spot for the United States, Iraq and Iran for years. All three consider the PMOI a terrorist group.

Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein gave it shelter in Iraq and some of its guerrillas fought with him against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam.

The U.S. military turned the camp over to Iraq in 2009 under a bilateral security pact between the two countries.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had ordered Iraqi forces to attack the camp, which is located in troubled Diyala province about 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, in a remote location largely inaccessible to journalists.

The group said soldiers used automatic weapons and machine guns installed on armoured vehicles to open fire on residents, and accused the Iraqi military of blocking access to medical care for the wounded.

In a statement on Monday, the group said the toll had reached 34 dead with more than 300 wounded, some in critical condition.

Washington said the Iraqi government had initiated the crisis at Ashraf and the United Nations called on Baghdad to allow the U.N. mission in Iraq to monitor the camp. Rights group Amnesty International called for an independent investigation of the incident. (Reporting by Waleed Ibrahim; Writing by Jim Loney)

==

Iran opposition head rejects U.S. plan for Iraq camp

06 Jul 2011 16:46

Source: reuters // Reuters

* PMOI leader says U.N. "must step in"

* Urges U.S., EU to help guarantee safety of camp in Iraq

By James Mackenzie

ROME, July 6 (Reuters) - The leader of an exiled Iranian opposition group rejected a U.S. proposal to move the residents of a dissident camp in Iraq to a new location following deadly clashes in April, saying the plan would lead to a "massacre."

The settlement known as Camp Ashraf, some 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad, is the base of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, or PMOI, an Iranian opposition group that Washington officially considers a terrorist group.

In April, the camp was the scene of clashes between residents and Iraqi security forces, during which 34 people were killed, according to a U.N. investigation.

"In order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations must step in," PMOI leader Maryam Rajavi told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.

Rajavi, in Rome to meet Italian parliamentarians, called for a permanent monitoring team backed by the United States and the European Union to be set up at the camp to ensure the safety of the residents.

"The U.S. has a legal and moral responsibility to protect the residents of Camp Ashraf," she said.

The future of the camp has been uncertain since the United States turned it over to Iraq in 2009 under a bilateral security agreement. Baghdad, which also considers the group a terrorist organisation, wants the camp cleared by the end of 2011.

Iraqi authorities said the clashes in April broke out after security forces responded to rock-throwing and threats by residents during an operation to reclaim land from the camp and return it to farmers.

Following the clashes, U.S. officials drew up a plan to relocate the camp's residents to a site to be chosen by the Iraqi government. [ID:nN055194]

SAYS IRAQ ACTING UNDER IRANIAN PRESSURE

Rajavi said the proposal would leave the residents open to attack by the same security forces she blamed for the April clashes. She said Iraq was acting under pressure from Iran, which wants to destroy the group.

"Any kind of internal displacement of the residents of Camp Ashraf would lead to more bloodshed," she said, speaking through a translator.

"If such a displacement took place, they would go to a place which is not known to the international community, they would lose their communications and they would be further isolated. It would lay the ground for their massacre."

"Not only does internal displacement not serve any problems, it makes the situation worse."

The PMOI, also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, mounted attacks on Iran from Iraq before the downfall of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.

In the 1970s, it led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed shah of Iran, including attacks on U.S. targets.

Saddam gave it refuge in the 1980s and some of its fighters joined Iraq in the 1980-1988 war against Iran. The group surrendered its weapons to U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam.

The European Union removed the group from its list of terrorist organisations in 2009. (Editing by Peter Cooney) ================= Former U.S. base opened to Iranian terrorist group Posted By Josh Rogin Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 3:38 PM Share Camp Liberty, which housed U.S. troops in Iraq up until a few months ago, is now open to house members of the State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization known as the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK). But MEK leaders haven't decided they're ready to move in just yet. "The U.S. has and continues to welcome and support the peaceful temporary relocation and eventual permanent resettlement of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq," said Ambassador Dan Fried, the State Department's special advisor on Camp Ashraf, currently home to several thousand MEK members. "Our purpose is humanitarian. We welcomed the signing of the [Memorandum of Understanding] last Christmas Day between the Iraqi government and the U.N. This MOU charts a peaceful way forward." The document set into writing the Iraqi government's decision to delay the closure of Camp Ashraf, where up to 3,200 members of the MEK have been living for years. The Iraqi government had promised to close Camp Ashraf in December but agreed to push back that date for six months. Baghdad also agreed to ensure the safe treatment of the MEK members, who fear and distrust the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "At this new location, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees will be able to conduct refugee status determinations for the residents of Ashraf -- a necessary first step toward resettlement to third countries," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Dec. 25. "We are encouraged by the Iraqi government's willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities, especially the elements of the MOU that provide for the safety and security of Ashraf's residents." The facility has now been officially renamed Camp Hurriya (Arabic for "freedom") and the first MEK members can now go there, Fried said. The United Nations announced on Jan. 31 that the facilities at Camp Liberty now meet international humanitarian standards and are ready to receive Camp Ashraf's residents. "In any move of this kind and in the early days, once people are settling into Hurriya, problems may arise, of course," he said. "Patience, goodwill, and willingness to resolve logistical issues in a practical way will be critical." But no members of the MEK have yet made the move, despite the extensive efforts of the United States and the United Nations to get their new home ready and to convince the Iraqi government to support the move. "The residents of Camp Ashraf must make the decision to start this relocation process. Camp Ashraf is no longer a viable home for them. They have no secure future there," said Fried. The Marxist-Islamist group, which was formed in 1965, was used by deposed Iraqi autocrat Saddam Hussein to attack the Iranian government during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and has been implicated in the deaths of U.S. military personnel and civilians. The new Iraqi government has been trying to evict them from Camp Ashraf since the United States toppled Saddam in 2003. The U.S. military guarded the outside of the camp until handing over external security to the Iraqis in 2009. The Iraqi Army has since tried twice to enter Camp Ashraf, resulting in bloody clashes with the MEK. Camp Hurriya is only meant to be a temporary home for the MEK. From there, its members could elect to go back to Iran -- where they risk persecution -- or move on to a third country, if they have residency there. The United States will help certain MEK members apply for refugee status on a case by case basis. Fried urged the MEK to make the decision to move to Camp Hurriya, and he asked the group's many supporters in Washington to convey that message directly to the MEK. The MEK's list of advocates, most who have admitted being paid, includes Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Sen. Robert Torricelli, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, former CIA Deputy Director of Clandestine Operations John Sano, former National Security Advisor James Jones, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers, former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, Gen. Wesley Clark, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, former CIA Director Porter Goss, senior advisor to the Romney campaign Mitchell Reiss, Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, former Sen. Evan Bayh, and many others. "All those who wish the residents of Ashraf a peaceful future outside of Iraq can help by encouraging the MEK to make the decision it needs to make," Fried said. "The responsibility for the next decision rests with the MEK... A peaceful solution is at hand, but they've got to take it." =================