US defends ceasefire deal with Iran opposition group

US defends ceasefire deal with Iran opposition group
Agence France Presse
April 30, 2003

WASHINGTON, April 30 (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday defended a ceasefire deal concluded with an Iraq-based armed Iranian opposition group that it has designated a terrorist organization.

A senior State Department official also rejected claims from Tehran that the agreement US forces reached with the People's Mujahedeen, or MKO, called into question Washington's commitment to the war on terrorism.

"The United States government does not negotiate with terrorists," said Cofer Black, the department's counter-terrorism coordinator.

"(MKO's) opposition to the Iranian government does not change the fact that they are a terrorist organization," he said, noting that US forces now in Iraq had agreed to the ceasefire as a "prelude to the group's surrender."