U.S. Seeks Truce with Iranian Militants in Iraq

U.S. Seeks Truce with Iranian Militants in Iraq

Reuters
April 17, 2003

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday it had been attacking fighters of the Iranian opposition Mujahideen i-Khalq in Iraq, but hoped to arrange a cease-fire with them in the next few days.

"We know that there's a presence of the Mujahideen i-Khalq inside of Iraq and indeed we have been targeting them for some time," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a briefing at Central Command headquarters in Qatar.

"There's work that's ongoing right now to try to secure some sort of agreement that would be a cease-fire and capitulation. That work is ongoing and it will most likely unfold within the coming days."

Armed with tanks and artillery, the Mujahideen have sought to overthrow Iran's Islamic government for more than a decade. The group is also known as the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States believed the Mujahideen i-Khalq was an integral part of Saddam Hussein's forces and therefore a legitimate target for U.S. forces.

"The Mujahideen i-Khalq's forces were fully integrated with Saddam Hussein's command and control (and) therefore constituted legitimate military targets that posed a threat to coalition forces," Boucher told reporters in Washington.

The U.S. government estimated recently that the group had "several thousand fighters," most of whom are based in Iraq.

An American defense official said on Wednesday U.S. forces were still pursuing various paramilitary and other opposition groups based inside Iraq.