Iraq Council Votes to Throw Out Iranian Opposition Group

Iraq Council Votes to Throw Out Iranian Opposition Group
Washington Post
By Robin Wright and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Iraq's Governing Council voted yesterday to expel the leading Iranian opposition group and confiscate its assets, a surprise move that could alter the regional balance of power. The resolution calls for the eviction of the group's 3,800 members by the end of the month.

The move comes as the American governor of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, headed to Washington for talks at the White House about several unresolved and thorny issues in the U.S. exit strategy, particularly the transfer of power to a provisional Iraqi government to be concluded by July 1.

The Iraqi council's unanimous decision against the People's Mujaheddin, or MEK, is a significant political and security gain for Iran and could marginalize the group or even eliminate it as an effective opposition movement…

The timing is interesting. The Iraqi council's decision comes as Jordan's King Abdullah has been quietly trying to mediate the hand-over of about 70 al Qaeda operatives held by Iran -- in exchange for action by the United States on the MEK.

The move may also be linked to the Iraqi council's efforts to improve relations with Iran, another predominantly Shiite Muslim country that shares Iraq's longest border.

Ahmed Chalabi, a leading council member with close ties to both the United States and Iran, proposed the resolution. A Shiite Muslim, he recently visited Iran, according to Iraqi sources. Most of the 24 Governing Council members have been to Iran in recent months…

The move, which will assuage Iranian concerns, will deprive the MEK of its only direct access to Iran. There are now no major opposition groups operating on any of Iran's borders.

An unanswered question is what will happen to the MEK. The Iraqi council's resolution calls for the closure of the MEK headquarters in Baghdad and a prohibition on its members engaging in any political activities until their departure. It also calls for the seizure of all MEK funds and weapons, both of which will be turned over to a fund to compensate victims of Hussein's regime.

But the council did not discuss where the group would go. "It's up to them," said Entifadh Qanbar, a senior official of the Iraqi National Congress, Chalabi's party. "They can seek refuge in other places. We don't care where they're going to go."…