U.S. not to swap Iran rebels for al-Qaida

United Press International
December 8, 2003
By ANWAR IQBAL

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) - The United States said Monday it does not intend to swap Iranian rebels with Iran in return for al-Qaida members.

"The United States is not engaged in discussions regarding a swap of Mujahedin-e-Khalq members held by U.S. forces in Iraq in return for al-Qaida members held in Iran," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing.

Mujahedin-e-Khalq is an Iranian opposition group, which tried earlier this year to solicit U.S. support for its efforts to bringing down Iran's clergy-dominated government.

The group is on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organization, placed there by the Clinton administration in 1997 for bombing Iranian and Western targets in the past.

But in April this year, the Pentagon indicated interest in improving its relations with MeK, hoping to use it to counter Iranian influence in Iraq.

The MeK was allowed to lobby U.S. lawmakers and held several meetings on the Hill and other places to win over official U.S. support.

The Bush administration, however, changed its policy again in August and law enforcement agencies seized Mek's assets and shuttered its offices in Washington. The move was criticized by pro-MeK lawmakers who thought it was a mistake to alienate a powerful group that could have been used against the Iranian government.

Some 150 U.S. lawmakers urged the State Department to remove the group from its terrorist list, calling the MeK a legitimate democratic opposition group.

The State Department disagreed. On Oct. 28, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage publicly criticized the Pentagon for attempting to win over a group already on his department's list of terrorist outfits.

The action against the MeK came amid increased contacts between U.S. and Iranian officials and statements from Tehran expressing an interest in extending indirect support to the U.S.-led war on terror.

Such contacts led to speculations in Washington's diplomatic circles that the United States might hand over MeK rebels in its custody to Iran. Such a move could not only encourage Iran to surrender al-Qaida suspects to the United States but it could also help thaw Washington's strained relations with Tehran, the sources said.

MeK supporters in Washington, however, were relieved when indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva broke down about three months ago.

But their fears were revived last week following a meeting between President George W. Bush and Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington. Media reports said the Jordanian king was mediating between Iran and the United States and was encouraging Iran to hand over al-Qaida operatives to Washington.

MeK supporters fear that Iran will not handover al-Qaida operatives unless the Bush administration gives Iranian rebels to Tehran.

Commenting on these fears, State Department's spokesman Boucher said the Bush administration has always urged Iran to surrender all al-Qaida suspects to the United States or to the countries of their origin.

But he said the United States does not intend to handover MeK fighters to Iran who had surrendered to U.S. forces after they captured Iraq.

Despite its reservations about MeK, the State Department has acknowledged in the past that the group did play a key role in exposing Iran's nuclear program.

The State Department also considers the MeK "the largest and most active armed Iranian dissident group ... with several thousand fighters and an extensive overseas support structure."

The department's policymakers, however, say that the Mek has a terrorist past. To bring about regime change in Iran with their held would hurt the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

The department says the MeK's "history is studded with anti-Western activity, and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad."

The MeK was formed in the 1960s by college-educated children of Iranian merchants to counter, what they saw as, excessive Western influence during the reign of the shah of Iran. It follows a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam.

During the 1970s, the MeK staged attacks inside Iran and killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran, which was then an ally of the United States. The groups also supported the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In the 1980s, the group split with the mullahs who ran Iran. Its leaders fled to France. Most resettled in Iraq by 1987, often launching guerrilla attacks into Iran with then President Saddam Hussein's support.

In April 1992, the group attacked Iranian embassies in 13 different countries, demonstrating its ability to mount large-scale operations overseas.

The group's military wing, founded in 1987, is called the National Liberation Army and is headed by Massoud Rajavi, 55. His whereabouts are unclear though his supporters say he is operating along the Iran-Iraq border.

Rajavai's wife, Maryam Rajavi, 49, is the head of the political faction, and is projected as Iran's future democratic leader. She is also the deputy-commander-in-chief of the NLA. Women are said to account for one-third of MeK fighters.

When U.S. forces entered Iraq in April this year and toppled Saddam, they disarmed several thousand MeK fighters but allowed them to stay in their camps. The move rekindled MeK's hopes to get off the FTO list. It immediately launched a major media campaign to improve its image in the United States.