Iraqi politicians, Iranian opposition group demand Tehran not interfere in Iraq

Associated Press
January 31, 2007

Brussels - Several prominent Sunni politicians from Iraq joined forces with an exiled Iranian opposition group Wednesday to demand an end to what they said was interference in Iraq by the Iranian government.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran repeated claims that it had obtained the names of more than 30,000 Iranian agents working in Iraq, including members of parliament and ranking members of the Iraqi security forces. It also claimed to have uncovered details of facilities in Iran used to make bombs for Iraqi insurgents.The Paris-based council is the political wing of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

It held a joint news conference with a group of visiting mostly Sunni Arab Iraqi politicians who were in Brussels for talks with members of the European Parliament and Belgium Senate.

"The intervention of Iran in the affairs of Iraq is not long a secret to anyone," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of Iraqi parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc. "Everybody knows Iran is meddling."

"The European Union and the European Parliament should put pressure on Iran to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq," al-Dulaimi said.

Another Sunni legislator, Khalaf al-Alayan, leader of the Sunni National Dialogue Council, called on the United States "to get rid of the Iranian occupation of Iran." However, he accused the United States and the Shiite-led Iraqi government of supporting attacks on Sunnis to prepare for the federal division of the country.

He thanked the Iranian People's Mujahedeen for their help. "We consider them our brothers," he said. "This is the best proof that we don't have any hatred for the Iranian people."

Members of the People's Mujahedeen fled to Iraq in the early 1980s after it fell out with the clerical regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During Saddam Hussein's rule, the movement used Iraq as a base for operations against Iran's government.

MPs, jurists urge reaffirmation of PMOI refugee rights in Iraq

January 29, 2007

NCRI - A conference was held on January 23 at Geneva Press Club to defend the political refugee rights of members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) in Ashraf City, Iraq. Members of the Swiss Federal and Geneva parliaments as well as human rights and political personalities, attended this conference and spoke about the situation at Ashraf.

They were concerned by the well being of the people of Ashraf, especially since the Iranian regime, which is widely detested at home, has been trying since 2003 to rid itself of its opposition by taking advantage of the situation in Iraq. It has been working feverishly to have the PMOI members repatriated to Iran from Iraq or at least have them expelled from that country. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law, such an outcome would be considered a war crime or crime against humanity.

The Iranian regime’s plots to realize this objective have been stepped up dramatically in recent months, as the mullahs have employed all their political, intelligence and terrorist means at their disposal in Iraq.

In a joint statement issued after a meeting between the Iraqi and the mullahs’ presidents in Tehran, the Iranian regime welcomed the “recent decision by the Iraqi government to expel members of the terrorist Monafeqin [Mojahedin] grouplet from Iraq and described the quick implementation of this decision as positive step in expanding and strengthening relations between the two countries.”

On July 19, 2006, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki told Agence France Presse that “he was looking for the ways to end the presence in Iraq of the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (MPOI).”

On January 15, 2007, the Iranian regime’s Minister of Intelligence and Security, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, met his Iraqi counterpart, Shiran al-Waili, and discussed among other things,” activities of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/PMOI) based in Iraq,” the state-run news agency, Mehr, reported.

On July 28, 2006, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said in a speech, aired by Al-Araqieh Iraqi television station, “terrorist organizations in Iraq, including the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq, must be expelled from Iraq.”

On August 3, 2005, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, Mowafaq Al-Rubaiee was quoted in the state-run daily Jomhuri-Eslami as saying, “The organization’s [PMOI] criminal members must be prosecuted in Iraq and other members of this grouplet who have not committed a crime must be either extradited to Iran or be expelled from Iraq.”

These comments were made despite the fact that the government of Iraq must remain committed to the obligation of previous Iraqi government. The refugee status of PMOI members in Iraq was reaffirmed even after the fall of the former Iraqi government by Mr. Iyad Allawi and Dr. Ibrahim Jafari.

In an interview with the Iraqi weekly, As-Shahed Al-Mustaqel on September 20, 2005, former Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Iyad Allawi said he considers the PMOI members “political refugees covered under the Geneva Convention and international laws.”

According to the Iraqi daily As-Safir on August 9, 2006, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Services, Dr. Salaam az-Zubai, “reaffirmed PMOI members’ rights to a legal presence in Iraq as political refugees and said that they enjoyed the special status of protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

In addition, in a declaration in June 2006, some 5.2 million Iraqis underscored that the PMOI enjoyed legal presence in Iraq for 20 years and had acted the main bulwark against the spread of fundamentalism. They also stressed that the status of its members as political refugees in Iraq must be reaffirmed.

The speakers at the conference stressed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for the safety and well being of Ashraf residents and that it must end its silence and inaction vis-à-vis the residents of Ashraf. Because the more the UNHCR remains silent, it will only send the signal to the Iranian regime that it can continue to conspire against PMOI members in Ashraf.

That is why we have been urging the UHCR to reaffirm the 20-year legal presence of the Mojahedin in Ashraf, and urge the Iraqi government to abide to the principle of non-refoulement, as well as the prohibition on any form of involuntary displacement of Ashraf residents and that those in Ashraf are entitled to enjoy political refugee status.

The People’s Mojahedin of Iran pay tribute to Abbé Pierre

Agence France Presse
January 29, 2007

The Iranian resistance movement, the People’s Mojahedin, based in Iraq, paid tribute to Abbé Pierre, the leader of the struggle against poverty in France, “for his support to the Iranian people’s resistance”.

A ceremony paying homage to the “French champion of Justice” took place on Saturday in Ashraf, the the headquarters of the movement, and situated 80 km north of Baghdad, the group noted in a statement, adding that representatives of the Iraqi Christian community were also present.

The founder of the Emmaüs community, which supports the poor and which is present in almost forty countries, died in Paris on January 22.

“Sedigheh Hosseini, Secretary General of the People’s Mojahedin, presented a biography of Abbé Pierre, that he had dedicated to the champions of Ashraf last month and that arrived in Iraq at the time of his death”, the statement said.

On December 23, Abbé Pierre met President Maryam Rajavi, to express his “satisfaction” at the decision of the European Court of Justice to cancel the freeze of the movement’s assets.

“I have been in contact with the Iranian Resistance for more than 12 years and I cannot hide my sincere liking for them”, Abbé Pierre wrote in February to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Javier Solana, according to the organization.

In this letter, he had considered that the Mojahedin “attempt to put an end to the injustices and crimes committed by the Iranian regime”, the statement also said.

MPs, jurists urge reaffirmation of PMOI refugee rights in Iraq

January 29, 2007

NCRI - A conference was held on January 23 at Geneva Press Club to defend the political refugee rights of members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) in Ashraf City, Iraq. Members of the Swiss Federal and Geneva parliaments as well as human rights and political personalities, attended this conference and spoke about the situation at Ashraf.

They were concerned by the well being of the people of Ashraf, especially since the Iranian regime, which is widely detested at home, has been trying since 2003 to rid itself of its opposition by taking advantage of the situation in Iraq. It has been working feverishly to have the PMOI members repatriated to Iran from Iraq or at least have them expelled from that country. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law, such an outcome would be considered a war crime or crime against humanity.

The Iranian regime’s plots to realize this objective have been stepped up dramatically in recent months, as the mullahs have employed all their political, intelligence and terrorist means at their disposal in Iraq.

In a joint statement issued after a meeting between the Iraqi and the mullahs’ presidents in Tehran, the Iranian regime welcomed the “recent decision by the Iraqi government to expel members of the terrorist Monafeqin [Mojahedin] grouplet from Iraq and described the quick implementation of this decision as positive step in expanding and strengthening relations between the two countries.”

On July 19, 2006, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki told Agence France Presse that “he was looking for the ways to end the presence in Iraq of the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (MPOI).”

On January 15, 2007, the Iranian regime’s Minister of Intelligence and Security, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, met his Iraqi counterpart, Shiran al-Waili, and discussed among other things,” activities of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO/PMOI) based in Iraq,” the state-run news agency, Mehr, reported.

On July 28, 2006, Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said in a speech, aired by Al-Araqieh Iraqi television station, “terrorist organizations in Iraq, including the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq, must be expelled from Iraq.”

On August 3, 2005, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, Mowafaq Al-Rubaiee was quoted in the state-run daily Jomhuri-Eslami as saying, “The organization’s [PMOI] criminal members must be prosecuted in Iraq and other members of this grouplet who have not committed a crime must be either extradited to Iran or be expelled from Iraq.”

These comments were made despite the fact that the government of Iraq must remain committed to the obligation of previous Iraqi government. The refugee status of PMOI members in Iraq was reaffirmed even after the fall of the former Iraqi government by Mr. Iyad Allawi and Dr. Ibrahim Jafari.

In an interview with the Iraqi weekly, As-Shahed Al-Mustaqel on September 20, 2005, former Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Iyad Allawi said he considers the PMOI members “political refugees covered under the Geneva Convention and international laws.”

According to the Iraqi daily As-Safir on August 9, 2006, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Services, Dr. Salaam az-Zubai, “reaffirmed PMOI members’ rights to a legal presence in Iraq as political refugees and said that they enjoyed the special status of protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

In addition, in a declaration in June 2006, some 5.2 million Iraqis underscored that the PMOI enjoyed legal presence in Iraq for 20 years and had acted the main bulwark against the spread of fundamentalism. They also stressed that the status of its members as political refugees in Iraq must be reaffirmed.

The speakers at the conference stressed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for the safety and well being of Ashraf residents and that it must end its silence and inaction vis-à-vis the residents of Ashraf. Because the more the UNHCR remains silent, it will only send the signal to the Iranian regime that it can continue to conspire against PMOI members in Ashraf.

That is why we have been urging the UHCR to reaffirm the 20-year legal presence of the Mojahedin in Ashraf, and urge the Iraqi government to abide to the principle of non-refoulement, as well as the prohibition on any form of involuntary displacement of Ashraf residents and that those in Ashraf are entitled to enjoy political refugee status.

Agents of the Iranian regime incite hatred in Iraq

January 26, 2007

NCRI – The Euro-MPs Paulo Casaca and André Brie held a press conference in Strasbourg on January 18 on their trip to Ashraf City. “We had discussions with almost 4000 Iraqis and 150 intellectuals and exchange of views with religious leaders, Shiite and Sunni groups and other officials”, they said.

German Euro-MP André Brie noted, “following this trip, my eighth in Iraq and the third for Mr Casaca, we handed over a twenty-page report on our assessment of the situation in this country to the chairman of the European Commission, José Manuel Barraso”.

André Brie added: “Concerning violence and conflict in Iraq, the Western media blamed it on sectarian clashes. But sectarian violence has no place in the history of this country. The agents of the Iranian regime incite hatred and provoke conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis. In fact, presently, it is not a government which rules this country, it is Shiite militias and political leaders who are answerable to them”.

Paulo Casaca, Portuguese European MP and co-chairman of the interparliamentary group Friends of a Free Iran, was the next speaker: “The situation of the Iraqi people is currently at the heart of our concerns. That is the reason why we are introducing a platform entitled ‘The future of Iraq’. This is an Iraqi-European initiative meant to find a solution for Iraq”.

“The current problems in Iraq are not the result of differences between ethnic groups or between Shiites and Sunnis. This is a project planned to destroy Iraq. It is mainly led by the paramilitary militias. They carry out kidnappings and torture their victims. Their aim is to seize power in Iraq.”

Paulo Casaca recalled: “They concentrate their efforts on devastating Iraq. According to information at our disposal, 90 minutes after the Americans handed over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi Prime Minister, the militias killed him”.

Mr. Casaca added: “The People’s Mojahedin of Iran based in Ashraf played an important role in the planning of our meetings with the Iraqis. Indeed, Ashraf City is the safest place in Iraq where Iraqi people can express themselves freely without threats. Thousands of Iraqis come to Ashraf, taking many risks. The Mojahedin play a very constructive role in the present situation”.

“One example is the mosque in Ashraf, where, Sunnis and Shiites pray side by side in peace and harmony. This shows that the current conflict has been imposed on the Iraqi people.”

The mullahs’ agents abducted and brutally murdered president of Iraqi Women Syndicate

Thursday, 18 January 2007

NCRI - The mullahs’ agents abducted and brutally murdered president of the Iraqi Women Syndicate (IWS), Ms. Amereh Abdul-Karim Al-Aqabi in Iraq.

Ms. Al-Aqabi was one of the fierce opponents of the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq. She was also one of the co-sponsors of the historic statement by 5.2 million Iraqis in June 2006 which called for eviction of the mullahs’ regime from her country.

Ms. Al-Aqabi was involved in extensive activities to improve the role of Iraqi women in the society. As the president of IWS, she led a major resistance against fundamentalism and increasing restrictions imposed on Iraqi women.

In a letter to the speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly and Vice-President, she wrote, “I, as a patriotic Iraqi woman, in solidarity with female members of the Mojahedin in Ashraf City, home to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), call for reaffirmation of the political refugee status of 1000 Mojahedin women who are against the mullahs’ regime in Iran.”

The Iranian Resistance expresses its condolences to Al-Aqabi family and calls for condemnation of the gruesome murder by international human rights organizations as well as women rights organizations. It reiterates on the need for a firm stance in regards with export of terrorism by the regime to Iraq.

Last June 5.2 million Iraqis in their statement called for the eviction of the regime from Iraq and reminded the mullahs’ crimes such as “mass murders, assassination of national figures, abductions and ever more growing waves of arbitrary arrests in Iraq.” It went on to add that the Iranian regime has targeted “security, life, and democracy” in Iraq and had pushed the country to the brink of virtual collapse.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
January 18, 2007

Tehran’s deal to get PMOI extradited fails

Agence France Presse
January 17, 2007

LONDON - Iran offered to cut off aid and support for the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, and promised full transparency on its nuclear programme, in a secret letter to the United States soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

According to the BBC, the letter, which it obtained, was unsigned, but the US State Department understood that it came with the approval of the highest Iranian authorities.

The Islamic republic also offered to use its influence to support stabilisation in Iraq, and in return asked for a halt in hostile American behaviour, an abolition of all sanctions, and the pursuit and repatriation of members of the Mujahedeen Khalq (People's Mujahedeen MKO).

The MKO is an exiled Iranian opposition group which fought alongside former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's army in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, and is currently based in Iraq.

Initially, the State Department was positive on the offer, according to Lawrence Wilkerson, former US secretary of state Colin Powell's chief of staff, who spoke to the BBC.

"As soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the Vice-President's (Dick Cheney) office, the old mantra of 'we don't talk to evil' ... reasserted itself," Wilkerson told the broadcaster.

"To our embarrassment at State ... the cable that I saw go back to the Swiss actually upbraided the Swiss for being so bold and audacious as to present such a proposal to us on behalf of the Iranians."

According to Wilkerson, the State Department was also offered a deal by the Iranians after it led the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 which involved Iran giving up senior Al-Qaeda terror network figures in return for help pursuing the MKO.

Powell and Wilkerson were unsure how high in the Iranian government the approach came from, however, and did not pursue the offer, the BBC said.

Iran-Iraq discuss mutual security issues Service: Foreign Policy

ISNA, State-run news agency
01-15-2007

TEHRAN, Jan.15 (ISNA)-Iran's minister of intelligence, Mohseni Ejei and the national security minister of Iraq, Shirvan Al-Waeli met and discussed mutual intelligence and security issues, here.

In the meeting, Ejei mentioned the banned opposition group Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) as one of the main basis of their mutual talks.

"Naturally the Islamic Republic of Iran is considerate of all that's going on in Iraq and is sympathetic for the insecurities and catastrophes taking place in that country. Therefore it will do its best to aid Iraq gain control over these irregularities as soon as possible," said Ejei.

Iran concerned about Iraq's security: minister

State-run Mehr News Agency
January 15, 2007

TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (MNA) – Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Ejei said on Sunday that Tehran is concerned about Iraq’s security situation.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran regrets what is going on in Iraq and has always tried to help the popular Iraqi government to counter insecurity,” Ejei told reporters in a joint press conference with the visiting Iraqi State Secretary for National Security Shirwan al-Waili…

He added even though the meeting was centered on security issues they discussed other topics such as activities of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) based in Iraq.

The minister stated that they also discussed the issue of five Iranian diplomats who were arrested by the U.S. troops in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on Thursday.

Al-Waili said that Iraq’s neighbors especially Iran can play a key role in establishing peace and security in Iraq, expressing hope that Iran’s security cooperation will be expanded.

“The scourge of terrorism is a threat not only to Iraq but also all regional countries and we should all join hands to uproot terrorism and restore calm to the country,” the Iraqi security official noted.