News in Brief
March 2005, issue 10

Letter to the International Herald Tribune
1 February, Amir Naghshineh-Pour, San Diego, California
The terrorist organization headed by Maryam Rajavi ("Empower Iran's opposition forces," Views, Jan. 28) is very much comparable to the mullahs that currently rule Iran. Their history clearly indicates that they committed crimes against the Iranian people and how they allied themselves with one of the world's cruelest dictators, Saddam Hussein.
This terrorist organization has no support among the Iranians. They have no place in Iran.

MKO Paris Demonstration Cancelled
5 February, Irandidban website
French authorities cancelled an MKO demonstration which was to be held on February 10. The move came after authorities had three weeks ago agreed to the demonstration in Paris.
On Fublacht newspaper wrote, a statement by the MKO said that “30000 Iranian exiles are to rush into Paris on February 10 to take part in a demonstration. The National Council of Resistance, organizer of this demonstration, calls for international support.”
Over previous days the MKO's TV channel has tried to attract foreign citizens by promising to pay the costs of travel and accommodation in Paris.
The MKO TV channel interviewed people from Namibia, Angola, Cyprus and Greece who have expressed their willingness to participate in the demonstration of February 10.

Producers threatened by MKO over broadcast

6 February, In the Claws of the Mojahedin, Channel One TV, the Netherlands

Dutch TV broadcast a twenty eight minute documentary on the sect nature of the Mojahedin organization. The program, comprising interviews with Massoud Jaabani and Anne Singleton, talked about their experiences of psychological manipulation inside the organization.

The program's producers were stunned when they received abuse and threats by the Mojahedin even before the program was broadcast. This was followed by a concerted wave of verbal attacks by Iranians who all claimed to have nothing to do with the MKO.

Massoud Jaabani was a member of the MKO for twenty years. He currently works as a psychologist in the Netherlands and contributes to the Long Walk to Freedom organisation which supports refuges in the Netherlands. His book 'The Psychology of Armed Struggle' is published in March.

US seeks Iranian group as operatives against Tehran
Press Trust of India, New York, February 7, 2005

Members of an Iranian group known for its support of the US embassy takeover in 1979 may now be sought by the Bush administration as operatives for use against Tehran, a media report said on Monday.

At a camp south of Baghdad called Ashraf, 3,850 members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (People's Holy Warriors) or MEK have been confined, but gently treated by US forces since the invasion of Iraq, Newsweek said in its upcoming issue.

Some Pentagon civilians and intelligence planners, Newsweek said, are hoping a corps of informants can be picked from among the MEK prisoners, then split away from the movement and given training as spies.

After that, the thinking goes, they will be sent back to their native Iran to gather intelligence on the Iranian clerical regime, particularly its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, the report said.

Maryam Rajavi, who heads the MEK with her husband Massoud, told the news magazine that her group is what America needs.

"I believe increasingly the Americans have come to realize that the solution is an Iranian force that is able to get rid of the Islamic fundamentalists in power in Iran," she said.

She is demanding that the MEK be taken off the State Department's list of terrorist organizations, their assets unfrozen and their energies unleashed, the report said.

However, CIA is resisting the recruitment of agents from the MEK because senior officers regard them as unreliable cultists under the sway of Rajavi and her husband.

A Defense Department spokesman denied there is any "cooperation agreement" with the MEK and said the Pentagon has no plans to utilize MEK members in any capacity, it said quoting unidentified sources.

Counter-MKO Picket in Köln
February 10, Roshana
A picket held by Roshana Association in Köln highlighted some hidden truths about the Mojahedin organisation. People were shocked to learn that the Iranian group had been under the protection of Saddam and that dissidents of the organization were kept in his prisons, not because they did not want to fight against their own country, but because they refused to accept to fight for Saddam against Iraqis.
Voice of America had a live interview with Ali Ghashghavi about the picket and he explained why they think the MKO is not fit to talk about Iranian politics after 20 years working for Saddam, and being involved in the massacre of Kurds and Iraqis, the torture and imprisonment of dissidents, misusing and deceiving the democratic institutions of the EU and the USA.

MKO Demonstration in Berlin Stopped
February 11, Reuters
Berlin authorities banned Iranian exiles from around Europe from rallying in the German capital on Thursday to demonstrate against the government of Iran on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A spokesman for the so-called Mojahedin's political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, described the ban as "absolutely outrageous".
French authorities had also refused to allow the MKO to hold a similar rally in Paris.

MKO Demonstration in Berlin Curtailed
February 16, Expatica
A German court on Thursday lifted a police ban imposed on a demonstration by an Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
The court ruled the march in Berlin could go ahead if a speaker was prevented from addressing the protest and inflammatory banners were barred. Officials said between 700 and 800 Iranians took part in the protest.
Earlier, the city's interior ministry said the group - which seeks the ouster of the Teheran government - planned to use the rally to build support for the Iranian People's Mujahedin-e Khalq which has been declared a terrorist organisation by the European Union.
Germany's domestic security agency, the Verfassungsschutz, says the People's Mujahedin is merely a wing of the National Council of Resistance (NCR).
The NCR had claimed in a statement that 40,000 people had planned to attend the Berlin rally.

Former MKO meet German MPs
February 17
A delegation consisting Messrs Akbar Akbari, Jamshid Tahmasbi and Farhad Javaheriyar met with German MP, Rainer Funke (FDP, Hamburg) in the Bundestag to talk about human rights in Iran and Iraq. Mr Funke is well informed about Iran and its history and the human rights issues involved.
Mr Akbari described his three years in Abu Ghraib and the tortures he endured after he was handed over by Massoud Rajavi to Saddam's Intelligence Service headed by General Haboush.
Mr Funke showed concerned about the possibility of military attacks against Iran. Mr Javaheriyar rejected any military solution whether conducted directly or through mercenaries. Mr Funke expressed hope the delegation would meet with more parliamentarians and educate members about the delicate situation in Iran as well as the human rights issues. And he assured them that the parliamentarians support them.

MKO attack former member in the Netherlands
February 19
A meeting between a Christian priest and Mr Hadi Shams Haeri in Koningineweg in the Netherlands was interrupted by five MKO members who spotted him. These MKO supporters tried to dissuade the priest from talking to Mr Shams Haeri, but when their efforts failed they started to attack the group verbally. They called for reinforcements and suddenly the priest, Mr Shams Haeri and his sister-in-law were surrounded by twenty angry MKO supporters and members. They managed to get into a car and drive away while rubbish was thrown at the car. The MKO were unable to harm them.
Humanitarian personalities and organizations condemned the actions of the MKO.
Mr Shams Haeri had arranged the meeting in order to help secure the release of his two children who are being held as hostages by Rajavi's cult in Iraq.
In a statement Mr Shams Haeri said, "although they use other names after being put on list of terrorists, the violent nature of the organization, its mercenary leader and the threat it poses to western democracies remains the same." He urged Iranians and others to expose the MKO under whatever false names they use in Europe and America.

Iranian academic wins apology from Mojahedin
February 24
Dr Ali Ansari, a leading UK academic, brought High Court proceedings against Zed Books Ltd over comments made in the book Enemies of the Ayatollahs by Mohammed Mohaddessin, a leading member of the Mojahedin cult.
His solicitor, Julia Schopflin, said that on receiving Dr Ansari's complaint, the publisher accepted fully that there was no basis for what had been written about him and immediately offered him an apology. It had been agreed that a suitable sum would be paid to an appropriate charity and Dr Ansari's legal costs met in full.
The counsel for the publisher, Joanne Neenan, apologised for the damage and embarrassment caused by the allegations, which, she accepted, were completely untrue.
Zed had agreed not to republish them and all relevant copies of the book had been recalled and the offending material destroyed.

100 Mojahedin Successfully Repatriated – More Will Follow
February 28
The ICRC informed Iran Interlink that a new wave of voluntary repatriations of former MKO combatants in Iraq has begun. Today one hundred crossed the border at Khosravi, accompanied by officials of the ICRC, and Iraqi and Iranian humanitarian organization. The returnees are reported to be well and delighted to be home. They will soon be reunited with their families.
ICRC officials added that the process is ongoing and that, with the cooperation of the American Army, all the MKO combatants in Ashraf camp will be processed. Another group of voluntary repatriations is scheduled for next week.