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http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=9982

American Backers of Mojahedin Khalq (MKO, MEK, Rajavi cult) terror group : For as little as 25k we will take them off the list

Banned Terror Group Seeks U.S. Rebirth

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... These officials, and others including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former heads of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, have taken the podium to praise the group. The speakers wouldn't disclose their speaking fees, but many of them charge between $25,000 and $40,000 per appearance."We should take the MeK off the [terror] list and recognize them for what they are, which is the legitimate government of the Republic of Iran," former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said at a recent event in London. Mr. Dean said he has made both paid and unpaid speeches for MeK ...

(Rajavi from Saddam to AIPAC)

(Washington backed Maryam Rajavi in terrorists HQ in Paris)

Wall Street Jurnal, May 13, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424
052748704810504576307102942382660.html

KEITH JOHNSON, JAY SOLOMON and SCOTT GREENBERG

WASHINGTON—An Iranian exile group once allied with Saddam Hussein has enlisted former top U.S. officials—including heads of the CIA, FBI, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and politicians from both parties—to try to get it removed from the State Department's terrorist list.

The Mujahedin e-Khalq, or People's Holy Warriors, has deployed the heavyweights on speaking tours in Washington and European capitals, hoping to convey the image of a popular, democratic alternative to Tehran's ruling clerics.

Obama administration and European officials, however, fear the campaign could undermine Washington's policy of reaching out to opposition forces in Iran. They say that's because the U.S. would appear to be aligned with a group that is widely unpopular due to its military alliance with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during the 1980s and '90s and a string of terrorist attacks the U.S. says it launched inside Iran.

Among the group's newfound cheerleaders are recently departed members of President Barack Obama's national security team, including Jim Jones, the former national-security advisor, Dennis Blair, the former director of national intelligence and James Woolsey, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency.

These officials, and others including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former heads of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, have taken the podium to praise the group. The speakers wouldn't disclose their speaking fees, but many of them charge between $25,000 and $40,000 per appearance.

"We should take the MeK off the [terror] list and recognize them for what they are, which is the legitimate government of the Republic of Iran," former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said at a recent event in London. Mr. Dean said he has made both paid and unpaid speeches for MeK.

MeK's backers cite intelligence it has provided the West on Iran's nuclear program and aid to U.S. troops in Iraq as reasons to remove the listing. They also cite MeK's democratic platform.

Mohammed Mohaddessin, a senior member of MeK's political arm in Paris, said Iranian communities in the U.S. and Europe organized and funded the lobbying effort. He said that in 2001, "the MeK rejected all kinds of violence, so there is no excuse for keeping them on the list."

The MeK, led by Maryam Rajavi, was founded in 1965 to fight the Shah of Iran, and the U.S. says it killed several Americans in Tehran in the 1970s. The group briefly allied with, then turned violently against, the clerical regime that came to power in 1979. In the early 1980s, the MeK retreated to Paris. By 1986, it relocated to Iraq and fought alongside Saddam's forces in the eight-year war against Iran.

The State Department first listed MeK as a terrorist group in 1997. In its latest terror report, in 2009, it blames MeK for many attacks on Iranian embassies, military officers and politicians, though not since 2001 until 2001, when it was based in Iraq. The report says the MeK took part in the deadly suppression of Kurdish and Shiite revolts inside Iraq. Mr. Mohaddessin denies allegations that MeK was involved in internal Iraqi security operations. "Those are rumors spread by the Iranian regime,' Mr. Mohadessin said, pointing to frequent Iranian state media attacks against it.

The group says its main motivation for the campaign is to help protect its ranks in Camp Ashraf, north of Bagdad, whose residents suffered a deadly Iraqi army crackdown last month. About 3,400 MeK members have lived there since allied forces disarmed them after invading Iraq in 2003. MeK officials say its designation lets Iraq treat it as terrorists.

Two senior State Department officials dismissed that argument, saying a delisting wouldn't help Ashraf's residents and that the U.S. hoped to move them to another Iraqi location as a prelude to relocating them to third countries.

Getting off the list, which can keep members from entering the U.S., would also allow MeK to raise funds from unaffiliated Iranian-Americans and better organize towards its goal of overthrowing Iran's theocracy.

Prominent members of the Green Movement, Iran's broad opposition movement, have spoken out against delisting the MeK. They argue such a move would taint its movement by association and embolden Iran's hardliners to step up repression.

"The MeK is widely hated inside Iran because they are seen as collaborators with Iraq," said Tufts University Prof. Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American who recently left the State Department. "Delisting the group under the pretext of supporting the opposition will be used by the regime to taint the entire Green Movement."

Mr. Mohadessin blames MeK's unpopularity on misinformation spread by the government.

The last time the State Department had to consider MeK's status was during the waning days of the George W. Bush administration. In upholding the terrorist designation, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote in a 2009 internal cable released by anti-secrecy group Wikileaks: "The most powerful myth the MeK has been able to lodge in the minds of most supporters is that they are the democratic alternative to the current regime in Tehran." She also referred to the MeK's "terrorism and cult-like repression of its members."

In response to an MeK lawsuit, a federal court ordered the State Department last year to review the listing again. U.S. officials say that should be done by mid-summer. A State Department spokeswoman said the federal-court ruling acknowledged that classified information provided "substantial support" for keeping the MeK on the terror list. Both the U.K. and the European Union have taken the MeK off their terror lists in recent years under court orders after legal action by the group.

The U.K. court found that since 2001 it was no longer "concerned in terrorism" and thus must be de-listed. The EU court ruled that the European Commission's 2008 decision to keep the terror listing violated the MeK's due process rights and failed to demonstrate why they should stay on the list.On Thursday, French investigators dropped an eight-year terrorism probe of 24 MeK members, including Mrs. Rajavi.

Since December, the MeK has hosted about a dozen events in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.

"We shouldn't just de-list the MeK; we should applaud them," Mr. Giuliani, the ex-mayor, said at a Washington event last month. "We should join with them, we're on the same side," he said to rousing applause from a few hundred MeK supporters from across the U.S. He declined to comment.

Other speakers at recent events include Hugh Shelton, Richard Myers, and Peter Pace, all former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs; Tom Ridge, the first head of Homeland Security; and Louis Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In an interview, Mr. Woolsey, who said he waived his usual speaker's fee at a recent MeK event, said Tehran's condemnation of MeK was "like a backwards weathervane—wherever they're pointing, we should do the opposite"

Ex-CIA chief Mr. Jones, who said he received his standard speaking fee, said, "I'm not saying I'm convinced this is the future government of Iran, because that's for the people to decide, but our policy is at odds with reality."

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http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=9966

Mojahedin Khalq spokesman threatens more violence if MEK demands not met

Ali Safavi reveals MKO keeping bodies as a bargaining tool

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... The group was given sanctuary by the Saddam Hussein, then protected by the American forces after the regime fell, and now falls under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi government... The residents who were killed on April 8 have not yet been buried, according to Ali Safavi, a member ... "Iraqi forces need to leave Camp Ashraf so that those who were killed can be buried," Safavi said. "In addition, wounded residents must get treatment; families and international delegations must be allowed to visit the camp, and all sides have to resolve the issue peacefully. Unless those conditions are met, the threat of another attack is very real." ...

CBS News, May 11 2011
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20061464-503543.html

Fate of Camp Ashraf residents unresolved

(CBS/AP) A month after more than 30 Iranian dissidents were killed and several hundred wounded when Iraqi army forces entered Camp Ashraf, the fate of the 3,400 camp residents is still uncertain.

Camp Ashraf, located in Iraq's northeast Diyala province, is the home of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), which seeks the overthrow of Iran's leaders and is considered a terrorist group by Iran, as well as the U.S. The group was given sanctuary by the Saddam Hussein, then protected by the American forces after the regime fell, and now falls under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi government.

The PMOI maintains that 35 people were killed and 345 wounded during fighting with Iraqi Army forces, and that 42 of the seriously injured still have not received adequate treatment.

The residents who were killed on April 8 have not yet been buried, according to Ali Safavi, a member of Iran's Parliament in Exile, National Council of Resistance of Iran, and president of the Near East Policy Research. He said that Iraqi forces have occupied the area of the camp where the cemetery is located, and have constructed a four-mile long embankment that divides the camp.

"Iraqi forces need to leave Camp Ashraf so that those who were killed can be buried," Safavi said. "In addition, wounded residents must get treatment; families and international delegations must be allowed to visit the camp, and all sides have to resolve the issue peacefully. Unless those conditions are met, the threat of another attack is very real."

The U.S. and the United Nations have condemned the April 8, 2011 attack on Camp Ashraf.

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry called the raid a "massacre," saying the Iraqi government should "hold accountable the responsible parties and ensure that there will be no sequel to these horrific events."

"It now seems certain that at least 34 people were killed in Camp Ashraf, including seven or more women," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said. "Most were shot, and some appear to have been crushed to death, presumably by vehicles."

"There is no possible excuse for this number of casualties," said Pillay. "There must be a full, independent and transparent inquiry, and any person found responsible for use of excessive force should be prosecuted."

The European Parliament met with Iraqi leaders at the end of April, and called for an independent inquiry, and call for the perpetrators being brought to international justice.

The main obstacle to resolving the situation is the terrorist designation accorded the PMOI by U.S., according to Safavi. "The onus is on the U.S. to protect these people," he said.

Retired Gen. James Jones, a former national security advisor to President Obama and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and retired Gen. Peter Pace, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both advocate delisting PMOI as a terrorist organization.

"Some folks said to me this week if the United States government took the MEK [Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization, another designation forPMOI] off the terrorist list it would be a signal to the Iranian regime that we had changed from a desire to see changes in regime behavior to a desire to see changes in regime. My response to that is: sounds good to me," Pace said in February 2011.

Reuters has reported that the U.S. is drafting a plan to move camp residents to a new location in Iraq, and then resettle them in other countries.

"We recognize that this is a humanitarian tragedy that is occurring and has great potential to be a humanitarian issue into the future," an official said on condition of anonymity.

Struan Stevenson, president of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq, believes that residents should not be moved from the camp they have inhabited for 20 years. "Forcible transfer of these 3400 unarmed refugees would be illegal and in violation of international standards and provisions of International Humanitarian Law," he said in a May 6 statement.

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Also
http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=9948

After four weeks Washington-backed terrorist cult

(Mojahedin Khalq) refuses to let families bury the dead

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... Mojahedin-e Khalq loyalists are also refusing to bury the dead unless the land where their cemetery is located is given back and that the Iraqis leave this land without conducting any further investigations. The Iraqis are apparently already investigating some unmarked graves and have discovered some hidden caches of arms and ammunitions in that part of the camp which they reclaimed from the group. Iraqi officials responding to appeals by the families of the dead for humanitarian consideration have accepted that the bodies can be buried in the original MEK cemetery, but have again said that the land will not be given back as ...

Massoud Khodabandeh, MESConsultants, May 08, 2011

One month after the coordinated attack by Mojahedin-e Khalq loyalists on the Iraqi security forces in charge of the security of Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf), the bodies of the individuals who were killed (some, according to Iraqi officials, while trying to run away from the garrison and some forced to rush towards the Iraqi posts throwing petrol bombs and pre-fabricated missiles) are still lying inside the notorious camp and the leaders of the terrorist cult with the direct support of American agencies in Iraq refuse to give officials access to them. Mojahedin-e Khalq leaders also refuse to bury the dead inside the camp and insist in keeping the bodies without their families or any other agency having any access to the bodies.

The Iraqi government acted in April to enforce a ruling by the court of Baghdad such that land unlawfully confiscated by Saddam Hussein’s regime and given to Massoud Rajavi for his military headquarters, must be returned to the original landowners who live in the village next to the camp.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq’s pre-meditated attack on the Iraqi forces was a show of power and was intended to demonstrate the ability of the leader of this Washington backed group to instigate mass murder and massacre of the captive hostages inside the camp. The notorious cult has repeatedly used this tactic in the past; the latest example took place in several European capitals in 2003 when MEK loyalists (some drugged) indulged in self-immolations in which two died and others were left with permanent disabilities and disfigurement.

The Mojahedin-e Khalq leader recently pronounced through his interlocutors that the MEK will only bury the dead if the Iraqi government abandons its investigation and if they give the land recently reclaimed back to the Washington backed terror group; a demand the Iraqi government finds impossible to consider as it is against the law of the land.

Mojahedin-e Khalq loyalists are also refusing to bury the dead unless the land where their cemetery is located is given back and that the Iraqis leave this land without conducting any further investigations. The Iraqis are apparently already investigating some unmarked graves and have discovered some hidden caches of arms and ammunitions in that part of the camp which they reclaimed from the group.

Iraqi officials responding to appeals by the families of the dead for humanitarian consideration have accepted that the bodies can be buried in the original MEK cemetery, but have again said that the land will not be given back as it is subject to a court ruling which the government cannot reverse.

In turn the MEK did not accept this concession because the Iraqi government had stipulated that fewer than 200 MEK members attend the burials. This is because both the government and the MEK and the American backers of terrorism in Iraq (and others) know that the MEK is only using this (having large numbers attend the funerals) as an excuse to occupy the land and then refuse to leave. Thus, creating yet another situation whereby they can shed more blood and divert attention from the real problem which is that they have been holding thousands of people hostage and do not let them have any contact with the outside world.

At the same time, the Americans claim they buried the body of Bin Laden at sea (with some so-called Islamic ceremonies) because “Islam dictated that the dead should be buried ASAP”! It is ironic that their beloved terrorist cult in Iraq is encouraged to keep the bodies of the victims and not allow their families to bury them.

Many families of the victims have already complained officially to the Iraqi Judiciary demanding the bodies of their loved ones be returned to them. Many more are now getting together to insist on a full investigation into the Mojahedin-e Khalq’s plots and the deaths of their loved ones. They want to see that the bodies are forcefully taken out of the hands of the American backed terrorists and ensure that they are buried after post mortem examinations establish the cause of their deaths.