up to date no. 59 - september 2013

8/13/2019 Up to date No. 59 - September 2013

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by Ammar Karim

BAGHDAD, Iraq A UN team visited a camp housing Iranian exiles north of the Iraqi capital on Monday, September 2, as

investigators tried to establish how 52 members of the anti-Tehran group died over the weekend.

The deaths of the members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), confirmed by a senior Iraqi security

officer, were met with international condemnation.

But the UN and Western governments have been careful not to assign blame amid wildly conflicting narratives.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set up an inquiry in the aftermath of the deaths, with findings due in the coming days, and a

UN team visited the camp in Diyala province near the border with Iran to try to establish what happened.

"This morning, we entered Ashraf and found 52 bodies in one place," a senior police officer who was part of the Iraqi

premier's investigating committee told Agence France-Presse.

The officer, who did not want to be identified discussing the inquiry, said investigators found a "huge amount of TNT and

explosive materiel inside cars, houses and heavy machinery".

He said 42 members of the PMOI were still alive, but accused them of not cooperating with investigators by refusing to

hand over corpses and moving bodies from their original locations.

The officer claimed the deaths were probably caused by infighting within Ashraf.

His account is sharply contested by the PMOI, however, which

charges that Iraqi forces entered Ashraf, killed 52 of its members

and set fire to the group's property and goods.

It said Iraqi forces had carried out a "massacre" and the group's

members at Liberty, another camp near Baghdad, began a hunger

strike on Monday, a spokesman said.

"The residents will continue their hunger strike until the full cessa-

tion of killings in Ashraf and the release of all hostages, and until

the resolution of the issue of security for the residents of Ashraf and

Liberty," a PMOI statement said.

Iraqi officials insisted that no soldiers entered Ashraf, and said ex-

plosions were triggered by mortar fire or the detonation of a barrel

of oil or gas.

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P U B L I C A T I O N O F A A W A - A S S O C I A T I O N

http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/middle-east/37973-un-iraq-probe-deaths-iran-exiles

UN, Iraq probe deaths of 52 Iran

exiles at camp

AFP, September 03, 2013

continues on page 3...
http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/middle-east/37973-un-iraq-probe-deaths-iran-exileshttp://www.rappler.com/world/regions/middle-east/37973-un-iraq-probe-deaths-iran-exileshttp://www.rappler.com/world/regions/middle-east/37973-un-iraq-probe-deaths-iran-exiles


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protect the site, saying that Iraq needs its security forces to

protect the country's cities, which are being hit by frequent

terrorist attacks.

On Tuesday, a wave of coordinated car bombings and other

attacks in Baghdad and other cities killed more than 60

people, according to authorities.

The MEK carried out a series of bombings and assassina-

tions inside Iran in the 1980s and fought alongside Iraqi

forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Saddam granted sev-

eral thousand of its members sanctuary inside Iraq.

The group says it renounced violence in 2001 and camp

residents were disarmed by U.S. troops after the invasion.

The U.S. considered the MEK a terrorist group until last

year, and cooperation in leaving Camp Ashraf was a key

factor in reversing that designation.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced the for-

mation of a special committee to investigate what hap-

pened at the camp. MEK supporters say they have no faith

that probe will produce any impartial findings.

Efforts to resettle the exiles have been slow because the

U.N. has had difficulty securing commitments from member

states to accept the exiles and because some of them are

reluctant to be separated from their comrades.

A total of 198 former residents of the two camps have been

resettled abroad so far, most to Albania.

---

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed

reporting.

The UN team that visited the camp was due back in Bagh-

dad later on Monday, but mission spokeswoman Eliana

Nabaa said no further information was likely to be releaseduntil later in the week.

"There was a mission that went (to Ashraf) a little bit earlier

to see what they can do there," Eliana Nabaa, spokes-

woman for the United Nations mission in Iraq, told Agence

France-Presse.

"They will try to determine the facts."

The violence was condemned by the UN's refugee agency,

which is charged with relocating the group's members out-

side Iraq, and the US State Department, but neither as-

signed blame for the unrest.

London-based Amnesty International, meanwhile, noted

that the events were "disputed", and called for an impartial

inquiry.

"The authorities must ensure that an inquiry into yester-

day's (Sunday's) violence is promptly carried out and that it

is independent, transparent and in full conformity with inter-

national standards," it said.

Sunday's events follow two mortar attacks earlier this year

on another camp housing the group, also known as the Mu-

jahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), in which at least eight people

were killed.

Around 3,000 MEK members were moved from Ashraf last

year to Camp Liberty, on a former US military base on the

outskirts of Baghdad, but about 100 stayed on at the old

camp to deal with remaining property and goods.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the rebel

MEK to set up the camp during his war with Iran in the

1980s.

The MEK was founded in the 1960s to oppose the shah of

Iran, and after the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted him

it took up arms against Iran's clerical rulers.

It says it has now laid down its arms and is working to over-

throw the Islamic regime in Iran by peaceful means.

continued from page 1 - UN...

In this file photograph taken on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, a woman

waits by the main gate of Camp Ashraf in Khalis, north of

Baghdad, Iraq. The United Nations called on the Iraqi government

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013 to step up protection of the dozens of

Iranian exiles left in a camp north of Baghdad after confirming that

over 50 people were killed there earlier this week. (AP Photo/Hadi


4/8


By Adam Shreck

BAGHDAD - The killing of dozens of members of an Iranian

dissident group that the Iraqi government wants out of the

country should be "a wake-up call" to the international com-

munity, the acting U.N. envoy to Iraq said Friday as hepressed countries to do more to find them homes abroad.

Members of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, which is strongly op-

posed to Iran's clerical regime, were welcomed into Iraq by

Saddam Hussein in the 1980s during the brutal war with

neighbouring Iran.

Their fortunes turned sharply with the Iraqi dictator's top-

pling in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq's current Shiite-led

Iraqi government, which has strengthened ties with Tehran,

considers their presence in the country illegal.

A disputed Sept. 1 shooting at their longtime home in Camp

Ashraf killed 52 MEK members roughly half of the camp's

remaining population.

The dissidents accuse Iraqi security forces of carrying out

the killings. Baghdad denies involvement, with officials say-

ing an internal dispute was to blame. It has promised to

carry out an investigation.

United Nations representatives travelled to the camp a day

after the killing. Although the U.N. has not determined who

was responsible, acting U.N. envoy Gyorgy Busztin said thebloodshed highlights the need to protect the residents.

"What has happened at Camp Ashraf on the first of Septem-

ber is a game changer. It should be a wake-up call to all

countries who are in a position to help to come forward," he

told The Associated Press. "Resettlement is the ultimate

guarantee of their security."

The U.N. this week helped facilitate the transfer of the last

42 Camp Ashraf residents to a different camp near Bagh-

dad airport where more than 2,800 of their comrades are

staying. That compound is meant to provide temporary shel-

ter while the U.N. works to resettle them abroad.

Busztin said the Baghdad camp, a former U.S. military base

UN envoy in Iraq urges countries to

accept Iranian dissidents after CampAshraf killings

Associated Press, September 13, 2013

http://www.canada.com/news/Senior+official+Iraq+urges+countries+accept+Iranian+dissidents+after/8908572/story.html

known as Camp Liberty, should offer them better security

than Camp Ashraf, which is 95 kilometres (60 miles) north-

east of Baghdad. It is also physically closer to U.N. offices in

the Iraqi capital, making it easier to monitor, he said.

The MEK carried out a series of bombings and assassina-tions inside Iran in the 1980s and fought alongside Iraqi

forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. It says it renounced

violence in 2001.

The U.S. considered the MEK a terrorist group until last

year. Leaving Camp Ashraf was a key factor in reversing

that designation.

Busztin urged U.N. member states to do more to relocate

the residents safely abroad.

The Baghdad camp where MEK members are now all stay-

ing has itself been hit by deadly rocket attacks claimed by

Iranian-backed Shiite militants.

"These are human beings. Whatever the government of Iraq

says about their past, these are people in need of protec-

tion, and we take that very seriously," Busztin said.

The resettlement process has moved slowly because the

U.N. is struggling to find countries willing to take them. U.N.

officials also say that many residents have been unco-

operative with the process, complicating the relocation ef-

fort.

A total of 210 residents have left to other countries so far,

according to figures provided by the U.N. refugee agency.

Most of them went to Albania, which has offered to take

210 in total. Germany has said it would accept about 100.

A small number of residents have been resettled else-

where.

The dissidents do not want to return to Iran because they

fear persecution there.

Seven former Camp Ashraf members are unaccounted for

following this month's violence, according to the MEK. The

group claims they are being held by Iraqi forces and will

soon be turned over to Iran against their will.
http://www.canada.com/news/Senior+official+Iraq+urges+countries+accept+Iranian+dissidents+after/8908572/story.htmlhttp://www.canada.com/news/Senior+official+Iraq+urges+countries+accept+Iranian+dissidents+after/8908572/story.htmlhttp://www.canada.com/news/Senior+official+Iraq+urges+countries+accept+Iranian+dissidents+after/8908572/story.html


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Iraqi Human Rights Minister Mohammed Shiyaa al-Sudani

and Georges Bakoos, who oversees the MEK issue for the

Iraqi government, both denied Friday that the seven said to

be missing are in Iraqi custody.

Busztin, the U.N. official, had no information on their where-

abouts.

The U.N. refugee agency expressed concern for the seven

reported missing, saying in a statement that they are all

known to be asylum-seekers. It called on the Iraqi govern-

ment to find them and ensure their safety, as well as pre-

vent them from being returned to Iran against their will.

As for the rest of the exiles, Busztin said it is difficult to say

how soon they could be resettled.

"I'm optimistic more countries will come forward and the

numbers in the camps will be gradually reduced. But for the

length of the process, I cannot give you a reasonable esti-

mate," he said.

"What we request from the government of Iraq is to extend

them adequate protection until the last one leaves," he

added.

___

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed tothis report

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk visited

Camp Hurriya in Baghdad, September 16, accompanied by

Gyorgy Busztin, Deputy Special Representative of the Secre-

tary General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for

Iraq (UNAMI). DAS McGurk met with senior representatives

from the Mujahedine-e-Khalq (MEK), as well as officials

from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees

(UNHCR). He expressed his condolences to the survivors of

the recent Camp Ashraf attack and emphasized the priority

of the U.S. Government to ensure the safety and security of

the residents of Camp Hurriya. He praised the efforts of

UNAMI, and Mr. Busztin personally, to ensure the safe andsecure relocation of the survivors from Camp Ashraf to

Camp Hurriya last week. He also discussed issues related

to the safe, permanent, and secure relocation of the

camps residents outside of Iraq, and affirmed the U.S. pol-

icy to take active measures in support of such relocation to

third countries as soon as possible. DAS McGurk encour-

aged the residents to cooperate fully with the UNHCR proc-

ess to facilitate their safe and permanent relocation outside

of Iraq. Finally, he thanked UNAMI and UNHCR for their tire-

less efforts in Iraq and ensured the ongoing cooperation

and support for their efforts by the United States.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013,

members of Iranian exile group People's

Mujahedeen Organization of Iran leave Camp Ashraf

in Khalis, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The remaining 42

residents of the Iranian dissident camp that was the

scene of a disputed outbreak of violence last week

left the compound Wednesday to join theircomrades at another camp near Baghdad airport,

according to Iraqi officials and representatives for

the exiles. (AP Photo)

Deputy Assis-

tant Secretaryof State Brett

McGurk visits

Camp HurriyaIraq.usambassy.gov, September 16, 2013

http://iraq.usembassy.gov/pr_9162013.html

Brett McGurk

Deputy AssistantSecretary for Iraq and Iran
http://iraq.usembassy.gov/pr_9162013.htmlhttp://iraq.usembassy.gov/pr_9162013.htmlhttp://iraq.usembassy.gov/pr_9162013.html


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Seventy members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organi-

zation (MKO) have parted ways with the group after being

transferred from Iraq to Albania, Iranian al-Alam reported.

According to an official at the Iraqi prime ministers office

on Friday, out of over 159 MKO terrorists granted asylum by

the Albanian government, some seventy members have

announced their departure from the group. The unnamed

Iraqi official revealed that these MKO members had been

transferred from Camp Liberty, a former US military base inBaghdad.

The Albanian government has housed these seventy defec-

tors in a number of apartments, al-Alam reported.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the

international community and it has committed numerous

terrorist acts against Iranians and Iraqis. The group fled Iran

in 1986 for Iraq, where it received the support of Iraqs exe-

Around 70 Mujahedin-e Khalq

Organization members defect

after arriving in Albaniaal-

AlamInserbia.info, September 18, 2013

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq

-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/

BAGHDAD The U.S. Embassy in Iraq says it has no infor-

mation on the whereabouts of seven Iranian dissidents

allegedly missing following a deadly shooting on their com-

pound north of Baghdad this month.

The parent organization of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq dissi-

dent group says it has information that an American dele-

gation has met the seven people held by Iraqi forces near

Baghdad airport.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Rodney Ford told The AssociatedPress by email Sunday that the claim of an American visit

is "categorically untrue." He says no one from the U.S. gov-

ernment has seen or visited those said to be missing.

Iraq on Friday denied that it is holding the seven former

residents of Camp Ashraf said to be missing. A disputed

shooting on the compound Sept. 1 left 52 MEK members

dead.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-

american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/

US says no

American

delegation

has visited 7 allegedly

missing Iranian dissi-

dents inside IraqAssociated Press, September 22, 2013

cuted dictator Saddam Hussein and it set up a terror camp known as Camp Ashraf in Diyala Province near the Iranian bor-

der.

In December 2011, the United Nations and Baghdad agreed to relocate some 3,000 MKO members from Camp New Iraq

(former Camp Ashraf) to Camp Liberty. On March 16, Albanias Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced in a statement that

the Albanian government is ready to accommodate 210 members of the MKO group in Tirana for humanitarian reasons.

Political experts, however, warn that Albanias decision to grant asylum to the MKO members has nothing to do with hu-

manitarian concerns, and will give the terrorists a safe haven where they can work with former members of the Kosovo

Liberation Army (KLA), al-Alam reported.

The KLA is notorious as a murderous group of drug traffickers and terrorists who receive training from NATO and the

United States for operations around the world, al-Alam concluded. q
http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/22/us-says-no-american-delegation-has-visited-7-allegedly-missing-iranian/http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/around-70-mujahedin-e-khalq-organization-terrorists-defect-after-arriving-in-albania-al-alam/


7/8


8/8

By Alex Kane

Former U.S. officials joined an Iranian expatriate group

in a rally outside the United Nations Tuesday to blast

any diplomatic opening between the Obama admini-

stration and Iran.

Thousands of Iranian-American supporters of the Mo-

jahedin-e-Khalq (the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran) trans-

formed Manhattans Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, right

outside the UN building where the General Assembly

was taking place, into a sea of MEK flags and pictures

of MEK leaders Maryam and Massoud Rajavi. Their

ranks were bolstered by some Syrian-American sup-

porters of the Syrian opposition and others who were

bussed-in from around the country. Other participants

included Americans from around the countrysome of

whom didnt have a clue what it was all about, in the

words of one attendeewho had their tickets, food

and hotel paid for by the organizers of the rally.

One protester who joined the rally, 53-year-old Iranian-American Amir Rezaian, said that he wanted the U.S. to stop the

appeasement and let the Iranian people overthrow the government.

While the Iranian expatriates, some of whom fled the country in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, chanted for

the downfall of the Iranian regime, former U.S. officials spoke on stage.


U P T O D A T E

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www.aawa association.de

Publication of Association AAWA e.V.

Responsable:

Dipl.-Ing. Ali-A. Rastgou

Postfach 90 31 73

D-51124 Kln

E-mail: [email protected]

.

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/09/officials-diplomacy-outside.html

Former U.S. officials blast

diplomacy with Rouhani at

MEK rally outside UNmondoweiss.com, September 24, 2013

The stars of the rally included former U.S. ambassador to the UN

John Bolton; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former

Rhode Island Democratic Representative Patrick Kennedy; and

former chairman of the Republican National National Committee

Michael Steele. They had one uniform message: stop Iraq from

cracking down on MEK members and halt the Obama administra-

tion from carrying out talks with the new Iranian president, Has-

san Rouhani.

The rally was held immediately after President Obama addressed

the UNwhere he hinted that negotiations over Irans nuclear

energy program might be pursued by the U.Sand just hours be-

fore Rouhani spoke. The new Iranian president said that he was

open to nuclear negotiations as long as Irans right to enrich ura-

Thousands of supporters of the MEK rallied outside theUN Tuesday. (Photo: Alex Kane)

continues on page 7...
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/09/officials-diplomacy-outside.htmlhttp://mondoweiss.net/2013/09/officials-diplomacy-outside.htmlhttp://mondoweiss.net/2013/09/officials-diplomacy-outside.html

up to date no. 59 - september 2013

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