Lawmaker Urges Rapid Expulsion of MKO Terrorists from Iraq
(FNA)- A member of the Iranian parliament called on Iraqi government to take proper measures to expel the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq's soil.
"By relying on its constitution which bans activities of terrorist groups, the Baghdad government must strongly resist behind-the-scene pressure from world powers and hand over these criminals (MKO) to the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with the interests of the Iraqi nation and its neighbors," Seyed Ramezan Shojayee Kiasari said on Friday.
Kiasari pointed to MKO's crimes against the Iraqi and Iranian nations and called on Baghdad to meet the demands of both nations by immediately deporting the terrorists group's leaders to Iran.
Meantime, the lawmaker warned that the terrorist group, backed by the United States, is seeking to win concessions from the Iraqi government to continue its terrorist and spy operations in the region.
Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the UN Secretary-General's Representative in Iraq Martin Kobler agreed to put an end to the dossier of MKO's presence in Iraq in accordance with the deadlines announced last year.
According to a statement issued by the prime minister's office, Maliki met with Kobler in his office. During the meeting, the two sides emphasized the importance of cooperation and coordination between the Iraqi government and UN representation to help it perform the tasks entrusted to it.
"They also discussed issues of common interest," said the statement.
The MKO, whose main stronghold is in Iraq, is blacklisted by much of the international community, including the United States.
Before an overture by the EU, the MKO was on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze. Yet, the MKO puppet leader, Maryam Rajavi, who has residency in France, regularly visited Brussels and despite the ban enjoyed full freedom in Europe.
The MKO is behind a slew of assassinations and bombings inside Iran, a number of EU parliamentarians said in a recent letter in which they slammed a British court decision to remove the MKO from the British terror list. The EU officials also added that the group has no public support within Iran because of their role in helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988).
Many of the MKO members abandoned the terrorist organization while most of those still remaining in the camp are said to be willing to quit but are under pressure and torture not to do so.
The group, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.
The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran's new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.
The terrorist group joined Saddam's army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.
Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who also argue for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.