US Army Transfers Top MKO Terrorists

Source: Alalam.ir, 7-9-2008
BAGHDAD--The US military has transferred the senior members of terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from Ashraf camp north of the Iraqi capital as it handed over the camp to Iraqi forces, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry source said.
The Iraqi army replaced American troops in taking control of Ashraf camp a few days ago.
Nearly 4,000 members of the MKO terrorist network fled to Iraq in the 1980s and settled at Ashraf camp, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, which the group now uses as its headquarters.
The source at the Iraqi foreign ministry said the US military officials have moved the key members of the terrorist group from Ashraf Camp to prevent Iraqi government to have access to them.
"Current members of MKO inhabiting the camp are remorseful and not effective for the US military", the source added.
Iran's Ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi referred to the six month deadline to expel terrorist members of MKO from Iraq.
"During the past two years, many members of the terrorist organization have abandoned the goup. They have also expressed regret for their past actions."
"Iran has pardoned a number of these people, allowing them to return to the country and their families," he said.
The future of the MKO in Iraq is uncertain and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said he is looking for ways to end their presence.
The group is on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations subject to an EU-wide assets freeze, and has been designated by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization.
However in June, Britain decided to lift a ban on members of the MKO, infuriating Tehran which labeled the action "a disgrace."
Earlier, the Iraqi government and parliament announced that they are seeking a rapid final solution to remove the remaining members of the MKO from Iraq and to shut down Camp Ashraf.
Iraqi officials say the group is playing a significant role in violence and insecurity in the country.
Along with at least six other sites in Iraq, Camp Ashraf was given to the MKO as their headquarters and training site by the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.
It was from this base the MKO launched operations against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war and later assisted Saddam in violently suppressing the Iraqi Kurds during the 1991 uprising.