Iraq to take charge of Iranian opposition base
Washington, 20 August (IranVNC)—Iraq’s government is forming a committee to oversee and control Camp Ashraf, the main base of the Iranian opposition group, Mujahedin-e Khalq [MEK or PMOI], Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reports.
By: IranVNC
Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
17:30GMT—1:30PM/EST
IRAQ – IRAN – MEK
Washington, 20 August (IranVNC)—Iraq’s government is forming a committee to oversee and control Camp Ashraf, the main base of the Iranian opposition group, Mujahedin-e Khalq [MEK or PMOI], Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reports.
Camp Ashraf, located about 60 kilometers north of Baghdad and 120 kilometers west of the Iranian border, is currently controlled by the US military.
“The government of Iraq, given the intelligence that they have obtained about the destructive role of this group in the security of Iraq in the Diyala Province, decided to form a committee to expel [them] and control their activities until they are completely expelled,” ISNA quotes Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi-Qomi as saying.
Iran has long charged the MEK, which received support from Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, with carrying out operations against Iranian officials.
When the United States overthrew Hussein in 2003, it disarmed the group, and confined its members to Camp Ashraf, northeast of Baghdad.
The MEK is classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union.
The UK removed the group’s terrorist designation last month.
Sources: ISNA in Persian, GlobalSecurity.org
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