Friday, July 13, 2007
Al Mutlak: I Will Agree To Participate In The Mujahadin Khalq’s Next Conference
Politics
(Al Mashriq Newspaper) - 12 JUL - The chief of the National Dialogue Front, Salih Al Mutlak, has rejects the government’s threats of charging anyone that contacts the Mujahadin Khalq (MEK) organization. He said that he will respond to the first invitation that he receives from the Khalq to participate in of their activities inside our outside Iraq.
He described the Iraqi government’s decision to forbid contact with the Iranian organization “as a part of its general policy of being loyal to Iran.” He also discussed the international protection of the Khalq organization as political refugees. He added that the Iranian government is more dangerous to Iraq than the Mujahadin Khalq, which has always followed Iraq’s rule during their presence in Iraq.
COMMENT: The Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) is the primary opposition to the current Iranian government and acts as the focal point of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of Iranian opposition groups which claims to be the transitional parliament-in-exile with 570 members. The NCRI was headquartered in Iraq, with representative offices in other countries including a presence in Washington where it has previously received support from the US Congress. After the 9/11 attacks however, the US government actively courted cooperation from the government of Iran and further sidelined any unofficial support for the MEK.
The MEK philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein since the late 1980s. The MEK’s history is filled with anti-Western attacks as well as terrorist attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK now advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group’s own leadership. First designated in October 1997.
Most exiled members live in the camp at Ashraf, north of Baghdad. After Hussein was toppled, the MEK agreed to turn over its weapons to U.S. military officials. In 2004, the U.S. military granted its members the status of "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions and has since provided security for the camp. COMMENT ENDS.
The MEK philosophy mixes Marxism and Islam. Formed in the 1960s, the organization was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein since the late 1980s. The MEK’s history is filled with anti-Western attacks as well as terrorist attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad. The MEK now advocates the overthrow of the Iranian regime and its replacement with the group’s own leadership. First designated in October 1997.
Most exiled members live in the camp at Ashraf, north of Baghdad. After Hussein was toppled, the MEK agreed to turn over its weapons to U.S. military officials. In 2004, the U.S. military granted its members the status of "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions and has since provided security for the camp. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Iran, MEK, Mujahadin Khalq, Mujaheddin-e Khalq, National Dialogue Front, Salih al Mutlak
