BRIEFING PUBLICATION OF NEJAT SOCIETY

V O LU M E 2, I S S U E 11

Nejat Newsletter 1 1 A P R IL 2 0 07

INSIDE THIS I SSUE:

Scott Ritter's Views on MKO Scott Ritter’s Views
on MKO
1

Part of Foaad Khos- media or other punditry SR: I don’t think this was Operations could 2
mood's Interview with which opposes the Islamic premeditated by Washing- wreck American
Scott Ritter, Republic, as being good, ton. I have written that the
then all these negatives go United States was almost
peace strategy
January 31, 2007 away. 100% focused on the Iraqi
The MEK also has the sup- problem and barely con- Can the Rajavi Cult 2
Zmag.com port of the state of Israel. It cerned about this particular Dupe Progressives?
has the support of the pow- issue. Tenet was aware of
… FKh: Let’s now turn to erful pro-Israeli lobby here this information, as were British claim dis- 3
Iran and your new book in the United States. It has many other people con- credited by allowing
Target Iran. Who is the the support of many mem- cerned about the Iranian
MEK? bers of congress, whether nuclear program, but he did
MKO to act as its
SR: MEK is the Mojahedin- they have arrived at their not treat this information as spokesman
e-Khalq [1]. It’s an Iranian position independently or as credible.
Marxist organization that a result of intensive lobby- I don’t think this is part of a Mojahedin a bargain- 4,7
came into being in the ing. The MEK does have a conspiracy trying to manipu- ing chip in the Iran-
1970’s. It was a force that base of support among the late data. This was simply US negotiations
was opposed to the rule of anti-T ehran groups in the United States putting
the Shah of Iran. It was Washington. this information on the back Country that forgets 8,9
primarily a military opposi- FKh: In your new book, burner and not giving it the the past creates an-
tion group to the Shah and it Target Iran you say that attention it needed which is other Bin Laden
carried out a number of Israeli intelligence was the why the Israelis needed to
attacks against the govern- true source of the new infor- find more dramatic, publicly
mental institutions and the mation on Iran’s hidden accessible means of giving Iraqi Cleric: MKO to 9
military and American mili- nuclear facilities. You also this data to the mainstream be expelled soon
tary advisors in Iran. say that Michael Ledeen press. This is one of the
When the Islamic revolution and some Washington neo- reasons they chose the
MKO hired actors 10
took place in 1979, the MEK cons arranged for MEK to MEK.
initially allied with the Aya- be the conduit of this infor- FKh: So what happened to for demonstration in
tollahs but soon fell out of mation. Why was it impor- these sites? Were there Brussels
favor with them. MEK went tant for another organization inspections of the specific
into exile and they took root to be the deliverer of this sites that were revealed by New Charges Added 10
first in Europe and later in news? the MEK? to MKO’s Criminal
Iraq where it became a very SR: The answer is twofold. SR: These sites were in- Case
powerful military wing of the One, Israel has a PR prob- spected by the International
Iraqi Mukhaberat or the lem if it comes out as the Atomic Energy Agency.
intelligence service. Today lead element in tackling Some of the sites like Baqubah, Terrorism 11
it’s funded by the CIA in Iran’s nuclear program. Natanz have emerges as and MKO
their policy of using this Two, if your goal is regime having been involved in a
organization to be a stick in change and one of the or- uranium enrichment pro- MKO supports the 11
the side of Iran. Even now, ganizations that you’re gram. None of the sites terrorists
the MEK continues to be backing is the MEK – you have been found to have
listed by the State depart- would also like to… As you been involved in a nuclear
The EU-wide asset 12
ment as an international say, there are a number of weapons program. In fact
terrorist organization. negatives to this organiza- there has been no evidence freeze against MeK
FKh: OK, so this is a terror- tion, so you would position found of a nuclear weapons is still in force
ist organization that is re- the MEK as an organization program existing in Iran, just
sponsible for attacks against that is capable of getting a nuclear enrichment pro-
American civilians. There quality information on Iran. gram for the peaceful use of
are many negative things This was the same strategy nuclear energy.
against this group, espe- that was used with the Iraqi Some of the information the This happened a lot when I
cially in this political climate. National Congress and MEK later put out turned out was a weapons inspector.
Yet it has managed to have Ahmad Chalabi. to be false. Basically the We dealt with Israel. Israel
favorable public relations in FKh: You also write that this release of this information - provided outstanding infor-
Washington. Is this all be- information was known to which was debunked - was mation up front. But later on,
cause of CIA backing or are George Tenet ahead of an effort to take control the as the investigation went on,
there other benefactors? time. Does this mean Wash- headlines and interpretation the well dried up. No more
SR: Well, if you’re dealing ington is once again en- of what’s going on to take information could be pro-
with a population that is pre- gaged in manipulation of out voices other than those vided while the Israeli data
programmed to accept at intelligence by withholding who detest Iran by providing turned out to be inaccurate.
face value anything that is and strategically releasing information that is not accu-
put forth by the mainstream information? rate.
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 2

Can the Rajavi Cult Dupe Progressives?

By Paul Foote, Rajavi told them they would the American government has
March 27, 2007 not need to fire a single shot closed the office of the Na-
http://www.opednews.com/art because one million Iranians tional Council of Resistance of
icles/opedne_paul_foo_07032 would march with them to Te- Iran (NCRI) in Washington,
4 hran. In 1991, the MEK com- DC, the American govern-
_can_the_rajavi_cult_.htm mitted terrible atrocities ment has not closed the op-
(This response and the original aga in st una rmed Ku rd - erations of other supporters of
article were posted originally ish civilians--including running America's terrorist enemies.
under: March 24, 2007 at over them with tanks or with Many of the neo-conservatives
00:01:47 armoured personnel carriers. (neo-Trotskyites) have been
Detente or Appeasement? by strong supporters of the Rajavi
Jubin Afshar , Cult. See, for example, the
http://www.opednews.com, Web site of the Iran Policy
Jubin Afshar, is Director of the Committee. While the Iran
Near East Project at Near East Policy Committee does dis-
Policy Research in Washington, close that one of its employees
D.C.) is a former employee of the
Central Intelligence Agency
Everyone should look at the (CIA), the IPC does not dis-
content of the author's Web close its funding sources.With
site. The author's solution for the help of the neo-
is the totalitarian takeover of conservatives (neo-
by the MEK (Rajavi Cult or Pol Trotskyites), this totalitarian
Pot of Iran). The MEK has terrorist organization has been
murdered American military In April 2003, the American able to dupe many in the De-
officers and Rockwell Interna- and coalition forces attacked mocratic and Republican par-
tional employees. The MEK the MEK at Camp Ashraf, ties. Can the Rajavi Cult dupe
has committed terrorist acts, Iraq . Does the author dare to progressives? Professor Paul
even in New York City. The reveal where Massoud Rajavi Sheldon Foote
State Departments of Presi- is today? Is the American
dents Bill Clinton and of military holding Massoud Ra- http://360.yahoo.com/paulshe
George W. Bush have placed javi as a prisoner at a camp in ldonfoote
the MEK on terrorist lists for Iraq or protecting him until the Professor, California State Uni-
good reasons. At the end of American military invades versity, Fullerton
the Iran-Iraq War, Massoud Iran? This is the same group http://www.opednews.com/art
Rajavi waved to 2,000 MEK of crazies who burned them- icles/opedne_paul_foo_07032
fighters from the safety of selves in front of television 4
Iraq while they invaded Iran . cameras in June 2003. While _can_the_rajavi_cult_.htm

Operations could wreck American peace strategy

Simon Tisdall in Ankara adding to the agitation. "The US is warned that military intervention
Thursday March 22, 2007 trying to undermine the Iran re- might be ineffective and could be
Guardian Unlimited gime, using the Kurds like it is "disastrous" in destabilising the
(excerpts from an article published using the MEK [the anti-Tehran region. A recent national security
in the British daily The Guardian ) People's Mujahideen]," said Dr council assessment also suggested
Logoglu. "Once you begin to dif- that senior Turkish commanders
..... ferentiate between 'good' and 'bad' were cautious about the prospects
US support for Iranian Kurds op- terrorist organisations, then you of success.
posed to the Tehran government is lose the war on terror." But he
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 3

British claim on the captured marine in Persian Gulf discredited by

allowing Rajavi terrorist cult to act as its spokesman
Iran Interlink, March 31, 2007 "The Iranian regime is secretly report on the abuse of human
The new diplomatic conflict be- engaged in the organization and rights by leaders of the Mojahedin
tween Iran and Britain over the training of large Iraqi terrorist against their own people in . Hu-
capture of 15 navy personnel by networks in Iran to heighten inse- man Rights Watch also brought to
the Iranian border guards has curity and instability and force the light the way they have been us-
prompted the UN Security Council coalition forces to leave Iraq, ing psychological methods to keep
and the European Union to inter- which would in turn pave the way hold of their members against
fere to resolve the crisis. for the establishment of an Islamic their will.
The Iranians claim that the inci- Republic in Iraq," Jafarzadeh said. http://hrw.org/backgrounder/men
dent occurred in Iranian waters, The same report adds: a/iran0505/
while the British government in- "There was no independent confir- It is widely believed that the Ira-
sists that its troops were in Iraqi mation of the latest information. nian Government has benefited
water and have never crossed The U.S. Mission to the United the most from the freedom given
Iranian territorial borders. Nations had no immediate com- to this terrorist organization in
While diplomatic efforts, together ment. Washington and London . The Ira-
with wider western pressure, are "His statement today is a pub- nian Regime by refusing to accept
being used to resolve the crisis, lic announcement that this any opposition except the Mojahe-
the British Government's position group has been the source of din Khalq (Rajavi cult) has long
was discredited by allowing an allegations which officials are convinced the people of Iran that
interview with the Mojahedin making about Iranian inter- the alternative to the Islamic re-
Khalq Terrorist org anisation vention in Iraq ," said gime would be an Islamic Cult
(Rajavi cult) representative, Hus- Mohammad Mir Ali Mohammadi, a (Rajavi cult) which has been work-
sein Abedini (Mojahedin Khalq spokesman for 's U.N. Mission"." ing for the enemy during the 8
Organisation or National Council of (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS years war with Iraq and which is
Resistance of Iran) in London . tory?id=2968501&CMP=O TC- now under the control of Neo-
Hossein Abedini, a member of the RSSFeeds0312) conservatives and Israeli right
Mojahedin’s alias the National The group which remains on the wingers who are pushing for a
Council of Resistance, in an inter- terrorism lists of the US (1997), military confrontation between the
view with Sky News TV on March UK (2000), European Union west and Iran. Iran has also fre-
29, in response to the suggested (2002) and Canada(2005), has quently used the claim that the
fact that the British navy person- been used to discredit any infor- terrorist organization is 'the only
nel “have admitted trespassing mation which has come out source of western intelligence
into Iranian territorial waters”, against the Iranian government. from Iran and thereby discredits
says: h t t p : / / w w w . i r a n - and rejects all these accusations
Well, this is what the mullahs say, interlink.org/?mod=view&id=1114 by default.
but all the indications and all infor- In 1994 the US Department of After the fall of Saddam and the
mation proves that the British State gave a report about the Mo- disintegration of the Mojahedin's
personnel, navy personnel were jahedin Khalq Organization, which military base in Iraq
abducted at gunpoint and they is permanently headed by self- (disintegration of Saddam's pri-
have been taken to Tehran forcibly appointed cult leaders Massoud vate army in 2003), it is clear that
and they are being interrogated. and Maryam Rajavi. It gave the the presence of the cult in western
So, we have information that this most up-to-date and researched capitals has now shifted the prob-
was a carefully concocted plan by report in 40 pages describing the lem of Mojahedin Terrorism from
the Revolutionary Guards and nature of the Mojahedin; their Iran and Iraq (where they were
these plans always carry the seal internal relations as well as their working as an annoyance to the
of the highest political and military involvement in killing Kurds, Iranians and Iraqis) into the heart
authority of the Iranian regime… Iraqis, Iranians as well as Ameri- of Europe and America.
(http://www.mojahedin.ws/news/t cans. The report revealed their The group, which orchestrated
ext_news_en.php?id=1133) total dependency on Saddam Hus- mass suicide and self-immolations
The claim of having information sein. in June 2003 in the capitals of
from Iran (where the group is h t t p : / / w w w . i r a n - western countries, has now openly
hated for their cooperation with i n t e r - threatened the west with more
Saddam during Iran-Iraq war) is link.org/files/child%20pages/USst suicide attacks if they refuse to
not new. ABC News reported the atedept.htm take them off the lists of Terrorist
terrorist group's representative in In May 2005, Human Rights Watch entities and allow them to con-
Washington as claiming: (HRW) published a condemning tinue their activities as a destruc-
tive cult.
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 4

Mojahedin a bargaining chip in Iran - US negotiations

17 Jan 2007 ment wants them out. And
even though President Bush
The transcribed version of has so far rejected propose to
talk to Iran. American policy
makers believe the Mujahedin
BBC 2- News Night program
would actually have to be scari-
on MKO
fied for better relations with
Iran.

Ann Singleton :
The only organization which I
had access to directly and that
would actually going out to do-
ing something was the Mujahe-
din. They would ask for dona-
tions of course and that is how
For two decades it was one of they recruited the crew I guess.
the oddest armies on the earth. The process started with me.
Prevailed to overthrow the aya- They would ask for money and
tollahs in Iran, The widow I would give them more than
Maryam Rajavi stuck amongst that they asked for to show
fanatical devotion. She is ac- them my commitment.
cused by some of running a
crew, a manipulative cult.
The America which protects the
now-disarmed fighters in Iraq
can’t decide what to do about Keneth Pollak:
them, it runs the people Muja- Iran and the US need to work
hedin, also known as MEK or together to stabilize Iraq which
MKO as terrorists but according will be disastrous for both
to some politicians it is still a countries if it's led to civil war.
potential ally. We also have the nuclear nego-
tiations which are very very
delicate and we don’t want the
MKO to make muddy those al-
ready troubled waters. The
other matter is that the US
does need to take charges
against the MKO that is a ter-
rorist organization. Mujahedin began as a guerrilla
group fighting the shah of Iran.
We are in a house in the sub-
Bob Filner (Democrat): Along side the followers of Aya-
urb of Leeds.
I know the MEK supports a tollah Khomeini, they suc-
Ann Singleton and her husband ceeded to overthrow the Pahla-
secular democratic, non nuclear Masud also are ex-Mujahedin
Iran. What's there to oppose vies in 1979.
activists who now campaign
them? We should be a help to But afterwards ayatollah
against the movement that
them in any way we can. Khomeini was not willing to
commanded them absolute loy-
The Mujahedin's position in share the power with them.
alty for twenty years. She
Iraq now is a desperate uncom- Mujahedin rose to debate him
joined MKO when she was a
fortable one. Just north of but they were defeated.
student in Manchester Univer-
Baqdad you find Ashraf in a From then on the organization
sity in the late 1970's when the
vast desert. This land was was bored with the Islamic Re-
students believed that they can
given to them by Saddam Hus- public. Hundred of Iranian offi-
change the world.
sein but the new Iraqi govern- cials were killed or wounded by
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 5

Mojahedin a bargaining chip in Iran - US negotiations

Mujahedin's bombs. In one at- No, every individual member of
tack the country's current su- the Mojahedin decided on his
preme leader Ayatollah Khame- own to forget family life, those
neiee lost his right arm. who were married of course.
In several times in the 1980's Reporter:
these fighters invaded Iran all of them?
from Iraq. Meanwhile thou-
Safavi:
sands of Mujahedin members
were executed in Iranian jails. yes. Yes. All of them.
The leader of the organization - So every single married mem-
Sadeqi:"they told me that they
and many supporters fled to ber in Ashraf at that time made
set two people to find my wife
the West. the voluntary decision to di-
and one of them was killed by
Ali Safavi who works for Mua- vorce or forget the family life?
the Regime but they said that
jhedin's umbrella organization, they persued my case with a -yes
NCRI, he has convinced many second and they found out that -How many people where
politicians that this movement my wife had died when giving there?
which has left violence is a de- birth to my daughter . That’s -I don’t exactly know what the
mocratic alternative to the Is- how they cut my ties with my number was but hundreds peo-
lamic Republic:" All accusations family. Same time, they told my ple ,yes every member of the
against them" he says " are wife that I was killed by the hundreds.
organized by Iran". Regime as I was leaving the - Hundreds?
country. -yes
"Psychological manipulation" as -Hundreds. Every single one
described to Newsnight by voluntarily to divorce!
many interviewed former mem-
- Yes.
bers. This part of the system of
control by Masud Rajavi and his - Isn't it implausible to see that
new wife Maryam was estab- hundreds of members, all vol-
lished in Iraq in the 80's and untarily take a decision to di-
90's. They launched what they vorce?
Ali Safavi: called "Ideological Revolution". -Not at all.
"they view the people 's Muja- The women got key jobs. The The level of devotion expended
hedin as an existential threat announcement of sexual feel- to the members' squirm of sui-
because they know that the ings became forbidden and di- cide feared European citizens in
Mujahedin has a large support vorce became obligatory. 2003. To protest the temporary
among the Iranian people and Singlton: arrest of Maryam Rajavi
that is why they have spent no they decreed that every mem- The Newsnight has serious ac-
effort in fight to illegalize the ber should divorce. All your counts that in the 1990's those
Mujahedin by engaging in a thought and feeling and en- who seemed less reliable were
massive expensive propaganda ergy, your whole being have to tortured in the confinement of
Campaign to demonize the be devoted to the Rajavis. That the organization's Camp in
Muajhedin. was a forced system of report- Iraq.
But there is no evidence that ing, any erotic fantasy they had Sadeqi:
Abbas Sadeqinejad relates to for example they have aroused they hit my knees so hard…. He
Iranian intelligence. This former by sister so so or by what's his pulled my hair and said that he
Mujahedin member who now name brother. They were ex- would teach me a lesson I
lives in Germany with his family pected to tell everything totally would never get. He put hand-
that he thought he had lost for open, any thing was in your cuff on me and hung me from
ever when he fled Iran. The mind or you feel with your my right hand…. I shouted why
years when he stayed in Camp heart. you are hitting a member of the
Ashraf he believed what the Reporter: organization. But they hung me
Mujahedin had told him that his were all members forced to like that for twenty minutes. …
wife and his new born daughter divorce? Mujahedin were the guests for
were dead. Saddam Hussein in 1980's
Safavi:
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 6

Mojahedin a bargaining chip in Iran - US negotiations

when he was the ally in war cated that some key senior offi- Wilkerson:
with Iran of the West. He of- cials of AlQaida might have and we thought, it was pre-
fered them the most conven- gone to Iran. Just casual con- cious moment to do that. I
ient bases. It was certain that versations suggested that Iran think the Secretary of State and
their association with the Iraqi should be willing to turn over Deputy of the Secretary of
traitor would become their big those AlQaida figures and we State just thought at the same
terrible trouble. In the 1990's had to give them a probe and time but when it got to the
after the Iraq invaded Kuwait, whenever speaking of the pre- White House and to the Vice-
Saddam became the West's proposed proba MEK was there. President's Office, the old man-
enemy. Meanwhile in It happened around discussions tra that we don’t talk to the
1997,when the new reformist almost all the time because it evils which includes the guy of
president Muhammad Khatami was clear that Iran is very con- Pyongyang, North Korea and
was elected in Tehran, in that cerned about the MEK. includes the guy of Tehran,
year America listed the Mujahe- Iran. Reasserted itself and to
din as terrorists, something our embarrassment, State as
that weakened their abilities to far as I'm concerned the cable
work on fund raising in West. that I saw go back to the
Some believe that the move Swiss, ashly upbraided the
was a coquetry just to appease Swiss to being so bold and au-
Iran. dacious to present such a pro-
Kenneth Polack: posal to us on behalf of Iran.
There was definitely a debate It was the Zenith of American
within the US government. As Laurence Wilkerson and his strength in the region, a natural
to whether or not the MKO boss Collin Powell weren’t sure time for republicans of the
should be added to the list but how high in the Iranian govern- White House to wonder if the
the ultimate decision that was ment the approach came from. regime change in Iraq could be
made was that the US needs to They didn’t listen to the offer followed by the regime change
be consistent at the application but a year and a half later in Iran
of its standards. That no coun- there was a better chance to Mujahedin obvious allies in a
try would take the US seriously deal. research campaign have been
if the only groups that are put After the US-led invasion of bombed by the US during the
on the list of terrorists were the Iraq, Iran sent Washington a invasion in Iraq and afterwards
groups who are at war with the secret letter proposing talks. the State Department ordered
US and its allies. Here, we have a copy of the Them to be disarmed but the
In 2001, the US attacked Af- letter; it's not signed but the especial Pentagon forces sent
ghanistan. Both America and State Department understood to perform that task found out
Iran after the remove of Tali- that it came with the approval so instantly how useful the ex-
ban had a reason to talk. One of the highest authorities in iled fighters could be.
of the deals the officials looked Tehran and that offers exactly
around was that the US and what many in Washington, be-
Iran talk about the existence of lieve America should have been
Mujahedin. seeking from Iran.
Tehran offered to use its influ-
ence to support stabilization in
Iraq and to have full transpar-
ency on its nuclear programme
and remarkably end the military
support to the militant Leba- Military Lawyer (Vivian
nese group Hezbollah and aid Gembara):
to the Palestinian Hamas. In they were a formidable fighting
return it wanted t US to halt force there, I mean but it was
Colonel Lawrence hostile behavior, abolition of all not the best equipped force
Wilkerson: sanctions and specifically pur- that we have ever seen. A
suit of the Mujahedin and repa- Force which is led by women.
We had some intelligence, indi-
triation of their members. It's such a unique: I mean it
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 7

Mojahedin a bargaining chip in Iran - US negotiations

sounds like almost fiction. can forces reach outs to Sunni I think the failure of the US to
And the US army's instant in- insurgence. make some sort of meaningful
fatuation with Muajhedin fully overtures to Tehran has been a
were recruited a very pragmatic terrible mistake that has put
force that was so loyal to Sad- Iran in a strategic position in
dam, now apparently wanted to the Middle East that she could-
serve America in any way it n’t have gained by her own
could. magi. We have through our
Military lawyer: inaptitude and our refusal of
the talk, it is certainly giving
we wanted to disband them
Iran the cat-bird seat in the
essentially and that was what
region.
we had a problem with because Meanwhile in Europe the char-
they still wanted to work with Published by the Mujahedin's
ismatic leader of the Iranian
us. latest promotional material, the
resistance Maryam Rajavi has
3500 remaining residents of
Back in Washington the state of been rallying among her sup-
Ashraf deprived of their military
Department wasn’t interested… porters with talking of victory.
role enjoy a cultural life in the
Wilkerson: The Mujahedin have just middle of the Iraqi desert. They
everyday from Monday to Fri- wanted the Judgment of Euro-
even revived their own form of
day we had meetings at the pean court of justice on freez-
dance.
State Department from 8:30 ing their assets that they be-
and one of the questions that lieve it’s the first step to remov-
came up almost everyday was ing the terrorist tag, that still
what we have to do with the haunts them. Though their last
MEK, the MEK were still won- attack was in 1999 and they
dering around Iraq, still they have since renounced any mili-
had their arms .they are still a tary role.
cohesive body of people saying Ali Safavi:
what's happening? Instead of tying engaged with
They're a terrorist organization Mullahs in Tehran the interna- The organization believe that
we declare them ourselves. The tional community has to reach they can survive here under the
President, himself does agree out to the democratic opposi- protection of Geneva and again
that we should do something tion and the very opposition one day play a big role in the
about the MEK but nothing is which by the key reveal allega- Iranian political scene but as
happening. The Defense De- tions on the Iran's nuclear Tehran strengthens its influ-
partment doesn’t do any thing. weapons program. In some ence in Iraq and the US runs an
By their actions, I must say sense really the international eventual plan the Mujahedin's
that Secretary of Defense and community and the Western time must have been running
his underlings and the Vice countries owe a huge debt of out.
President's Office must have gratitude to the Mujahedin.
thought that the MEK might In fact there's no more much
prove the fruitful instrument in sign of support for the Mujahe-
the future and therefore they din in Iran. Since they moved
don’t want to take any drastic to Iraq they've been widely
action against the MEK. Presi- regarded as traitors. The dis-
dent Bush has now relinquished banding of the group plays as
the services of the former De- the key goal for Tehran. In the
fense Secretary Donald Rams- short term chances of the US-
feld but Newsnight understands Iranian relations is very little. Mojahedin a bargain-
that still the strong pro- President Ahmadinejad and ing chip in Iran - US
Mujahedin lobby within the ad- President Bush both talk with
ministration, one of the possi- the language of confrontation
negotiations - ( tran-
bilities ,apparently have been but many in Washington regret scribed version)
concerning is to use the group that. Posted on 2007-03-27
as a go-between to help Ameri- Wilkerson: By Nejat Society
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 8

Country that forgets the past creates another Osama bin Laden
March 17, 2007 partment of State, appeared to US has been here before, most
agree: "The latest attacks inside famously in the 1980s. The enemy
The CIA has been accused of as- Iran fall in line with US efforts to back then was the Soviet Union.
sisting separatist militants inside supply and train Iran's ethnic mi- One beneficiary of US assistance
Iran, a course of action that would norities to destabilise the Iranian was a man by the name of Osama
be baffling and dangerous, writes regime," he said. bin Laden.
Waleed Aly
Other observers feel this is obvi- Spanish philosopher George San-
NASROLLAH Shanbe Zehi was tayana's contention that "those
publicly hanged in Iran last month. who cannot remember the past are
He had detonated a bomb in the condemned to repeat it" is as wise
city of Zahedan in Sistan- as it is ignored. For all the obvious
Baluchistan, killing 11 Revolution- sense in Santayana's dictum, it is a
ary Guards. This sequence of greater challenge to identify those
events is sadly unremarkable on ous. John Pike, head of Washing- who have managed to avoid re-
two counts: first, executions of this ton's Global Security think tank, peating the blunders of their past
kind are common in Iran; second, stated flatly that, having observed than to name those who have not.
there has been a marked increase the recent separatist escalation, "it It seems the one constant of his-
in political violence in the country would be a scandal if that was not tory is that we refuse its lessons.
i n t he past t wo y ear s . at least in part the result of CIA
Iran is host to a wide range of often activity". But today our amnesia is becoming
persecuted ethnic and religious increasingly extreme. These alle-
minorities. Many pursue militant If the reports are true - andWash- gations, if true, reveal that, more
separatist causes. Kurds in the ington officially denies the allega- than forgetfulness of the past, we
west, Azeris in the northwest, Ah- tions - the US is embarking on a are even forgetting the present.
wazi Arabs in the southwest, and bafflingly foolish course. These The elements of Iran's political
Baluchis in the southeast have all separatist militias are known for terrain noted above should sound
been said to have perpetrated vio- resorting to terrorist methods. One, frighteningly familiar. Here we have
lent acts against the Iranian regime the Mujaheddin-e Khalq, which has an artificially created nation with ill-
in that time. a long history of anti-regime vio- conceived post-colonial borders
lence, is listed by the US State that have fostered a range of dis-
The question is, precisely what is Department as a terrorist organisa- parate militant factions. This is
fuelling such a civil escalation? tion. Yet Pike believes that "a fac- precisely what prevails in Iraq. To
Tehran's explanation has long tion within the Defence Department bankroll an escalation of this is to
been clear: they are the beneficiar- wants to unleash them". There is court yet another apparently intrac-
ies of material support from the US an obvious philosophical incongru- table civil war. If Ahmadinejad's
and Britain. In the case of Zehi, ity in a nation proclaiming to the regime is weakened, the resultant
one local official told the Fars news world that it is fighting a war on power vacuum is likely only to
agency that the bomber had used terror while funding perpetrators of heighten the violence. There is
British and US-made weaponry. it. much about this that should trouble
us, not the least of which is the
It is the kind of spectacular allega- Any policy that seeks to exploit thought that not only has the Bush
tion we may expect to come from them as proxy fighters against the administration executed a monu-
Tehran. It is the kind of news we Iranian regime is necessarily one mental foreign policy blunder in
may expect to be picked up by the of pure political convenience, not Iraq, it may be quite happy to re-
Green Left Weekly. But recently philosophical conviction. peat it.
The Sunday Telegraph in London,
Britain's most conservative broad- But beyond the philosophical, this And what if Washington's denials
sheet, reported that it has been promises to be a strategic disaster. are true? The lessons of Iraq must
confirmed, on condition of anonym- Here is an array of militant groups surely still be heeded. True, as
Condoleezza Rice reminds us, Iran
ity, by a former high-ranking CIA with no ideological confluence.
is not Iraq. But the similarities are
official in Washington. According to They share no aspirations beyond
sufficiently concerning and the
this source, it is "no great secret" the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadi- differences more so. A military
any longer that the CIA is funding nejad's regime and certainly share invasion - as Vice-President Dick
these separatist militants from its no philosophical alliance with the Cheney quite openly mooted dur-
classified budget. US. Nothing is more predictable ing his recent trip to Australia -
than that such militias, at some particularly if it results in regime
Fred Burton, a former counter- point, will turn savagely against the change, also risks precipitating
terrorism agent with the US De- US after accepting its money. The another civil war from which the US
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 9

Country that forgets the past creates another Osama bin Laden (cont)
will never satisfactorily disentangle dam Hussein's Iraq. Any differ- the Middle East and the UN Secu-
itself, and from which whatever is ences between the invasion of Iraq rity Council powers is a welcome
left of its goodwill in the region will and an invasion of Iran are likely relief. It is as yet unclear whether
be comprehensively shredded. only to be negatively so. the talks will also encompass Iran's
nuclear program, which is ostensi-
It is worth remembering what that If there is a time for the Bush ad- bly prompting the US to consider a
means: providing another battle- ministration to discover the ancient military response.
ground and another rallying point art of diplomacy, it is now. It has
for terrorist groups, and increasing taken four taxing years in Iraq for Still, we can only hope this repre-
the terror risk accordingly, without the US to accept, finally, that it may sents a new, more collaborative
any accompanying, foreseeable need to begin talking with stake- phase in US thinking on foreign
solution. holders in the region whom it has policy in the region rather than an
previously dismissed as evil, aberration. Sense and history are
Alternatively, the process of regime namely Iran and Syria. The an- calling.
change would be a much bloodier nouncement this month that the US
and costlier affair than that in Iraq. will attend a ministerial-level meet- Waleed Aly is the author of People
Iran is a proud nation with greater ing in April about the future of Iraq Like Us (Picador), to be published
technological capacity than Sad- with representatives from across
later this year.

Iraqi Cleric: MKO TO BE EXPELLED SOON

Ali Mohsen a terrorist organization in- submit a request to the UN
volved in killing Iraq people according to which it could
Razi/Barasa news agency, during Sha'banieh uprising expel the MKO from Iraq to
and also participated in another country."
March 17 2007 other crimes of Saddam
Hussein. This organization He also added that he had
is repeating its crimes in visited Nuri Al-Maliki last
Friday prayer leader of Ba-

rasa mosque in Iraq, Jalal week to discuss the issue

al-Din Al-Saghir, said on Diyalah province". as well as the fact that Di-
Friday that, "MKO will be yalah has become a safe
expelled from Iraq in the haven for terrorists.
"Iraqi government will soon
near future because it was
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 1 0

MKO hired actors for demonstration in Brussels:

German news magazine
Iran-interlink, cologne, which transferred them via the UN building.
April 2, 2007 two busses from Cologne to
Brussels. The extras received report-
edly a one-week compli-
According to Focus, most of mentary trip to New York.
the side actors and ac-
The MKO (Mojahedin Khalq tresses were duped into The MKO had also paid
Organisation) terrorist believing that the MKO poor European-based immi-
group (Rajavi cult) hired demonstration was part of grants from Africa and the
extras for a demonstration a movie and not a real Middle East, most of them
in Brussels on March 8 in a event. social welfare recipients, to
bid to cover up the small attend demonstrations in
number of protestors, the Once the extras arrived at Berlin.
weekly Focus news maga- the scene of a demonstra-
zine reported Monday. tion they were shocked and Several of the paid African
most of them broke away demonstrators were told by
Around 60 Iranian actors from the other demonstra- the MKO that they would go
and actresses who were not tors. on a sightseeing trip to
informed beforehand about Berlin.
the action, were paid the Meanwhile a representative
usual 50 euros per day fee of the German casting The MKO was earlier found
to take part in the recent agency said that extras guilty of massive social
demonstration in Brussels were also hired for another welfare fraud in Germany
where the MKO was pro- MKO demonstration in New throughout the 1990s.
testing its continued black- York in fall 2005.
listing as a terror group by Link to the original article
the European Union. Jochen Cerff confirmed that by Focus.de
50 actors and actresses
The extras were hired by a were hired in Hamburg and http://www.focus.de/politik
German casting agency, Leipzig to take part in a /deutschl and/gekauft er-
named 'House of Extras', New York rally in front of protest_aid_51864.html

New Charges Added to MKO's Criminal Case

IRNA, April 07, 2007 Wednesday indicate that On June 17, 2003, French
prosecutor general has
asked the court to add
money laundering and
fraud charges to the case,
which includes connection
with terrorism and saboteur
groups.

According to the report,

prosecutor has submitted police attacked MKO head-
French prosecutor an- this request to anti-terror quarters in the suburbs of
nounced that new charges court on March 19. French capital and arrested
have been added to the 164 MKO members includ-
case against MKO and the ing Maryam Rajavi.
MKO collected public dona-
head of the group Maryam
tions in Paris and sent the
Rajavi.
money to bank accounts The group has been listed
abroad, judges say. as terrorist by the US and
AFP's report from Paris on
EU.
N EJ AT N EWS LETT ER P AG E 1 1

Baqubah, Terrorism and MKO

Reported by:Iran didban What we see today in Diyalah Diyalah and showed that the MKO
Marwan Tofiq/ (killing Shiites, terror and …) are was involved in the activities.
Barasa news agency, all backed logistically and the ter- Controlling this organization will
April 03, 2007 rorist group of Mojahedin-e Khalq decrease terrorism in the prov-
has a history of such attacks. ince. They are terrorists and we
The MKO is a remnant of former What's happening inside Iraq is should get rid of them.
regime that has remained active in not irrelevant to the group. It's surprising to hear that it's try-
our country by deception and its Group's long presence in Iraq has ing to maintain its presence in
goal is to disrupt the situation of helped the group to get good in- Iraq by slogans of democracy and
new Iraq. formation about Iraq. This organi- liberty. In fact, they want to go on
The organization, which acted zation was a tool for former re- with their destabilizing activities.
under the control of former regime gime in suppressing opponents However, we are not surprised to
and enjoyed considerable equip- and attacking them. The group see hypocrites appearing each day
ments and facilities, is still trying maintains its capabilities and is with a new face to get to their
to keep its sabotaging role since fully aware of developments in filthy goals.
it's aware that a fate like that of Iraq. I should repeat that former Baath
former regime is awaiting it. The The comments of Iraqi interior party and its partners, including
hostility between Iran and occupi- minister on the MKO and their the MKO, is the major drive be-
ers, of course, has delayed the activities in Iraq exposed part of hind all problems and disasters in
fate of this group. realities on terrorist operations in Iraq

MKO supports the terrorists

The Italian News Agency (AKI) terror, torture and taking hostages. The are welcomed by the terrorists. In rela-
MKO not only is not in financial diffi- tion to the claim of this organisation
April 3, 2007
culties as Nowruzi claims, but has that the Ashraf Camp has school, uni-
bribed his allies with millions of dol- versity and hospital and has presented
‘Zari Al-Fahad Al-Asadi’ the deputy lars. services to the inhabitants of the re-
chief of the administrational council of Al-Fahad then continued: the inhabi- gion for the past 20 years, I must say
the province of Diyala said: “the in- tants of Ashraf Camp continuously that this Camp is situated in a remote
habitants of this province would never carry on with political and lobbying area and the people’s access to it in the
forget the crimes of the elements of activities and in this way they have past and at the present time was and
MKO in the events of suppressing the managed to attract the attention of the still is impossible. The simplest reason
uprising the Shiite Moslems in the forces supporting the previous regime is that the security forces of Saddam
south and the Kurds in the north in and the Ba’ath party to cooperate with Hussein who were working with this
1991 which was committed jointly them. They cooperate with some of group had agreed with them that Kurd-
with Saddam Hussein’s forces. intelligence officers of Saddam Hus- ish citizen of the districts of Mandali
sein and some tribe leaders and have and Khaneqeyn or the Shiite Moslems
“The people of this province have of Diyala cities have no right to get
repeatedly demanded that the members established the so could the council of
rescue of Diyala province headed by near to the Camp, since these people
of the organisation be expelled from are familiar with Farsi which was the
Diyala, but the Americans have never former governor Abdullah Jaburi.
language of the elements of the MKO
given a positive response to this en- He added: regarding this group’s illu- and would learn about the nature of
quiry.” He added. sion that has claimed that the Iraqi their cooperation with their allies.
In this manner Asadi, while meeting government has considered their
forces as political refugees; I must Al-Asadi once more repeated the de-
the reporter of the website of the Patri- mand of the people of this province
otic Union of Kurdistan, said as a re- declare that this is mere lie. On the
contrary, we as the members of the and urged that the forces of this or-
ply to the sayings of the representative ganisation be expelled from Iraq and
of MKO in Britain whom was quoted council of the province of Diyala, have
officially urged the present and past also reminded that: We request that the
in the ‘Al-Sharq Al-Awsat’: In relation declaration of the council of transient
to the comments made by Dowlat governments and parliament to expel
these people from our province, but government regarding the deportation
Nowruzi who claimed that 132 thou- of MKO forces from our soil. The
sand Iranian mercenaries are present in the Americans do put obstacles in the
way of our requests. reason of course is that we are the
key governmental positions in Iraq, the province that has borders with Iran and
government and the parliament of Iraq The deputy chief of the council of therefore we want to have good rela-
must answer, but as far as the province Diyala province criticised the roll of tionship with our neighbouring coun-
of Diyala is concerned, this is the dis- the organisation which cooperated try and that is to our best interests. Not
trict that this terrorist organisation is with the previous regime and said: to support MKO is not to intervene
still occupying. I must emphasise that “This organisation has a dark history into the internal affairs of other coun-
“the inhabitants of Ashraf Camp are of cooperating with the regime of Sad- tries and we do not wish that our soil
still continuing their terrorist roll and dam Hussein. Their involvement in once more become a safe heaven for
support all terrorist activities of the suppressing the movement in the south terrorists. We must avoid anything
aggressive cults and enemies of the and the mass murder of villagers in the which might cause tension in our rela-
Government after the fall of Saddam districts of Kelar and Kefri would not tionships. The problems and disorders
Hussein and shelter them. This organi- be forgotten. The MKO holds meet- of the cities of Mandali, Qaraniya,
sation is acquainted with death squads, ings and sessions in our cities which Khaneqeyn and other cities would be
adequate for us.
 The EU-wide asset freeze against MeK is therefore
Briefing still in force
Britain, House of manner they will ber 2005 annulled
Publication Lords, now provide for
full hearing of
the
the
by the Court has
been replaced by a
March13, 2007 case against the subsequent Council
of NeJat organisation. decision of May
2006. The EU-wide
asset freeze against
Lord Triesman
Society (Parliamentary
Secretary,
Under-
Foreign &
MeK is therefore
still in force. The
EU keeps its terror-
Commonwealth Office) |
ist asset freezing
Hansard source decisions under
regular review.
Address On 12 December
E.mail: [email protected] 2006, the Court of Following the CFI
First Instance (CFI) decision on the MeK
P.O.Box 14395/679, Tehran Lord Avebury of the European case in December,
Fax: 88961031 (Liberal Democrat) | Community an- the EU has re-
nulled the Council viewed the listing,
Hansard source
of the European using improved
Union's decision to procedures, and on
asked Her Majesty's add the Mujahedinn 30 January reaf-
Government: e Khalq (MeK, also firmed its decision
known as OMPI or to include the MeK
What action they PMOI) to its list of on its list of terror-
have taken to com- terrorist organisa- ist organisations. In
ply with the ruling tions subject to an line with the
of the European EU-wide asset Court's require-
Court of First In- freeze. The CFI ments, it has writ-
stance in the case judgment focused ten to the group
Organisation des on issues of EU setting out the rea-
Modjahedines du procedu re; th e sons for the deci-
Peuple d'Iran v Court did not rule sion, and explaining
Council of the Euro- on the substantive how the group can
pean Union, annul- question as to exercise its right to
ling Council Deci- whether the MeK is provide further in-
sion 2005/930/EC a terrorist group. formation relevant
of 21 December to the case and/or
2005 freezing the The specific Council petition for delist-
funds of the organi- decision of Decem- ing.
sation; and in what
We are on the
Web!
www.nejatngo.org

N ej at Soci et y