Secretary-General, Welcoming Memorandum of Understanding on Relocation of Camp
New Iraq Residents, Warns That Forcible Solution Would Be ‘Unacceptable’

But residents of Camp Ashraf say they fear for their lives, even though the Iraqis reportedly agreed to resettle these 3,400 Iranian exiles at Camp Liberty, the former U.S. military base near Baghdad, before helping them leave Iraq. The group is still waiting to view the signed agreement.

“The Secretary General’s Special Representative has underscored that in any event, this is a voluntary and not a forcible relocation,” said Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the group’s representative in Paris. “Ashraf residents had repeatedly emphasized that they would in no way accept forcible relocation.”

So who are these Iranians left stateless in Iraq and why does the U.S. have a responsibility for them?

The group known as the Mujahideen Khalq or MEK, has been based in Iraq since the 1980s.

Saddam Hussein gave them protection because they helped him fight Ayatollah Khomeini and the mullahs in Iran. Since the U.S. military toppled Saddam Hussein after the invasion in 2003, the Iranians have been urging Iraq to hand over the exiles, whom Tehran considers traitors and spies.

Technically, the MEK is still on the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list, placed there by President Bill Clinton because the group allegedly killed six American diplomats during the 1970’s when the U.S. was supporting the Shah in Tehran. The group was reportedly placed on the list at a time when the State Department was attempting to engage Iran diplomatically.

More recently, the MEK and its affiliates have also helped the U.S. and Western intelligence agencies. They provided information about the secret uranium enrichment facility in Natanz – a key intelligence breakthrough for the West.

Iran is so threatened by them that when an agreement was reported in recent days, a militia aligned with Iran’s Quds force reportedly fired Katyusha rockets at Camp Ashraf, which is located in northeastern Iraq.

Further, a bipartisan group of more than a dozen top former U.S. national security advisers have been lobbying the State Department to protect the people of Camp Ashraf. They argue that the U.S. has a moral obligation to protect the Camp Ashraf residents because the U.S. military convinced the MEK to disarm after the U.S. invasion, promising them protection and then washed its hands of the situation.

“The United States General gave a guarantee in 2003, when we invaded Iraq and they surrendered their arms, heavy arms and light arms that they could have used to defend themselves,” says former Attorney General Michael Mukasey. “We gave them a guarantee that they would be treated as protected persons.”

Fox News has obtained the July 21, 2004 letter signed by U.S. Army Major General Geoffrey Miller, Deputy Commanding General of Multi-National Forces Iraq, who wrote, “I am writing to congratulate each individual living in Camp Ashraf on their recognition as protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention.” 

Click here to read the letter from U.S. Army Major General Geoffrey Miller.

A year later Major General William Brandenburg, another MNF-I commander writes, “Coalition forces remain committed to fulfilling the humanitarian mission of ensuring that the important rights provided by the Geneva Convention …are respected at Camp Ashraf.”

According to former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, “We asked a group of people to disarm themselves, to give away, surrender their capability of defending themselves. And in exchange for that, we promised them, we made a commitment that we would provide for their safety and security.”

The 3,400 Iranian exiles living in Camp Ashraf worry they will be killed if left in Iraq without U.S. protection.

“This agreement has not been negotiated with the MEK,” Ridge wrote in response to a Fox query in the wake of the announced deal. “Since the U.S. has yet to lift its ‘foreign terrorist organization’ designation, many of us are concerned that the Iraqi government under the influence of Iran and even with their direct support may provoke an incident against these defenseless residents to justify another massacre. I just want to reiterate that this is NOT a negotiated arrangement and frankly, it doesn’t appear the U.S. had much influence on the outcome.”

In other words, if the State Department leaves the MEK and residents of Camp Ashraf on its terror list, even if the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees wants to help them emigrate, no Western countries or the United States will take them.

At least two rockets struck a camp in central Iraq housing Iranian dissidents Sunday evening, a senior army officer said, as Baghdad and the UN signed a pact aimed at resolving the residents’ status.

Sunday’s deal had been welcomed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his government would extend a year-end deadline for the removal of the camp residents from Iraq.

“Two rockets landed on Camp Ashraf last night,” an Iraqi army colonel said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The casualties are unknown because we are forbidden from entering the camp.”

It was not immediately clear who fired the rockets.

The group which occupies Camp Ashraf, the People’s Mujahedeen, said in a statement that four rockets struck their base at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Sunday evening, and accused groups loyal to Iran of being behind the attack.

Also on Sunday, Iraq and the UN signed a pact under which Baghdad will resettle members of the People’s Mujehedeen and provide security while the UN determines their refugee status.

The United Nations said in a statement that it and the government of Iraq had “signed today a memorandum of understanding for a humanitarian and peaceful resolution of the situation of the residents” of the camp.

It said Iraq will relocate them to a “transit location for a process of refugee status determination by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a necessary first step for their resettlement outside Iraq”.

Iraq had committed to “ensure the safety and security of the residents at the new location”, said the statement.

The agreement was signed by UN envoy Martin Kobler and Iraqi National Security Adviser Falah al-Fayadh.

It did not give the location to which the residents would be moved or provide a timeline, but Maliki has said the camp will now close in April, rather than at the end of this year.

Clinton in a statement said the deal marks an “important step toward a humane resolution to the ongoing situation at (Camp) Ashraf.”

She added that US embassy officials would visit the new site “regularly and frequently” in support of the UN plan.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the rebel People’s Mujahedeen to set up the camp during the war with Iran in the 1980s.

When Saddam was overthrown in the US-led invasion of 2003, the camp came under US military protection, but American forces handed over security responsibilities for the site to the Baghdad authorities in January 2009.

The camp, home to around 3,400 residents, has been back in the spotlight since a controversial April raid by Iraqi security forces left at least 34 people dead and scores injured.

http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-un-sign-deal-over-iran-dissident-camp-220858357.html

 

Today, the United Nations and the Government of Iraq signed an important agreement on the temporary relocation and eventual resettlement of the more than 3,000 residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. We commend the Government of Iraq for its work with United Nations Special Representative Ambassador Martin Kobler, and welcome this important step toward a humane resolution to the ongoing situation at Ashraf. The UN effort has our full support.