AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

The United Nations on Tuesday appealed to the Iraqi government to push back a December 31 deadline to close an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad, warning of a growing risk of violence.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also renewed appeals to the international community to find a home for the estimated 3,400 Iranian exiles at Camp Ashraf.

Amid heightened international concerns, the UN envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, told the UN Security Council many “obstacles” remain to ending doubts over how to end the camp standoff.

The positions of the residents and the government “remain far apart,” Kobler told the 15-member council.

There is “a real danger of confrontation and even violence” because of the uncertainty over the camp, which has been home to members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) since the 1980s.

Iraq has insisted it must close by the end of the year. But the camp’s inhabitants refuse to move unless they are given UN protection.

At least 36 people at the camp were killed in clashes in April. Residents said they were attacked by Iraqi forces.

Kobler said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is ready to start interviewing Camp Ashraf residents, but there is little hope of ending the dispute over the camp by December 31.

“I therefore appeal to the government of Iraq to extend this deadline in order to permit adequate time for a solution to be found,” Kobler said.

The envoy said any solution must suit the Iraqi government, which says the camp is a security threat, and the residents’ demands for a safe exit.

“Lives are at stake and must be protected,” Kobler said. “The government has a responsibility to ensure the safety, security and welfare of the residents. Any forced action that results in bloodshed or loss of lives would be both ill-advised and unacceptable.”

UN leader Ban Ki-moon appealed for countries to volunteer homes for the Camp Ashraf residents in a report to the Security Council for the meeting.

“In order to find a durable solution for the camp residents, it is essential that potential third countries indicate their willingness to receive them for resettlement,” Ban said.

Iraq’s UN ambassador, Hamid al-Bayati, also called for international help.

“I would like to assure the Security Council that my government doesn’t want to force anybody to go back to Iran,” he said.

But Bayati said the camp residents were preventing Iraqi forces and government officials from entering.

“We cannot allow any group inside Iraq which will attack neighboring countries, that will cause lots of problems,” he told the Security Council.

UN envoy Kobler also stressed the need for Iraq and Kuwait to make a new effort to normalize their relations. Iraq remains on the UN Security Council agenda because of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Kobler said “little progress” has been made in the past two years and offered UN assistance.

New efforts are “needed to promote confidence between the two countries and facilitate solutions,” said Kobler The Iraqi ambassador said repairing ties was a “top priority” of the Baghdad government.

Iraq and Kuwait have not settled their border and Iraq still has to pay almost $20 billion in war damages. The two are also in dispute over a new Kuwaiti port that Iraq considers a threat to its sea access.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111206-un-asks-iraq-extend-dissident-camp-deadline

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Dec 5, 2011 – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged nations to accept residents of a camp of Iranian dissidents in Iraq that Baghdad has vowed to close by the end of the year, according to a report released on Monday.

“In order to find a durable solution for the camp residents, it is essential that potential third countries indicate their willingness to receive them for resettlement,” Ban said in his latest report to the Security Council on the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). 

Ban said he and other senior U.N. officials “have been encouraging member states in this regard.” The U.N. Security Council will review Ban’s report at a meeting on Tuesday.

Last month, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she would urge EU member states to accept residents of Camp Ashraf, a base of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, which mounted attacks on Iran before the U.S.-led removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The future of Ashraf’s more than 3,000 residents became uncertain in 2009 after the United States turned the camp over to the Iraqi government, which considers its residents a threat to security.

Amnesty International says the Iranians there are subject to harassment by the government and denied access to basic medicine. More than 30 were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces in April.

“The United Nations continues to advocate that the humanitarian needs of the residents be met,” Ban said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been trying to arrange to interview the camp’s residents to determine who among them qualifies for refugee status and resettlement but Iraq has yet to allow this.

“The government of Iraq’s approval would be vital in moving this process forward,” Ban’s report said. “The support of the leadership of Camp Ashraf for U.N. efforts in this regard is also necessary.”

The EU removed the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran from its terrorism list in 2009 but it is still considered a terrorist organization by some countries, including the United States and Iran.

Last month, members of the European Parliament called on Ashton to step up pressure on Iraq to extend the deadline for closing the camp. British MEP Struan Stevenson said residents would face “certain torture and execution” if sent back to Iran.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/05/us-iraq-ashraf-un-idUSTRE7B42PB20111205

NCRI – Despite extensive international efforts in search of a peaceful solution for Ashraf and opposite to the display of increasing abhorrence by the Iraqi people and politicians regarding the suppressive plans against Ashraf, the Government of Iraq, as the no-question-asked executor of policies dictated by the religious fascism ruling Iran, continues to prepare itself for a fresh deadly assault on Ashraf. Some of these measures are:

Iraqi forces have started new military engineering work around Ashraf. Since Tuesday midnight, 29 November 2011

1- In preparation for an assault on the defenseless residents of Ashraf, Iraqi forces have started new military engineering work around Ashraf. Since Tuesday midnight, 29 November 2011, Engineering Battalion of Iraqi Army 5th Division are busy constructing berms 3 meters in height in the eastern and southern flanks of Ashraf. This engineering work is ongoing. The Iraqi Army 5th Division played the major role in the crime against humanity of 8 April against Ashraf residents with its various battalions taking part in that assault. 

One of these berms is 15 meters far from the protecting fence of Camp Ashraf and is close to the location where elements of the Iranian Intelligence Ministry are stationed. In the last 654 days, using earsplitting loudspeakers, these elements were psychologically torturing Ashraf residents by threatening them to death, torture, extradition and setting Ashraf on fire.

2- According to information received from within the clerical regime, the Iranian embassy in Baghdad has tasked mullah Jabar Mamouri, a Qods Force agent in Iraq, to infiltrate Ashraf with elements of the Qods Force concurrent with the measures that the Iraqi Army 5th Division is implementing. At 2:30 am on December 1st, together with a number of Iranian regime hirelings, Jabar Mamouri attempted to tear the protecting fence of Ashraf’s western flank for the Qods Force elements to get inside the camp. His plot was foiled with awareness on part of the residents and their vehement protests.
 
Jabar Mamouri played a key role during the January 7, 2011 attack against Ashraf which led to injury of 175 residents. He outright threatened the residents with hanging and cutting off their heads. He had also resorted to tearing the protective fence of Ashraf in the past to get Qods Force agents inside the camp.

3- On Friday, December 2nd, Jabar Mamouri and his hirelings are again moving around Ashraf’s perimeter conducting reconnaissance. They attempted to tear Ashraf’s fence at another section, but were faced with protests from residents and were forced to flee the scene.
 
Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General, Special Representative of Secretary-General for Iraq, and also the U.S. government not to remain silent in face of these attempts by the Government of Iraq that is paving the political and military grounds for the massacre of residents. They should undertake necessary steps to provide protection for Ashraf residents by UN blue helmets or U.S. forces until transfer of all residents to third countries.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 2, 2011

NEW EUROPE

The National Council of Resistance of Iran along with MEPs are urging the EU foreign ministers to take action against Iraq’s attempts to close an Iranian camp, home to more than 3,000 dissidents.

The EU foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Thursday in Brussels and the scheduled 31 December closing of Camp Ashraf is on the agenda for members to discuss. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered the relocation of the camps residents.

Camp Ashraf is home to over 3,000 Iranians who fled to Iraq. The camp’s residents are opposed to the current Iranian regime and are working to overthrow the current government. The Iran resistance council has said the closure of the camp is a front for al-Maliki to “massacre” the Iranian dissidents.

President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran Maryam Rajavi urged the foreign ministers to condemn al-Maliki’s actions and call on the United Nations to declare the camp’s residents as refugees.

“I would like to tell the leaders of the European Union that you have the power and the means to avert a definite humanitarian catastrophe,” Rajavi said.

Although the Iraqi government has promised the camp residents would not be harmed, Rajavi cited an 8 April raid on Camp Ashraf that resulted in the death of 36 people as a reason not to trust the Iraqi officials.

“Experience shows that Iraq’s governments’ promises cannot be trusted,” she said.

European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Iraq President Struan Stevenson pointed to intelligence showing the Iraqi army beginning to plan an attack on the camp. Stevenson said that al-Maliki is closing the camp on orders from Iran.

“Iraq’s coalition government is a product of Tehran…al-Maliki owes his job to Tehran,” Stevenson said.

European Parliament Vice President Alejo Vidal-Quadras urged the United Nations to declare all residents of Camp Ashraf as refugees immediately. Normally, the UN conducts interviews individually with each refugees before they are given that classification.

According to Ravjani, the Iraqi government has insisted the interviews be conducted away from the camp and while members have agreed to these terms, they will only leave if the UN provides security to and from their home.

Ravjani has advocated the deadline for close the camp be “put-aside”, that the UN provide security forces to Camp Ashraf and for the international community to accept the residents as refugees.

With the deadline of 31 December fast approaching there is not a lot of time to conduct the interviews required for refugee status and transfer to other nations. Vidal-Quadras urged the UN to act quickly and grant the refugee status to the camp’s residents.

“If this is not an emergency than I don’t know what one is,” he said.

Former Irish Prime Minister and EU Ambassador to the United States John Bruton said the 2003 Iraq war was to blame for the condition of Camp Arshaf. He said that those responsible for the war have a special responsibility to speak up for the residents.

“If leaders are willing to take credit for the good that came out of the invasion than they should also accept responsibility for its consequences,” Bruton said.

Rajavi added that neither the US or the UN have given assurances and instead rely on “empty promises from the Iraq government.”

Rajavi hopes the EU foreign ministers will take a stand on the issue during their meeting Thursday in Brussels.

 http://www.neurope.eu/article/iran-resistance-leaders-urge-eu-prevent-massacre

REUTERS

BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (Reuters) – EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will urge EU states next week to accept as many residents as they can of a camp of Iranian dissidents in Iraq that Baghdad plans to close by the end of the year, EU officials said on Thursday.

Ashton will make the call as part of efforts to resolve the issue of Camp Ashraf, a base of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, which mounted attacks on Iran before the U.S.-led removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been trying to arrange to interview the more than 3,000 residents to determine who among them qualifies for refugee status and thus resettlement, but Iraq has yet to allow this.

A senior EU official said the United Nations and Iraq were working to resolve “a logistical problem” caused by Iraq's refusal to allow the interviews to take place at the camp.

He said Iraq had proposed that the interviews take place at a Baghdad hotel. Talks were also under way on the possibility of housing those not immediately relocated to third countries at a former U.S. base near Baghdad for up to six months.

The official said the United Nations had estimated in the past that about 800-900 of the residents had sufficient links to third countries to allow their resettlement, while another 1,000 were thought to want to return to Iran.

Another EU official said Ashton would call on EU states at a meeting of EU foreign ministers next week to take responsibility for those entitled to resettle in their countries.

“We have a deadline coming up,” he said. “We are doing all we can to make sure member states take their responsibility.”

The senior EU official was unable to estimate how many residents might be entitled to resettlement in EU countries. He said many claimed links to France and Germany but both countries showed a reluctance to accept them.

The EU removed the PMOI from its terrorism list in 2009, but it is still considered a terrorist organistion by other countries, including the United States.

The senior EU official said Iraq had issued arrest warrants for up to 120 of the residents, some of whom had helped Saddam in his campaigns against Iran and Iraq's Kurdish minority.

“I guess the Iraqis will want to put them on trial,” he said, adding that he did not think any EU country would want to give this group asylum.

The official said that while some EU countries were willing to take in limited numbers, the best hope for the others was for resettlement in countries such as Australia and Canada.

“The International community will do its best to relocate them, but it won't be easy because many people consider them (the PMOI) terrorists.”

The future of Ashraf's residents became uncertain in 2009 after the United States turned the camp over to the Iraqi government, which considers its residents a threat to security.

Amnesty International says they are subject to harassment by the government and denied access to basic medicine. More than 30 were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces in April.

On Tuesday, members of the European Parliament called on Ashton to step up pressure on Iraq to extend the deadline for closing the camp. British MEP Struan Stevenson said residents would face “certain torture and execution” if sent back to Iran. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Jon Hemming)

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/eu-to-urge-members-to-accept-iranian-dissidents