....In October, the 4,000 residents of the MKO’s “Camp Ashraf” in Iraq staged a spectacular large-scale festival that included extensive military style parades, martial arts performances and a display of unarmed combat units. Video excerpts of the festivities were posted on YouTube. The festival was as much a display of military strength and the MKO’s ongoing committment to fight the regime in Iran as it was an homage to the two leaders of the MKO. One of the lingering questions surrounding the group’s continued existence is why it has not been disbanded.
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the group was disarmed and many of its members were questioned by the CIA and the FBI. Soon after, U.S. Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner confirmed the status of the residents of Camp Ashraf as “protected persons” under the
4th Geneva Convention, stating that “the coalition remains deeply committed to the security and rights of the protected people of Ashraf”. Evidently, one of Iran’s key demands to the U.S. government is the closure of Camp Ashraf and the subsequent expulsion of all MKO members. Despite demands by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that residents of Camp Ashraf “must not be deported, expelled or repatriated,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in April that the Iraqi government intended to resettle MKO members in European countries and set a deadline of six months for the move. The resettlement is unlikely to materialize given the EU’s tough stance toward the group and its umbrella organization, the National Resistance Council for Iran, but it still indicates that the MKO’s host country is becoming increasingly restless over its presence.
By and large it seems that the Iranian government is following a two-track strategy with regards to the MKO base in Iraq. Iranian diplomats in Iraq are putting increasing pressure on Baghdad to expel the group from Iraqi territory and to actively prosecute leading MKO operatives. At the same time, Iranian authorities continue to offer amnesties for members who cut their ties with the group and return to Iran. The MKO still creates serious security problems for Iran; according to a recent speech by Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki, the group has killed over 16,000 people in and outside Iran, including one president, one prime minister, four ministers and dozens of MPs. Most recently, Iranian authorities arrested a group of MKO operatives for the assassination of Sheikh Hashem Samiri, a Friday prayer leader in the city of Ahwaz. The crime was linked to the earlier September shooting of Sheikh Samir Durak, Friday prayer leader in the Koy-e Alavi district.....
