March 28, 2024

Iranian Exiles in Iraq Ready to Start Relocation

FOX NEWS

The leader of an Iranian dissident group has agreed to start relocating refugees who for years have been living in precarious conditions in an Iraqi camp. 

Under an agreement recently struck between the United Nations and the Iraqi government, the 3,400 Iranian exiles at a site known as Camp Ashraf will move to Camp Liberty — the former U.S. military base near Baghdad — before making arrangements to leave Iraq and resettle elsewhere. 

Maryam Rajavi, the Paris-based head of the group, averted a potential showdown Wednesday by announcing that, “as a gesture of goodwill,” 400 residents at Ashraf are prepared to go to Camp Liberty “at first opportunity.” The statement was obtained by Fox News.

Before Wednesday, the exiles had not said whether they would consent to the U.N. deal. 

The statement, however, did not indicate when the rest of the residents might relocate. And it also did not mention one of the major remaining sticking points — the fact that in the United States, the group to which the exiles belong is a designated terror organization. As long as that label is attached to them, the residents can’t be resettled in the U.S. or Europe as part of any long-term solution. 

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 1970s 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. 

But the State Department is reviewing that designation. 

“We’re giving it serious consideration,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday, noting “no decision has been made yet.” 

More than a dozen former national security advisers have called on the Obama administration to delist the MEK, claiming there’s no evidence today to support allegations of terrorism against the group. 

More recently, the MEK and its affiliates have 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. 

A report this past August by Lincoln Bloomfield, a former assistant secretary of state, noted a “longstanding pattern” of western governments being “pressured” by Tehran to sanction the MEK. While the MEK is held responsible for the killing of six Americans in the 1970s, 

Bloomfield cited claims that those responsible actually represented a “splinter” group no longer tied to the current MEK group. 

Whether or not the U.S. changes the terror designation, the U.N.-Iraq plan for resettling the residents of Camp Ashraf ultimately aims to find a permanent home for the refugees. 

Martin Kobler, special representative for the U.N. secretary-general, said in a letter Wednesday that the temporary relocation at Camp Liberty is “a necessary and indispensable first step towards a long-term solution.” He noted that individual countries will have to decide whether they will accept the refugees, but assured that the United Nations will conduct “24/7 monitoring” of the new camp until all residents leave Iraq. The letter also said the U.S. would visit Camp Liberty “regularly and frequently.” 

Rajavi called for “maximum vigilance” in protecting Ashraf residents. 

Even after the deal was struck, rockets from an Iranian-backed militia were fired at the camp on Sunday and Tuesday. Residents remain in fear that the Iraqi government will turn them over to Iran where they would be tried as spies and traitors. More than 30 residents of Camp Ashraf were killed by Iraqi police last April during skirmishes after the U.S. military relinquished control of the camp. 

“The transfer of the first group of residents is a test of the Iraqi Government’s attitude in respecting obligations as professed to the U.N. and U.S.,” Rajavi said. 

The U.S. military also has a role to play in protecting the residents, since the U.S. disarmed the group in 2004 and gave them protected status. 

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/28/iranian-exiles-in-iraq-ready-to-start-relocation

Iranian exiles in Iraq agree to move camps

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD (AP) — The head of an Iranian exile group holed up at a camp in Iraq said Wednesday that the first of the camp’s residents are ready to move to a new location picked by the Iraqi government, solving a potential crisis.

The announcement Wednesday by Maryam Rajavi, the Paris-based leader of the group, averted what could have been a bloody showdown with Iraqi authorities if the residents had refused to move.

“After receiving assurances … and as a sign of goodwill, 400 Ashraf residents are ready to go to Camp Liberty with their moveable property and vehicles at first opportunity,” read the statement. Camp Liberty is the former American military base in Baghdad that has been chosen as the group’s new home.

The agreement comes as militants this week twice tried to target the camp with rockets. No one was injured.

The Iraqi government vowed to close Camp Ashraf, home to about 3,400 Iranian exiles, by the end of this year. The exiles, members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, one-time allies of Saddam Hussein in a common fight against Iran, favor the overthrow of the Iranian government.

But since the ouster of Saddam they have become an irritant to an Iraqi government that is trying to establish good ties with Iran and sees the group as an affront to Iraqi sovereignty. At least 34 people were killed in April during an Iraqi government raid on the camp.

The United Nations on Sunday announced an agreement to move the residents of Camp Ashraf to a temporary location, but until Wednesday, the exiles had not said whether they would go.

Rajavi said 400 residents are ready to move first as a sign of goodwill. The statement made no mention of when the other residents would go, but the group’s residents are believed to want to stay together. If the first move is successful and safe, it’s likely the rest would be relocated soon.

“The transfer of the first group of residents is a test of the Iraqi Government’s attitude in respecting obligations as professed to the U.N. and U.S.,” Rajavi said.

At Camp Liberty, the U.N.’s refugee agency will interview the residents to determine their eligibility for refugee status, before they can eventually be resettled in third countries. Returning to Iran is ruled out because of their opposition to the regime.

Rajavi’s statement also gave rare insight into a camp that was built during the 1980s and has largely been closed off to the outside world. The group’s residents have not left the camp for years, and the little contact they have with outsiders is through the Iraqi military, visiting diplomats and aid agencies. They do have extensive communications equipment that allows them to communicate with the outside world.

The group’s leader said residents had taken a piece of land in the desert and transformed it into a “modern city with their labor and extensive cost.”

“It has a university, library, museum, hospital, power station, cemetery, mosque, parks, lake, sports and recreation facilities, and underground bomb shelters,” she said.

The group carried out a series of bombings and assassinations against Iran’s clerical regime in the 1980s and fought alongside Saddam’s forces in the Iran-Iraq war. The group says it renounced violence in 2001. U.S. soldiers disarmed them during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Under the agreement outlined by the U.N., the international organization will monitor the relocation process, and then a team from the U.N.’s refugee agency will be deployed at the new location to process the refugee claims. The U.S. has said that its embassy personnel will also frequently check on the camp’s residents.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g2HYalCrCOblur92W0bIIFddTVHA

Maryam Rajavi: 400 Ashraf residents are prepared to go to Camp Liberty at first opportunity .

Maryam Rajavi expresses gratitude to Secretary Clinton for humanitarian approach to safety and security of Ashraf residents, and appreciate efforts by UN Secretary General, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Iraq, UNHCR, and Baroness Ashton

NCRI – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, expressed her gratitude for the humanitarian approach by the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her December 25 statement on the situation in Ashraf for reaching a peaceful and durable solution on the Camp’s residents and for her stressing their “safety and security” and that “officials from U.S. Embassy Baghdad will visit (Camp Liberty) regularly and frequently.” She also thanked Ambassador Daniel Fried, the Secretary’s Special Representative on Ashraf for his efforts in this regard.

Mrs. Rajavi repeated the readiness of Ashraf residents to relocate to Camp Liberty with minimal assurances and underscored: The residents of Ashraf welcome Secretary Clinton’s statement and, naturally, anything that would be contrary to the spirit and letter of the statement would be unacceptable to them.

Having received the assurances and the letter of Mr. Martin Kobler, SRSG, to Ashraf residents, Mrs. Rajavi announced: Despite the December 25 and 27 attacks with 107mm rockets on Ashraf, and the continuation of various provocations in Baghdad and around Ashraf, as a gesture of goodwill, 400 residents are prepared to go to Camp Liberty with their moveable property and vehicles at first opportunity. The relocation of the first group of residents is, at the same time, a test of the Iraqi Government’s attitude toward the commitments it has given to the United Nations and the United States.

Mrs. Rajavi also expressed her profound gratitude and appreciation for the efforts of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; SRSG, Ambassador Martin Kobler; UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres; EU High Representative Baroness Ashton, Special Advisor to EU High Representative, Amb. Jean de Ruyt; European Parliament Vice-President Alejo Vidal-Quadras; and Head of European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Iraq, Struan Stevenson; as well as distinguished US personalities and parliamentarians from over 40 countries for their efforts to prevent violence and bloodshed and for seeking a peaceful solution.

The Iranian Resistance’s President-elect pointed out that the Iraqi Government had unfortunately not accepted her participation or that of representatives of Ashraf residents and their lawyers in negotiations related to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the UN. As the UN statements have pointed out, the SRSG was only a facilitator in the negotiations. As a result, the MOU has not sufficiently emphasized on the minimal assurances and was therefore not acceptable to Ashraf residents. But the categorical emphasis by Secretary Hillary Clinton, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Baroness Ashton, António Guterres, and in particular the letter by Amb. Martin Kobler, contained the crisis and resolved the very complex problem.

The UN Secretary General stated: “He believes that the agreement lays the foundation for a peaceful and durable solution to the situation, respecting both the sovereignty of Iraq and its international humanitarian and human rights obligations,” and “that any violence or attempt at a forcible solution would be unacceptable.”

Addressing Ashraf residents and their leadership, Baroness Ashton stressed: “They should be reassured by the terms of the MOU and the commitment of UNAMI and the United States to ensure a robust monitoring. Thanks to this, the entire International Community will be able to follow closely the whole process and the EU intends to bring its support to this whole arrangement… and will continue to follow very closely the implementation of this agreement.”

Mr. António Guterres declared: “UNHCR is fully engaged in this initiative and looks forward to the voluntary and peaceful transfer of the asylum seekers to a temporary site so that UNHCR can proceed immediately with the determination of their status…”

Finally, the SRSG’s clarifications about the MOU in his letter to Ashraf residents persuaded them to relocate based on the statement by Secretary Clinton on December 25 and the SRSG’s letter on December 28, 2011. I emphatically urged Ashraf residents to count on and trust these foundations and statements by UN Secretary General, EU High Representative Baroness Ashton, and UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

The SRSG stressed:

“The MOU is a good start. It outlines the process of relocation to camp liberty which will take place exclusively under the security responsibility of the Government of the Republic of Iraq. The Government of the Republic of Iraq ensures your safety and security both during the transportation from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty and in Camp Liberty itself until the time comes when you leave Iraq.

“Given the short time it was not possible to address all your requests. Many issues will have to be arranged between you and the representatives of the Government of Iraq in Camp Liberty.

“Safe and secure transfer of the residents of Camp New Iraq to Camp Liberty and from Camp Liberty to other countries is ensured in the MOU.

“Upon arrival of the residents to Camp Liberty, the United Nations will conduct 24/7 monitoring at Camp Liberty until the residents leave Iraq.

“I am aware of your request for respect for your privacy in particular regarding women. I will continue my efforts with the Government of the Republic of Iraq in this regard to establish the appropriate arrangement, with the agreement of the Government of Iraq, which would respect the sovereignty of Iraq.

“With regard to other issues, such as assets and properties, we will continue the discussions towards reaching a solution that would respect the property rights of the residents in an organized way”.

Mrs. Rajavi added that contrary to what is said about the Iraqi Government not knowing about the number or identities of the Ashraf residents and what goes on in this city, I must bring to your attention:

First – from April 5 to 9, 2009 in a span of five days, the Iraqi Government fingerprinted, registered, and identified every single Ashraf resident, without exception;

Second – The Iraqi Government privately and individually interviewed all Ashraf residents, under supervision of US forces and International Committee of the Red Cross, from February 26 to April 22, 2009 at the headquarters of the Iraqi battalion. During these interviews, 11 persons decided to leave Ashraf and Iraqi state television broadcast these individuals’ repentance in the presence of Iraqi security officials on April 15, 2009;

Third – The Iraqi Government searched all buildings and facilities and all grounds and each single resident in Ashraf including women’s personal effects with a trained police dog unit for three days on April 18, 19, and 20, 2009. The official signed document of this search is available on request.

Fourth – Before the attacks of July 28 and 29, 2009, a representative of the Iraqi Government, Mr. Salim, was resident inside Ashraf and had unfettered access to every place in Ashraf 24/7.

In addition, after the United States transferred the protection of Ashraf to Iraqi forces in early 2009, Ashraf residents warmly welcomed the Iraqi forces. They also handed over $10 million worth of buildings and facilities to the Iraqi forces which the residents had built with their own funds in over two decades.

While underlining the red lines of the Ashraf residents in not surrendering to the religious fascism ruling Iran and the demands of its supreme leader, Mrs. Rajavi recounted the successive flexibilities shown by Ashraf residents, which were ultimately reflected in accepting the UN and US plan. They were:

– Yielding on a 26-year right of residence and asylum in Iraq, outlined in 22 legal opinions by the preeminent legal scholars across the world;

– Accepting the European Parliament plan for leaving Iraq for third countries;

– Accepting the UNHCR’s recommendation to submit individual applications for refugee status and to declare readiness for individual and private interviews;

– And finally, accepting the US and UN plan to leave Ashraf, a barren and arid piece of land, which thousands of residents transformed to a modern city in 26 years, through their toil and extensive cost. They built a university, a library, a museum, a hospital, a power station, a cemetery, a mosque, a lake, parks, sports and recreation facilities, and underground bomb shelters to defend themselves against the Iranian regime’s repeated bombings and Scud-B missile attacks.

In conclusion, Mrs. Rajavi, once again thanked all officials, personalities, parliamentarians, and jurists who worked towards a peaceful solution and called for an immediate end to the siege, restrictions, and provocations against Ashraf residents. She called for the international community’s maximum vigilance to protect the lives and rights of Ashraf residents and to record every single breach of the items stipulated in the letter by the SRSG and in the statements by the UN Secretary General and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, until the last person has left Camp Liberty for third countries.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 28, 2011

Rocket hits Iran dissident camp in Iraq: officials

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

BAQUBA, Iraq — Multiple rockets over the past 24 hours hit a camp in Iraq housing Iranian exiles, officials and the group based there said on Wednesday, after Iraq and the UN signed a pact to resettle residents.

The latest strikes, the third in four days, occurred at about 8:15 pm (1715 GMT) on Wednesday, according to an official at the Iraqi security command centre in Diyala provincial capital Baquba.

“Four mortars fell on Camp Ashraf at around 8:15 pm from unknown sources,” the official said. It was not immediately clear if they caused casualties.

On Tuesday evening, at least one rocket hit the camp, the official and a spokesman for the camp said.

An ambulance was sent to the camp, home to 3,400 members of the People’s Mujahedeen, after that attack but returned carrying no victims.

Shahriar Kia, a spokesman for the camp, said in an emailed statement that multiple rockets hit the camp at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, and confirmed there had been no casualties.

He blamed groups loyal to Iran of being behind the strike and a previous rocket attack on the evening of December 25.

On Sunday, Iraq and the UN signed a pact under which Baghdad will resettle members of the People’s Mujahedeen and provide security for them while the UN determines their refugee status.

The agreement was signed by UN special 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 Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said the camp will now close in April, rather than at the end of this year.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said 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 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://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iD3Kpoyh39ZyOjzBebAKw06idc5A

Fox News: Is US Keeping its Promise and Protecting Iranian Dissidents in Camp Ashraf?

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

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

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

The following statement was issued on 26 December by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General welcomes the signing on 25 December of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq for the voluntary relocation of the residents of Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf).  He believes that the agreement lays the foundation for a peaceful and durable solution to the situation, respecting both the sovereignty of Iraq and its international humanitarian and human rights obligations.  The Memorandum of Understanding is the result of intense negotiations between his Special Representative for Iraq, Martin Kobler, and representatives of the Iraqi Government.  The residents of the camp have also been consulted.
The Secretary-General welcomes the decision of the Government of Iraq to extend the deadline for the closure of the camp to provide more time and space for the peaceful voluntary relocation of the residents.  As reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding, the Government of Iraq has a clear and exclusive responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the residents.  At the same time, the residents of Camp New Iraq have to abide by the laws of Iraq.  He appeals to all concerned to continue to demonstrate flexibility and good faith, and move towards the swift implementation of the relocation plan.  The Secretary-General reminds all concerned that any violence or attempt at a forcible solution would be unacceptable.  The Secretary-General also reiterates his call to Member States to accept the residents who are eligible for voluntary return or resettlement as soon as possible.
The United Nations has been involved in this issue from a purely humanitarian perspective and has played the role of an impartial facilitator.  Under the leadership of Special Representative Martin Kobler, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees remain committed to continue supporting a peaceful and durable solution to the situation of the residents of the camp.

* *** *

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/sgsm14038.doc.htm

Statement from UNHCR Regarding Solutions for the Residents of Camp Ashraf

Statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, Regarding Solutions for the Residents of Camp New Iraq (Ashraf)

GENEVA – I want to express my deep appreciation for the tireless efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler, to reach an agreement with the Government of Iraq regarding a process for the voluntary relocation of the residents of Camp New Iraq (former Camp Ashraf).

UNHCR is fully engaged in this initiative and looks forward to the voluntary and peaceful transfer of the asylum seekers to a temporary site so that UNHCR can proceed immediately with the determination of their status in accordance with its mandate.

I wish to commend the Government of Iraq for extending the deadline for the closure of the camp and for agreeing to provide the necessary facilities with safety and security, so that the process of verification and adjudication can be conducted in a timely and appropriate manner.

I urge all sides to cooperate in good faith to ensure a peaceful process and I reiterate my appeal to the international community to contribute to the achievement of durable solutions for those recognized as refugees through offering resettlement places.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

In Geneva, Leigh Foster, on mobile +41 79 557 9124

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/search?page=search&docid=4ef9c3b56

Ban welcomes deal on voluntary relocation of Iranian exiles

UN News Center

27 December 2011 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed an agreement between the United Nations and the Iraqi Government that provides for the voluntary relocation of residents of a camp hosting Iranian exiles, saying the pact lays the foundation for a peaceful and durable solution to the issue.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Sunday stipulates that the Government will relocate the residents of Camp New Iraq, formerly known as Camp Ashraf, to a temporary transit location where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will start a process of refugee status determination, a necessary first step for their resettlement outside Iraq.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson last night, Mr. Ban said the agreement respects both Iraq’s sovereignty and the country’s international humanitarian and human rights obligations.

The MoU was the result of intense negotiations between Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for Iraq, Martin Kobler, and representatives of the Iraqi Government. The residents of the camp were also consulted.

“As reflected in the MoU, the Government of Iraq has a clear and exclusive responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the residents,” said the statement. “At the same time, the residents of camp New Iraq have to abide by the laws of Iraq.”

The Secretary-General urged all concerned parties to continue to demonstrate flexibility and good faith and move towards the swift implementation of the relocation plan. He reminded them that that any violence or attempt at a forcible solution would be unacceptable.

Mr. Ban also reiterated his call to Member States to accept camp residents who are eligible for voluntary return or resettlement as soon as possible.

The UN has been involved in the matter from a purely humanitarian perspective and has played the role of an impartial facilitator, Mr. Ban stressed.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, voiced his appreciation of Mr. Kobler’s efforts to find a solution to the Camp New Iraq issue, saying that UNHCR looked forward to the voluntary and peaceful transfer of the asylum-seekers to a temporary site where the agency can proceed with the determination of their status in accordance with its mandate.

“I wish to commend the Government of Iraq for extending the deadline for the closure of the camp and for agreeing to provide the necessary facilities with safety and security, so that the process of verification and adjudication can be conducted in a timely and appropriate manner,” said Mr. Guterres in a statement.

He also urged all sides to cooperate in good faith to ensure a peaceful process, reiterating his appeal to the international community to contribute to finding durable solutions for those recognized as refugees by offering resettlement opportunities.

Situated in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala, Camp New Iraq houses several thousands of members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran.

The Iraqi Government had earlier stated its intention to close down the camp by 31 December and to transfer residents to another location until countries willing to accept them for resettlement are found.

 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40843

Political Turmoil in Iraq – Camp Ashraf

Fox News  “Special Report” with Shannon Bream

Special Guests: A.B. Stoddard, Steve Hayes, Charles Krauthammer

MICHAEL MUKASEY, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: Now these people are in a camp where they are defenseless, and the United States troops have pulled out with the result that they are now at the mercy of the Iraqi government which is really doing the biding of the Iranian government. They’ve attacked them twice, both times when the U.S., then U.S. Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, was in country.

SHANNON BREAM
, GUEST HOST:
That is former Attorney General Michael Mukasey talking about a group of Iranian dissidents who actually live in Iraq, and now they’re losing their space where they’ve felt protected and they are moving elsewhere. Let’s talk about it with our panel. We’re back with Steve, A.B., and Charles. A.B., this Camp Ashraf situation is very delicate at this point.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, THE HILL : This is really going to put us in a terrible position because we are going to get dragged into it. I mean, the U.S. government is trying to continue to partner with Iraq to secure — for their own security. But we’re trying at the same time to stay out of the sectarian tension and political chaos that is mounting there. We find the prime minister now, he wants these people out. They’re going to be moved to a temporary place, Camp Liberty, which is a former U.S. base. There is no final home. There’s plans for a transfer, or what they call resettlement, without U.S. troops, U.N. monitors. Everyone is concerned that they won’t be safe there. There will be violence. Do the residents of the camp even want to be moved to the interim place? He’s defending the sovereignty of Iran throughout.

This is going to be a mess, and we’re going to find ourselves having to take a side, and it’s going to be a very tough situation as we try to take this kind of hands-off approach now whenever trouble erupts in Iraq, as it did within days of us leaving.

BREAM: And this camp currently it sits 50 miles from the Iranian border inside Iraq. And as Jennifer Griffin did in her excellent reporting earlier tonight, talked about the fact the U.S. had an understanding for protection for these folks, Steve.

STEVE HAYES, SENIOR WRITER, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: This is one of the reasons that I think this is such a problem. There’s a human tragedy element to it and then there’s also the political implications of this. The human tragedy is obvious. If we don’t protect them, they could be very well the victim of collusion between these two governments. That would be tragic.

On the political side of thing, the United States unfortunately has a history doing this in Iraq. I mean, remember back to 1991 when George H.W. Bush went on the radio, and people throughout the country heard him, said rise up against your government, we’ve got your backs. The Shiites did this and the Kurds did this in the north, and then we walked away from them.

We can’t do this. If we want people to act on our own interests and our perceived interests, we need to be able to keep our word when we ask people to do things for us and when we make promises. It looks like in this case we’re not keeping a promise.

BREAM: The prime minister, al-Maliki said we’re not going to hand them over to Iran; we’re not going to kill them. We don’t want to oppress or starve them, but their presence here is illegal and illegitimate.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: What’s happening, it’s another event that we’re seeing as a result of the full evacuation that Obama decided on against the generals who wanted a residual force in Iraq that would be a counterweight essentially to Iranian influence. This is entirely Iranian influence.

The group that we are talking about are fanatically anti-regime in Tehran. They have actually helped us. They are the ones that revealed the information about the secret enrichment in Natanz. They have agents inside of Iran, and they are now defenseless.

Why we keep them on the terror list, I don’t understand. They have not engaged in terror in over 15 years, 30 year, and not against the United States. They are an asset. And as we heard in the report earlier in the show, we’ve given them written assurances of protection in return for them turning in their weaponry, of which they had a lot.

So I think it’s a matter of honor, a matter of strategic necessity. The least that we can do is to get them into these camps away from the border with Iran where Iran actually is shelling them occasionally, and to help them resettle. But you can’t do that. They’re officially listed as terrorists, so we have to take them of the list and at the least resettle them.

BREAM: And Steve, more broadly overall the environment in Iraq, a lot of violence in the last few days.

HAYES: Yeah look, Iraq is falling people. There’s no way to dress it up. That’s what’s happening. This is the logical consequence of three years of neglect. That’s what happened with the Obama administration. Phone calls from the Iraqi leaders went unreturned, requests went unfulfilled.

You had an administration, you had a president, a candidate, then Barack Obama, Senator Barack Obama, who ran against Iraq, wasn’t interested, had called it the dumb war. And now you have a president in Barack Obama who neglected this war from the beginning. He handed it off to his vice president who believed that Iraq should be partitioned and split into three different countries. This is the logical consequence of those policy choices.

And I think unfortunately we’re looking at a situation that it’s hard to imagine getting better. You’ve seen this kind of violence and it’s hard to imagine it getting better and probably will get significantly worse over the course of the spring.

STODDARD: It is true, now that we’re gone, Iran will continue to mettle. There’s all this Sunni-Shiite tension, that we’ve lost our leverage. However, leaving Iraq remains popular with the American people. So as things deteriorate throughout 2012, as we expect them to, there’s going to be a debate about whether or not that was the right thing to do. At this moment though, President Obama receives high approval for leaving completely. And so we’ll see if it changes at all.

KRAUTHAMMER: I suspect history be a lot less kind. The tragedy here is that he was handed a won war. The surge had succeeded. Even the Shiite government had taken on the Shiite militias and destroyed them. We had a country that had an election that had representation of Sunnis and Kurds and Shiites. In three years, this administration had one task, work out an arrangement where at least America remains in a noncombat role as we were for the last year-and-a-half to exert pressure, and we did not do that. And to have a won war kicked away as a result is truly tragic.

BREAM: All right, panel, thank you very much.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1348282835001/political-turmoil-in-iraq/

 

Iranian Dissidents Concerned as U.N., Iraq Sign Agreement Over Refugee Camp

FOX NEWS

Dec. 9, 2011: In this photo provided by the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, Iraqi police stand guard outside the opposition group's camp northeast of Baghdad, Iraq.

The United Nations and the Iraqi government have announced that they have signed an agreement about what to do with 3,400 Iranian exiles who have been left stateless and under siege at a refugee camp in Iraq. The State Department welcomed the announcement.

“We are encouraged by the Iraqi government’s willingness to commit to this plan,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote. “Officials from U.S. Embassy Baghdad will visit regularly and frequently….At this new location, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will be able to conduct refugee status determinations for the residents of Ashraf — a necessary first step toward resettlement to third countries.”

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.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/26/iranian-dissidents-concerned-as-un-iraq-sign-agreement-over-refugee-camp/