nejat newsletter - issue 14

8/14/2019 Nejat Newsletter - ISSUE 14

1/12

Iran Exile Group Stays on EU Terror List

By: CONSTANTBRAND

06.28.07

European Uniongovernments de-cided Thursday tokeep an Iranian

opposition groupblacklisted as aterrorist organiza-tion after review-ing its demand tobe removed fol-lowing a recentcourt ruling, diplo-mats said.

The Paris-basedPeople's Muja-hadeen Organiza-tion of Iran, whichseeks the over-throw of Iran's Is-

lamic regime, isalso on the U.S.government's listof terror groups.

F o r m e r I r a q ileader Saddam

Hussein let thegroup - alsoknown as the Mu- jahedeen-e Khalq,or MEK - operatecamps in Iraq fromwhich it stagedattacks on Iran.

The group says ithas renouncedmilitary action andits militants in Iraqhave handedweapons over toU.S.-led forces.

IranPeyvand.com

Breaking The Ties

That Bind A f a m i l y t o r n a p a r t

by M o jahed in K ha lq

Organ i sa t i on ( Ra -

j av i cu l t )

Fu l l s t o ry on page 3

East French Rail Lines in Terror A lertw ith Four MKO Members Sought

TF1, France,New s at 20:00,August 08,2007

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/0,,3518161,00- g r a n d -

est-menace-par-alerte-terroriste-.html

French ChannelOne Television(TF1) announced

on the 20 Hoursnews broadcastAugust 08, 2007

that train servicesbetween Luxem-burg and Franceare being investi-

gated after infor-mation receivedfrom Luxemburgauthorities indi-cated that up tofive terrorist sus-pects (4 Iraniansand one of Af-ghan origin) arebeing sought. Thenews went on tosay that informa-

tion receivedfrom the Luxem-burg authoritiesclaim that the

four of Iranianorigin are closelylinked to the Mo-jahedin Khalq Or-ganization Head-q u a r t e r s i n

France. The railsystem betweenFrance and Lux-emburg has beeninterrupted foralmost twenty-four hours andsecurity has beenincreased asFrance investi-gates this terror-ist alert.

Link to the video,France TF1, Newsat 8 pm, August08, 2007

http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/france/0,,3518161,00- g r a n d -est-menace-par-alerte-terroriste-.html

I SSUE NO 14

20 AUGUST 2007Nejat Newsletter

THE BRIEF ING PUBLICATION OF NEJAT SOCIETY

Exile Group Stays onEU terror List

1

East French Lines InTerror Alert

1

The presence ofMKO in Iraq isagainst the law

2

Four more defectorsof Rajavis Cultrepatriated

2

Breaking the ties that

bind

3

Rajavi name in Mo-jahedin propagandasignals a cult spiral-ing towards disaster

4, 5

Elaheh, the singer offlowers passed away

5

Coordinator of MKO

terrorists arrested6

Status of MKOmembers held in Iraq

prompts debate

7

Anne Singleton in-

terview with BBC

8, 9

Two postings from

NIAC about MKO10

NIAC Makes Pro-gress in Defamation

Case with VOA

10

NIAC rebuts MKOand Front Page

Magazine

11

Iraq will spare no

effort to help Iran12

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:


2/12

NEJAT NEWSLETTER PAG E 2

Al-Iraqiyah TV, Bagh-dad, in Arabic August

06, 2007

Within its 1700 gmt news-cast on 6 August, Baghdad

Al-Iraqiyah Television inArabic the channel carries

the following report: "Prime

Minister Nuri al-Maliki hassaid that his forthcomingvisit to Turkey will seek to

enhance Iraqi-Turkish rela-tions at all levels. Al-Maliki

added that the visit is part

of a government plan toupgrade security and eco-nomic cooperation with

Iraq's neighbours."

The report cites Al-Maliki as

saying: "This visit comes inresponse to an invi-

tation by the Turkishprime minister toview bilateral issues

and files. Needlessto say, one of the

files we will discussis security coopera-tion to face terror-ism and the terrorist

challenges which theregion in general

and both countries in par-

ticular are witnessing. The

Turkish side has expresseda strong desire to conclude

economic agreements andpave the way for Turkish

firms to take part in the

reconstruction process, es-

pecially in the central and

southern areas."

Al-Maliki adds: "The Iraqi

Government will not allowIraqi territories to become

spent a few weeks in TIPFCamp and finally could return

Iran with Red Cross coopera-

tion.

Posted on 2007-08-01

Four more defectors of Ra-

javis Cult repatriated

Nejat Society

Tehran-July 30th 2007

According to Nejat Society cor-

respondent, four other peopledefected MKO and repatriated.The four defectors, who were

MKO members for a long time,

Iraq P M: The presence of MKO in I raq is against the law

Four more defectors of Rajavis Cult repatriated

The defectors names:

Ahmad Rostamian

GholamReza Shirdom

Jamil Abdollahzade

AliReza Naghashzade

The above-named people willconsequently state their com-ments on the disruptive atmos-

phere in Camp Ashraf.

the launch pad of acts thatcan harm the interests of

the others. Likewise, wewill not allow Iraq to be-

come a haven for illegiti-

mate or terrorist organiza-tions acting against anyneighbouring country. This,

in fact, is stated in the Con-stitution. We are keen thatno neighbouring country is

harmed by acts coming

from Iraqi territories."

Commenting on his upcom-

ing Iran visit, Al-Malikisays: "Here again, thesame files will be raised,including security coopera-tion and the Mojahedin-E

Khalq organization, which isviewed as a threat to Iran's

security and which

is classified as a ter-rorist organization.

The presence of this

organization in Iraqis against the law

and the Constitu-tion. In addition,

there are other

common issues re-lated to borders,

water, and coopera-

tion at the economic, oil,

and power levels."

General Tahir Abduljalil Habush, the head of Saddam Husseins

Security Forces, in visit with the leader of the MKO Masud Rajavi


3/12


(A family torn apart byMojahedin Khalq Organi-

sation - Rajavi cult).

By: neha gandhi, CBC Tele-vision, August 12, 2007

http://exposure.cbc.ca/video/breaking-ties-bindA tale of a family torn apartby lies, deception, and gov-

ernment bureaucracy, Breaking the Ties ThatBind is a true story of the

Mohammady family and

their tangled history withthe Iranian resistance force

known as the Mujahedin-e

Khalq (MEK).

About Somayeh:Somayeh was only 17 when

she met the recruiters of

the Iranian oppositiongroup Mojahedin-e Khalagh

(MEK) in Toronto.Born into a family withsympathies towards the

group and

having al-ready lost

her favorite

aunt inguerrilla

fightsagainst Is-

lamic Re-

public of

Iran,Somayeh

decided to drop out of hergrade 10 high school class

at Etobicoke Collegiate In-

stitute and attend a MEKcamp in Iraq for a month.

Most of all, she was thank-ful to MEK for offering to

pay for her expanses to

visit her aunt's grave. OnFebruary, 1998 Somayeh

left Toronto to spend amonth in what later on

turned to be a guerrillacompound called Camp

Ashraf, the headquarters of

the Organization of theFreedom Fighters of theIranian People. Somayeh is

a now a 25 year old, stillliving under harsh condi-tions of Ashraf, despite her

parents restless tries tobring her back home.

Somayeh is one of themany Canadian and Ameri-

can teen-agers whowere de-

c e i t f u l l y

r e c r u i t e dby MEK and

send to

Camp Ash-raf, where

they weretrained for

guerilla fights and forced to

stay inevitably. In an inde-pendent letter sent to the

Canadian embassy in Jor-dan, Somayeh asks for theCanadian government's

help to get

her back toT o r o n t o .

Later how-

ever, shewas forced

by MEK in acourt hear-

ing to de-

nounce her

family andstate that

she wants to stay with MEK holy worriers, now a

banned terrorist organiza-

tion under Canadian lawsince 2005.

Somayehs life has been ingreat danger in the past 10

years and she is defiantly

threatened to comply withMEKs rules. Her story is

Breaking The Ties That Bind

very damaging to MEK andas a result the organization

does not allow Somayeh toleave camp Ashraf in order

to contact or meet with the

Canadian Officials in privateor in a 3rd party country.This has further compli-

cated her case, as she offi-cially told an immigration

judge over satellite phone

that she does not wish toreturn to Canada. Her fam-

ily and friends know this tobe a testimony made under

p r e s s u r eand there-fore devoid

of any

t r u t h .Somayeh is

kept like a

hostage atCamp Ash-

raf andmust be

treated like one.

About Us

We are Family and Friendsof Somayeh Mohammadiwho are deeply concerned

about her safety as she has

been forcefully kept by Mo- jahedin-e Khalagh (MEK),

Iranian guerrilla fighters in

Iraq, for the past ten years.Somayeh is one of the

many Canadian and Ameri-can youth who were re-

cruited to monthly camps

when they were teenagers,

only to be kept like hos-tages at the headquarters

of the Organization of theFreedom Fighters of the

Iranian People, Camp Ash-

raf, Iraq. This website is toraise awareness about

Somayehs case and helpus organize our campaign

to save Somayeh.S o m a y e h w e b s i t e :http://www.somayeh.org/


4/12


Iran I nterlink Brief

Iran Interlink, July 13,2007

Our brief in February 2007

mentioned that the Mojahe-din Khalq's own analysis

places blame for its current

difficulties on its critics; inparticular former members

of the cult who continue to

speak out on the cult's con-tinued use of violence and

its human rights abuses.

One of those critics is

Mohammad - HosseinSobhani, a human rightsactivist who was mentioned

in the May 2005 Human

Rights Watch report 'No

Exit'.

http://www.iran-

inter-

link.org/?mod=view&id=797

In recent days the MKO has

published, on YouTube andsimilar media, several vid-

eos depicting violence andfighting. The words intro-ducing the video clips men-

tion Mr Sobhani by namealthough none of them ac-

tually show him on film. In

addition, hundreds of arti-cles have been published

without authorship on the

tens of websites whichhave no discernible owner-

ship other than beingstrongly linked with the

MKO which also implicateMr Sobhani in this violence.

What has happened to pro-

voke this?

On June 17, 2007 MrSobhani was invited as a

speaker to a meeting inParis on 'Peace and Toler-

ance. He has previously

spoken on television andradio. He was invited to

speak at the European Par-liament on February 27,

2007.http://www.iran-

inter-


63

During the Paris meeting

Mr Sobhani, along with the

other guests of the meet-ing, was attacked by overfifty people. It was later

revealed that the attackhad been organised by the

Mojahedin Khalq from its

headquarters in Auver-sur-Oise. Its purpose, to stop

anybody criticising the cult.

http://www.iran-

inter-link.org/?mod=view&id=26

53

Over fifty attackers werearrested by police at thescene. From among the in-

vited guests Mr Sobhaniwas arrested by mistake

and was subsequently re-leased. He has filed a com-plaint against Mohammad

Hayati, a known MKO ter-

Massoud Rajavi name in Mojahedin propaganda signals a cult

spiralling toward disaster

rorist who had been trans-ferred from Iraq (and back

again) to act as 'militarycommander' at the scene.

The Mojahedin subse-quently tried to exploit Mr

Sobhani's brief arrest andhis release along with some

of the films they took

themselves - which showthe attackers own engage-ment with employees of the

venue's security firm - inan effort to claim that Mr

Sobhani attacked the MKO

at the venue where he hadbeen invited as a guest to

speak. The MKO propa-ganda is clearly aimed atdiscrediting Mr Sobhani as

a prominent critic of thegroup.

This attempt has been go-

ing on for the past threeweeks but appears not tobe working. Even the Moja-hedin's own supporters and

members cannot explain tothemselves why fifty people

were sent to violently at-

tack five speakers at the

Mr. Sobhani in European Par liament. Feb. 2007


5/12


Paris venue.

In an unprecedented movethe Mojahedin have issued

a lengthy document intro-

duced as a statement byMassoud Rajavi the

MKO's leader who has beenin hiding since the 2003 fall

of Saddam Hussein.

In the statement, which

purports to be in his name,Massoud Rajavi targets this

specific issue and states as

a matter of fact that fiftyMKO activists were at-

tacked by Mr Sobhani atthe venue.

This is the first time thatMassoud Rajavi's name has

been used in this way. He

has never issued any simi-lar statement in all the time

he has acted as leader ofthe cult. The significance of

this can be gleaned fromexposing Maryam Rajavi's

repeated instruction to theMojahedin's membership

that the first, second andthird aim of the cult is toprotect Massoud Rajavi and

his name. But now we seethat she herself is spending

his name as an expendable

asset of the MKO.

In Mojahedin terms thisannouncement - purport-edly by Massoud Rajavi isintended to act as an injec-

tion of ideological druginto the Mojahedin cult

body. The effect of usingMassoud Rajavis name

should be to convince themembers to somehow ac-

cept the blatant contradic-

tions inherent in the lie.Not only has Rajavis state-ment not convinced them,

but during the past fewdays we have received nu-merous reports from inside

the Mojahedin that the sup-porters and some members

are struggling with the idea

that if Massoud Rajavisname can be used as cover

for a ridiculous lie like this,

then how can we trust himnot to have been lying all

the time from 1979 untilnow. The problem for the

ideological members is to

try to revere Massoud Ra-

javi as their Ideological

Massoud Rajavi name in Mojahedin propaganda signals a cult

spiralling toward disaster

Leader even though hisname has now become an

expendable asset. Theymust try not to doubt him,

but they can't avoid the

inevitability of this whichhas been imposed on themby this propaganda move.

Observers of the Mojahedin

cult are seeing clear signsof desperation. This use ofMassoud Rajavis name in

this recent propaganda

campaign more than any-

thing signals that the cult is

spiralling out of control. Itis becoming more and more

isolated and extreme in its

behaviour. There should bea warning in this to security

officials in European coun-

tries.

Iran-InterlinkJuly 13, 2007

Mr. Sobhani stabbed by MKO thugs. June 2007

Elaheh, the singer of flowers passed away

BBC Persian.com

17 August 2007

Bahar Gholam-Husseini, otherwise known as Elaheh, a veteran diva singer of the Iranian folk

music, died at the age of 71 in Tehran.

In 1994 she participated in a concert in support of the MKO which left her with sever criti-cisms. She latter announced that she did not know about the nature of the concert which was

held as a propaganda campaign for MKO and its leader Maryam Rajavi in Paris.


6/12


Jodat Kazem/Al-Hayat,

London, July 26, 2007

http:/ / ww w.daralhayat.com/ arab_news/ levant_news/ 07-2007/ Item-

20070722-ef2b358d-

c0a8-10ed-0169-

5e997cf6fc0c/ story.html

http:/ / ww w.daralhayat.

com/ arab_news/ levant_news/ 07-2007/ Item-20070723-f4305e96-c0a8-10ed-0169-5e991ed6d997/ sto ry.h t

ml

U.S. and Iraqi forces have

arrested Abdullah Al-Jabouri, former governor of

Diyala on charges of coor-

dinating the activities of al-Qaeda, Baath party and

Mojahedin-e Khalq Organi-

zation and also because ofbeing involved in terror and

sabotaging operations.

Foad al-Taaei, director of

al-Khales Information Of-fice in Diyala, said to Al-

Hayat newspaper: "U.S.and Iraqi forces have ar-

rested Abdullah al-Jabouri

who was formerly acting asthe province's governor. He

was the leader of an al-

Qaeda team in the area ofSa'diah al-Jabal, mostly

comprised of Al-Jabour

tribes."

"He was also the coordina-

tor of activities between theMKO and members of thetribal elements of Al-

Sa'dieh. He provided them

with financial and logistical

support," he added.

"His arrest warrant had

been issued earlier but it

had not been executedsince he was in London. He

was arrested by U.S. and

The U.S. has been unableto decide just what to do

with the MEK. The Iraniangovernment has reportedly

offered to exchange some

al-Qaida members it says itis holding for the leaders of

the MEK, permitting the

rank and file to return toIran to be reunited with

their families.

Some U.S. officials havesuggested sending the MEK

to a third country. Othershave argued that the U.S.

should continue to hold the

MEK as a bargaining chipand even use them for cov-

ert operations against Iran

in retaliation for attacksthat the U.S. says Iran is

behind in Iraq.

Arash Semitapur(ph) urgesWashington not to be

tempted to use the groupagainst the Iranian govern-

(cont from page 7)MEK a terrorist group.

The U.S. has permittedfamily members to visit

Camp Ashraf. Masumai

Rasahid has been there tosee her son four times.

Ms. RASAHID: (Through

Translator) When he metme, he had a very bad re-

action in front of every-

body. He screamed at meand yelled at me. His

friends told me that he wasforced to do that. The last

time that we met, it was

much better. They let usstay for the night in the

camp with him, and he was

a little better than the pre-vious time.

SHUSTER: The last time

Masumai Rasahid saw herson was in 2004. Since

then, its been far too dan-gerous to make the trip.

Coordinator of MKO-Terrorists Arrested

Status of Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) Members Held in Iraq P rompts Debate (cont)

ment.Mr. SEMITAPUR: Maybe

there are some people inU.S. government who

would think that they are

useful for them, but I dontthink that they are so naive

that they can trust these

guys.SHUSTER: Semitapur ar-

gues for a more humanitar-

ian solution to the problem helping the families to

spend more time in Bagh-dad or in bordertowns with

MEK members. That way,

he says, many will decideto come home. So far, ac-

cording to the Najat Soci-

ety, since the U.S. invasionof Iraq, about 300 MEK

members have returned to

Iran and are now livingwith their families.

Mike Shuster, NPR News,Tehran.

Iraqi forces as soon as heentered his house near al-

Sa'diah district."

After the news of arrestwas announced, a man in-

troducing himself as Al-

Jabouri, the former gover-nor of Diyala, called Al-

Hayat newspaper and de-

nied the reports.

Meanwhile, MultinationalForces (MNF) in Iraq said in

a statement- a copy of

which available to Al-Hayat- that "U.S. special

forces, along with Iraqi

forces, have arrested theformer governor of Diyala."

"Intelligence reports indi-

cate that the detained manhas been in touch with ter-

rorist groups of Al-Qaeda,

Baath Party and Mojahedin-e Khalq organization and

has been involved in terror,

murder and unrest," the

statement adds.


7/12


National Public Radio,Weekend Edition - Sat-

urday, July 21, 2007listen to the program:

http://www.npr.org/

templates/story/story.php?storyId=12144968

SCOTT SIMON, host:

This is WEEKEND EDI-TION from NPR News.Im Scott Simon.

Coming up, climate changecomes to the Sky Islands.

But first, the next round of

talks in Baghdad betweenthe U.S. and Iran is ex-

pected to take place before

the end of July. One issueof particular interest to Iran

is the presence in Iraq of

more than 3,000 militantsof the Mujahideen cult of

the Peoples Mujahideen.

Until the U.S. invasion ofIraq, this group carried out

cross-border at tacksagainst the government in

Tehran aided by SaddamHussein. Since the inva-sion, the MEK, as its

known, has been confinedto a base in Iraq under thecontrol of U.S. forces. InTehran, an effort has

emerged to persuade MEKmembers to return home.

NPRs Mike Shuster hasmore from Tehran.

MIKE SHUSTER: ArashSemitapur(ph) is a fresh-faced young man with un-

kempt black hair. Eager to

police, he doesnt look likea terrorist or an assassin.

Only his false right handsuggests something mayhave been amiss in his

past.

Semitapur is one of theleaders of the Najat Society

here in Iran. Najat meanssalvation and its goal is to

bring the Iranians of the

MEK home. Semitapur joined the MEK in the1990s, recruited as a naive

college student in Virginia.Eventually, he made hisway to a training base in

Iraq. And in 2001, he wassent over the border with

automatic rifles, ammuni-tion, grenades and two

cyanide pills in his mouth.

Mr. ARASH SEMITAPUR(Leader, Najat Society,

Iran; MEK Member): That

was like the street order wehad that when you entered

in Iranian territory, youhave to have the cyanidepills in your mouth. We

were convinced that if we

get arrested here by thesecurities, we will be tor-

tured to death. And we

were told that the easiestway is just to have the cya-

nide pills and chew them ifyou are getting arrested.

Then you will be a hero.

You will be a martyr.

SHUSTER: Semitapursmission was to assassinate

an Iranian general in Te-hran, but everything went

wrong and he was arrested.

Even the cyanide pills didnot kill him.

Mr. SEMITAPUR: Of course,my handgun was jammed

and it didnt work. And I

was taken to the police sta-tion. There they didnt

Status of Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) Members Held in Iraq Prompts Debate

search me. I had a handgrenade, like a small gre-

nade in my pocket. Again,with the street orders of

the organization, I tried to

commit a suicide again so Iexploded the grenade in myhand, but fortunately didnt

kill me.SHUSTER: Because Semita-pur didnt kill anyone he

served just four years inprison. When he got out,

he joined the Najat Societyto try to convince others of

what he calls the MEK cultto return to Iran. The NajatSociety also helps the fami-

lies of MEK members to

visit Iraq and try to per-suade their loved ones to

come home.

After the U.S. invasion, Ma-sumai Rasahid(ph) tried to

bring her son Sayed(ph)home. So far, she has not

been successful.

Ms. MASUMAI RASAHID(Resident, Iran): (Through

Translator) Theyre com-pletely brainwashed andeven they dont trust us.

When my son accuses me

as his mother that you gotmoney from the Islamic

government to come here,

to persuade me and con-vince me to go back. And

she says Im your mother,how can I cheat you? And

this is the way they taught

you and they do not trust

and believe nobody.SHUSTER: The MEK is con-

fined to Camp Ashraf,about a hundred miles

north of Baghdad. When

U.S. forces seized thecamp, they disarmed the

MEK and took possession ofhundreds of tanks, artillery

pieces and other military

hardware. The State De-partment considers the Cont on Page 6


8/12


BBC Yorkshire

Radio Leeds

July 26, 2007

http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds

P: We're joined now by AnneSingleton she's a marriedmum from Leeds. Who wasactually brainwashed by ex-tremists at one point but nowcampaigns to warn others.Good Morning Anne.

AS: Good morning.

P: Is brainwashed the rightword to use? What actuallyhappened to you Anne?

AS: It is a word which reso-nates with people. More famil-iarly I would call it 'mind con-trol techniques. These arewell-known, well-documented.For years and years destruc-tive cults have been usingthem. The way that they work

in essence is that they willtake a perfectly ordinary per-son and strip that person oftheir values using specific psy-chological manipulation.

P: What got you into this posi-tion in the first place?

AS: I was involved with Ira-nian students at the time ofthe Iranian revolution in 1979.I was at Manchester Univer-sity. I was young and inno-

cent, looking for something tofulfil my ambition to 'changethe world'. I was very idealisticand I got involved with thosepeople. They seemed to mevery sincere, very genuine andcommitted to making changein their country. I hadn'tgrasped that the path whichthey were leading me alongled to extreme violence.

P: So this was happening inthis country, it wasn't happen-

ing in a foreign environmentwhere you would maybe bemore susceptible to someoneelse's culture.

AS: I was recruited at Man-chester University. Having saidthat, ten years down the line I was just supporting the

group from a distance, I had a job and ostensibly a normallife. But ten years down theline I took part in a hungerstrike and that's really whattipped the balance for me andsent me over the edge intototal commitment to thisgroup. After about five days of

eating nothing I was on acomplete high and I felt asthough I was moving at a dif-ferent speed to the rest of hu-manity.

P: What was it they encour-aged you to support?

AS: The Mojahedin even todaypresent themselves as an al-ternative to the mullahs' re-gime in Iran. They say thatthey want to overthrow thewhole regime in its entiretyand replace that regime withthemselves. They frame this inthe context of human rights.They say we will protect hu-man rights by overthrowingthe mullahs. What I came torealise was that they werecommitting just as muchabuse of human rights insidetheir organization as AmnestyInternational was 'clocking-up'in other countries throughout

Anne Singleton Interview w ith BBC Yorkshire Radio Leeds

the world.

P: Anne, what do you think ofthe stories today? The frontpage of the Yorkshire Postsays 'University Launches Re-view after Conviction of Stu-dent Terror Ring'. How do youfeel when you feel when youhear about these students,about what they were doing substituting their faces withthe faces of the 9/11 highjack-ers after what you havebeen through.

AS: What comes to mind firstof all is that terrorism is sucha complex issue. Yes, itsounds horrific on the surfacewhen you hear of people hav-ing extremely radical viewslike this. And people arefrightened because they knowthat such views can lead toviolence. But what I have un-derstood from my experienceis that to tip somebody overthe line between radical ideasand actually perpetrating vio-

lence needs psychological ma-nipulation. Words don't killpeople, they never have.Words are how societies moveforward, through discussion,debate and progress. Therehave been lots of radical ideasthroughout history the worldis round was quite a radicalthought at one point. So wemust pull back a little bit andsay that OK there are extrem-ist views but if we remember afew years back 1993 theAdmiral Duncan pub was

bombed, a gay pub in Soho. Ifyou start looking only at theso-called ideology of thesepeople then you are going tomiss a whole lot of clues thatlead you to understand how aperson goes from thinking ex-tremely to acting extremely.

P: You mentioned the hungerstrike thing and that reallystrikes a chord with me. WhenI was going through my di-


9/12


vorce I literally couldn't eat athing. And it absolutely does

your mind no good. If you arenot eating properly you thinkin a totally irrational way.That's my experience. So,when you say your hungerstrike was the one that led youup to that kind of high, movingand thinking differently fromeveryone else, that must bepart and parcel of it.

AS: This is a fundamentaltechnique for psychologicalmanipulation. These tech-

niques are used by all destruc-tive cults whether they pre-sent themselves as religious,therapeutic, or like the Jones-town cult of the 1980s. Theyeach present themselves dif-ferently but they all use thesame techniques. These tech-niques are very effective, youcan actually recruit and con-vert somebody into a cultmember within three or fourdays. That's how effective theyare.

P: This was happening to youat Manchester University. Nowwe hear about these studentsat Bradford University. Thereare some interesting issuesabout how this radicalthought, idealistic thought cantip over the edge into violentaction, but in terms of the uni-versities what is the best planfor them in your experience incombating this, I mean tippingover into violent action.

AS: I think that young peoplegenerally need to be educatedin the danger of destructivecults. You should start at highschool even. I am surprisedthat in schools you may begiven sex education, you areeducated about how to keepyour PIN number safe and notget robbed, But where is theeducation to tell people how tolook out for somebody who isgoing to come along, take you

out of your normal environ-ment and convert you into

either a terrorist or at least acult member.

P: But will that education beenough? I think one of thethings Bradford University islooking at as well is the idea ofsurveillance and looking atwhat people are looking at onthe Internet and monitoringthe traffic that's comingthrough.

AS: I am not a security expertso I couldn't say how effectivethat would be.

P: Would education havestopped you?

AS: Certainly it would haveopened my eyes a lot soonerto looking for signs that peoplewere trying to influence me inways that I wasn't aware ofactually happening. I thinkuniversity students are quite

vulnerable because they areaway from home usually, theyare in a vibrant atmosphere.They are intelligent, idealisticand are looking for new ex-perience and new ideas.

P: You are a mum, Anne. Howmany kids have you got?

AS: I've just got the one.

P: And how old is your child?

AS: My child is seven.

P: Right, so a long way to goin terms of university. How doyou feel about your life nowand your fears for your child?

AS: I have to add here is thatthe reason I have one child is

Anne Singleton Interview w ith BBC Yorkshire Radio Leeds (cont)

that we started rather late. Iwas involved with a terrorist

cult, the Mojahedin Khalq,which denied its membersmarriage and children. Thoseare the levels of intrusion thatthese organisations have onordinary members. So, theywould not allow anyone to bemarried, they forced people todivorce and took their childrenaway from them. It was onlyafter I left and met my hus-band that I was able to have afamily. And I realise now thatbeing in one of these organisa-tions deprives you of all your

basic, fundamental humanrights, even freedom ofthought. Because a personwho is brought around tothinking as terrorists do in or-der to give their own life tothis other person because itis someone else who will bepersuading them to do that your basic freedoms are takenaway from you without yourealising. Now, if you areaware, first of all, of your ba-sic freedoms - what are thebasic human rights that every-

one is entitled to - that is astarting point from which youcan say, I do have the right tohave a family, to have chil-dren. These are certainly thethings I will be teaching mychild as he grows up and cer-tainly I will be teaching him tothink and to question and notto accept anything at facevalue, ever.

People can be very persuasive.I think we've all been sold

something we didn't reallywant by somebody who wasvery persuasive. The sametechniques will persuade youto act in ways that you don'tmean to let alone buy things.

P: Anne, thank you very muchfor coming in. She's a wife andmum and she was involvedwith the Mojahedin in WestYorkshire.


10/12

NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian


NIAC. This was the firsttime NIAC resorted to legal

measures to thwart thecampaign to depict all op-

ponents of war between the

US and Iran as agents of

the Iranian government.

The cease and desist camefollowing a broadcast on

June 7, 2007 on VOA fea-turing Hassan Daioleslam.

Throughout the program,

Daioleslam lodged mali-cious and baseless claims

against NIAC and its efforts

to prevent war.

Unlike private news outlets,

the government-fundedVOA is legally bound to liveup to strict journalisticstandards and is answer-

able to Congress andAmerican tax-payers.

These standards includedouble sourcing informationand providing accurate, all

encompassing coverage ofa given issue. The agency's

Journalistic Code requires

that for all coverage, in-

cluding call-in shows,"views of a single party

must be challenged by theinterviewer if alternative

opinions are unrepre-

sented."

In violation of VOA's pub-licly proclaimed standards,the VOA host did not

counter the slanderous re-marks made by Daioleslam

against NIAC during the

live TV show, nor did hepress the guest for evi-

dence to back up hisc l a i m s . N I A C w a s

not invited to appear on the

program, despite the host'spublic statement to the

contrary.

Whether this was inten-

tional or the result ofstaffer's lack journalistic

training, the broadcastfunctioned to validate andpropagate Daioleslam's

false information.

Earlier this year, Daiole-slam published an article

National Iranian Ameri-

can Council,

Jul 11, 2007

http://www.niacouncil.org/i

ndex.php?option=com_cont

ent&task=view&id=832&Itemid=2

Washington DC The Na-

tional Iranian AmericanCouncil (NIAC) has taken

legal action against propo-

nents of US-Iran war whohave waged a defamation

campaign against NIAC. Asa first sign of success,

Voice of Americas Persian

Service agreed to halt pro-viding these activists a

platform to spread false

rumors about NIAC.

In a letter dated June 19,2007, NIAC's attorney Af-shin Pishevar demanded

that Voice of America, Per-sian Service (VOA) "cease

and desist" from continuingto function as a political

platform for those attacking

Iran Interlink,

July 23, 2007

Mr. Daioleslam who has

been mentioned in the re-

port is very closely affili-ated to the Mojahedin

Khalq Terrorist cult. His

comments are frequentlyposted on various Mojahe-

din Khalq websites.

link:State Department Re-

port on Mojahedin Khalq

Organisation. Rajavi cultheaded by Massoud Rajavi

and Maryam Rajavi

http://www.iran-inter-


Voice of America has also

in recent days given inter-

views to Abdolmalek Rigianother well know drug

smuggler in the Baluchistan

who represents the Jondol-

lah Terrorist organisation.

Link to a report about Voiceof America and Jondollah

Two postings from NIAC about MKO misuse of democraticinstitutions in USA

http://www.iran-inter-

link.org/fa/index.php?mod=view&id=2051 (In Per-

sian)

Link to the use of FOX

News by Alireza Jafarzadeh,also a known member of

Mojahedin Khalq who is

used frequently to promote

the MKO

http://www.iran-

inter-



11/12

NIAC rebuts MKO and FrontPage M agazines untruths and fabrications


Khalq (MKO) supporter(Hassan Daio leslam),

whose group has beenidentified by the State De-

partment as a Foreign Ter-

r o r i s t O r g a n i z a t i o n

(Daioleslam's article wasinitially published on a MKO

website prior to be beingused by Frontpage maga-

zine).

The real reason for their

unprovoked attacks onNIAC seems to be to si-

lence an independentIranian American voiceopposing war with Iran.

Proponents of war between

the US and Iran seek toequate opposition to a US-

Iran war with lobbying forthe Iranian government.This, however, is erroneous

and disingenuous. In fact,

the causality is likely re-versed: War would

strengthen the Iranian gov-ernment, just as it did in

1980 when Saddam Hus-

seins Iraq invaded Iran.NIACs position on this is-

sue is clear: War betweenthe US and Iran would dev-

astate the region, be

counter to US national in-

terests, undermine Amer-icas position in the region,

strengthen rather thanweaken the Iranian regime

and lead to tremendous

loss of innocent life on both

sides.

As NIAC's activities have

grown and become increas-ingly effective at preventinga US-Iran military confron-

tation, naturally it has at-tracted the ire of people

who support war. By delib-

erately providing a falsechoice between the Iranian

government and the MKO,

the authors assert that theIranian-American commu-

nity cannot adhere to alter-native positions, independ-

ent of the Iranian govern-ment or the MKO's militant

agenda.

National Iranian Ameri-

can Council,

April 21, 2007

http://www.niacouncil.org/i

ndex.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=744&Ite

mid=59

Washington DC - The Na-

tional Iranian AmericanCouncil (NIAC) has been

the target of several erro-

neous, maliciously defama-tory opinion pieces by Ken-neth Timmerman and Has-san Daioleslam in Front-

page Magazine. The articles

are riddled with inaccura-cies, misquotations, incor-rect links and references to

figures that played no rolein NIAC's inception, opera-

tions, or its development

over the years.

The two articles are writtenby a neoconservative au-

thor (Kenneth Timmerman)and a Marxist Mujahedin-e-

targeting NIAC in FrontPageM a g a z i n e , a n e o -

conservative outlet. InApril, NIAC issued a formal

response to Daioleslam's

article exposing the spe-

ciousness of his claims.

VOA had scheduled another

appearance with Daioleslam

on July 7. In a letter datedJuly 5, an attorney for NIAC

called the advent of such aproject "clear and convinc-ing evidence of malice andwanton disregard for the

truth" and placed theagency on legal notice. The

program was cancelled the

next day.

There is widespread con-cern that VOA has as of

late failed to live up to itsstrict journalistic standards

and organizational man-

date. "Certainly, VOA Per-sian is not giving the Ira-

nian public a fair image of

American journalism orAmerican values," Afshin

Pishevar concluded in its

letter to the agency inJune. "And certainly, this is

not the type of journalismCongress had in mind when

they allocated funds to

VOA's Persian program-ming."

NIAC is seeking a meeting

NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian (cont)

with VOA's management toput a permanent stop to its

broadcasts being used for

political defamation.

Founded in 2002, NIAC is agrassroots, non-partisan

and non-profit organizationpromoting the interests of

the Iranian-American com-

munity. Its members andstaff are deeply committed

to ensuring that war be-tween the US and Iran isavoided and that the dis-putes between the two na-

tions are resolved peace-fully.


12/12

NIAC rebuts MKO and FrontPage Magazines

untruths and fabrications (cont)

The Briefing

Publication of

Nejat Society

the far left and far

right. Much indi-cates that Mr.Diaoleslam and

Timmerman are

sensing their influ-ence waning and

resorting to desper-

ate misinformation

tactics.

NIAC continues to

promote the inter-ests of the Iranian-American commu-nity and ensurethat a multitude of

voices are heard indebates held inCapitol Hill con-cerning US-Iran

relations. NIAC be-lieves that fringe

elements in the

community shouldnot be allowed to

continue to mo-nopolize the discus-

Opposing a military

engagement withIran has been onNIAC's agenda

since its members

cast their votes innear unanimous

numbers against a

military confronta-tion. Concerned

about the devastat-

ing potential for theloss of life that

would stem from awar with Iran, NIAC

and the Iranian

American commu-nity have stepped

up efforts to pre-

vent a war. For thepast 12 months,

NIAC has worked to

stimulate debate toinclude a variety of

perspectives fromIranian Americans,

to the dismay of

certain groups on

sion over this issue,

and by that, mis-represent the mul-titude of views of

t h e I r a n i a n -

American commu-

nity.

Still, though NIAC

disagrees with Mr.

Diaoleslam andTimmerman's sup-

port for a US-Iranwar, we welcometheir inputs into thedebate. We are,however, dismayed

that instead of in-telligently contrib-uting to the discus-sion with facts and

reasoning, theyhave relied on

defamation, intimi-

dation, and per-

sonal attacks.

ht tp :/ / ww w. i r an-interlink.org

Address

E.mail: [email protected]

P.O.Box 14395/679, Tehran

Fax: 88 96 10 31

Were on the web

www.nejatngo.org

Nejat Society

Talebani: Iraq w ill spare no effort to help Iranfight against terrorist groups

He said Iraq believesthat under the cur-rent regional and in-ternational circum-s tances , a rmedclashes have thesame meaning as ter-rorism, stressingBaghdad would notallow terrorists to useits soil againstneighboring coun-tries.Iraq will spare no ef-fort to help Iran fightagainst terroristgroups and has thesame expectationfrom Iran, as an oldfriend to the Iraqination, Talabaniadded.

He called for expan-sion of amicable tieswith Iran particularlyin border regions withrespect to bonds be-tween the Iranian andIraqi nations.He said the Iraniannation has alwayssupported the Iraqi

Press TV, July 29,2007http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=17735&sectionid=351020101Iraqi President JalalTalabani has saidBaghdad will not letarmed forces use itsterritory against theIslamic Republic ofIran.In a meeting withGovernor General ofIran's western Kurde-stan Province IsmaeilNajjar and his accom-panying delegation,Talabani added Iraqiborder guards havereceived necessary

orders regarding thecase.Iraqi border guardsare duty-bound tofirmly counter anyarmed forces whointend to infiltrateinto the Iranian terri-tory, IRNA quoted thepresident as saying.

people, adding open-ing an official crossingcheckpoint at Bash-maq boder was an-other humanitarianaid by Iran whichwould cause a bigeconomic develop-ment in the region.Najjar, for his part,said legalization ofthe checkpoint was adream of local resi-dents of Iran's Kurde-stan and Iraqi Su-laimaniyah Provinceswhich came true dur-ing Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadine- jad's visit to Kurde-stan.He added that legali-

zation of the check-point on Thursday,which was alreadyused as an unofficialborder crossing bylocals, would preparethe ground for bol-stering bilateral rela-tions in all fields

nejat newsletter - issue 14

Documents