nejat newsletter - issue 21

8/14/2019 Nejat Newsletter - ISSUE 21

1/8

Issue No 21

Nejat Newsletter

P e r i o d i ca l P u b l i ca t i o n of t h e N e j a t S oci e t y

Happy Nowruz

In Iran, prepara-tions for Nowruzbegin in Esfand (orEspand), the lastmonth of winter inthe Persian solarcalendar .

There are some in-formation aboutNowruz as cele-brated in Iran onthe last page .

Happy Nowruz 1, 8

Presence of MKO inIraq is illegal

1

Iraqi tribes urge MKOexpulsion 1

Report on the situa-tion of remainingmembers of the MKO

2

Former MKO seekingrefuge in the west

2

Statement of the SFF 3

Stop taking our be-loved ones as hostages

4

MK O famil y mem-bers talked to Mr.

Nazar Mohammad

5

Camp Ashraf - Hu-man Catastrophe

6

Americans use pro-scribed MKO

7

Terrorists will notuse Ir aq soil

8

Baghdad t o pre-sent plan on MKO

8

I nside this issue:

Based on the newconstitution of Iraq,presence of membersof the terrorist Muja-hideen Khalq Organi-

zation (MKO) in Iraqis illegal and forbid-

den, Iraqi President

Jalal Talabani said on

Sunday.

President Talabani

made the remarkswhile speaking at a

joint press confer-

ence with his visitingIranian counterpart

Mahmoud Ahmadine-

jad who arrived in

Baghdad Sundaymorning on a historic

visit to Iraq by anIranian president af-

ter the 1979 Islamic

Revo lution in Iran.

President Talabanistressed that the

government of Iraqhas made some ar-

rangements about

the issue related tothe remaining mem-

bers of the terrorist

organization in Iraq.

The Iraqi presidentdid not give any fur-

ther explanation in

this regard.

In late February,Iraq's Ambassador toTehran MohammadMajeed al-Sheikh saidthat the presence of

members of the ter-rorist organization in

Iraq is not perma-

nent.

"The MKO membershave been staying in

Iraq before the Sad-dam Hussein regime

was toppled," he

said, adding the nec-essary measures

have been taken to

expel them.

The ambassadorstressed Baghdad's

dissatisfaction with

the presence of theremaining MKO mem-

bers in Iraq.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani:Presence of MKO illegal

21 March 2008

I raqi tr ibes urge MKO expulsionIraq's tribal leaders

have urged Iran to helpIraqi government expelthe terrorist Mujahedin

Khalq Organization fromtheir homeland.

The request came at a

meeting of almost 70 triballeaders from different parts

of the country with thevisiting Iranian President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on

Sunday.Ahmadinejad arrived in

Baghdad on Sunday as the

first Iranian president everto visit Iraq.The tribal leaders attend-

ing the meeting describedthe Mujahedin Khalq Or-

ganization (MKO) membersas the henchmen of the

former Iraqi dictator, Sad-dam Hussein, in his brutal

crackdown on the Iraqipeople.

They also called on the

Iranian government tocontribute to the recon-

struction of the war-torn

country.Ahmadinejad, for his part,urged unity and solidarity

among the various groupsof the Iraqi nation and

warned Muslims againsttheir enemies' plots.

Ahmadinejad also met with

the Shia leaders of Iraq,during which he expressed

Tehran's readiness to re-

build the country's holyshrines.

Al-Masakin News Agency


2/8

Iran-Interlink,

February, 2008

In January through February,Iran-Interlink representative

Massoud Khodabandeh wasinvited by the Iraqi Govern-

ment for a series of consulta-

tion meetings on Camp Ash-raf. His report has now been

published.

Camp Ashraf is home to For-ward Operating Base (FOB)

Grizzly, but also contains3,400 foreign terrorist fightersfrom the Iranian Mojahedin-eKhalq Organisation (MKO or

MEK) who were corralled anddisarmed by US Special

Forces in 2003. The fighters

have been under US militarypolice protection for five years

and now the Iraqi Govern-

ment wants them removed

from the country.

MKO leader Massoud Rajavi

has told his group to stay inIraq at all costs until they canbe re-armed, but humanrights organisations agree

that Iraq is extremely danger-ous place for the Iraniangroup and that any who do

not wish to be voluntarily re-patriated must be taken to

third countries as refugees.

While in Baghdad, Massoud

Khodabandeh met with offi-cials from Iraq's Ministries of

Human Rights, Defence, Na-

tional Security as well as non-governmental agencies to for-

mulate a two part solution. Hereported Iraq's Ministry ofForeign Affairs position that'both the MKO and PKK are

foreign terrorist organisations.They are especially harmful to

the relations between Iraqand its neighbouring countries

at this point of time. Iraq can-

not accept nor afford furtherproblems by accommodatinginternational terrorist organi-zations whether as a group or

as individuals.'

An interim plan was immedi-ately agreed by Iraq's Ministry

of Human Rights to permit theestablishment of Sahar FamilyFoundation. Organised by for-mer members of the MKO andfamilies of people still trappedin the camp, Sahar now pro-

vides short-term rescue facili-ties for ex-MKO who are no

longer being protected by US

forces in Iraq before they are

taken to third countries.

Read the full report at:

http://www.iran-inter-

link.org/?mod=view&id=4095

that in t he past few weeks theefforts of dozens of formerMKO to escape Iraq and seekrefuge in western countrieshave failed and many of themare left hanging around inIraq where they are in a very

desperate sit uat ion.

In the past four years sinceIraq was occupied by the USforces and its allies, some

MKO members gradually leftthis organization and CampAshraf which is their base inIraq.

BBC Persian Service,

Januar y 26, 2008

Javad Firuzmand inter-viewed by Mehr dad Farah-mand

The military coalition

under the US com-mandment in Iraqconfirmed that someMKO members have left thisorganisation and their base inIraq.

Confirmation of this newstakes place after some reports

were published indicating

The US army which is guard-ing Camp Ashraf during thisperiod, kept the dissidents un-der its own protection in acamp near to this base. As thepress off ice of coali t ion forcesunder the US command has

informed the BBC, during thelast four years 380 in-

dividuals of MKOhave returned to Iranat their own request.

But those dissidents who didnot wish to return to Iran de-spite the efforts made by theUnited States did not gain theconfirmation of any country for

their application for refuge.

Report on the situation of remaining members ofMojahedin Khalq Organisation in Camp Ashraf after

Consultation w ith I raqi Government officials

Former MKO seeking refuge in western countries

PAGE 2N E JA T N E W SLET T ERISSUE NO 21


3/8

Sahar Family F oundation

To aid the famili es of the

MKO members

Pa tience, dawn is near .

The Sahar (Dawn) Family Foun-dation is a non-governmental,non-political and non-profitableorganisation which has been es-tablished to provide humanitar-

ian aid to the families of mem-bers of the Mojahedin-e KhalqOrganisation (MKO) who arebased in Camp Ashraf in Iraq.This foundation is solely focusedon charitable and humanrights issues regardless ofpolitical or group considera-tions and geographicalboundaries and only aims tohelp the suffering famili es.

The Sahar Family Founda-tion covers a great numberof families as well as formermembers of the MKO whoseek help. This foundationenj oys good suppor t

amongst the local and in ter-national bodies in Iraqwhich is the base of thefoundation.The MKO has been based in

Iraq, precisely in Camp Ashraf,for more than two decades. Thisorganisation is run as a classiccult and therefore would not giveits members the chance of freeassociation with the outsideworld or with their families.Therefore the families of thesemembers are suffering severely

and seek assistance from hu-manitarian organisations.

When the former regime of Iraqwas toppled, a small light ofhope li t the heart s of the famil iesand they thought that, in thenew situation in Iraq, theywould be able to visit their be-loved ones freely and adequatelywithout the presence of a thirdparty. Some of these families

have not heard from their rela-

tives for more than 20 years andsome even don't know if theirbeloved ones are still safe andsound. According to these fami-lies those who are residing inCamp Ashraf as is the case

with many cults throughout theworld are considered to be cap-tives both mentally and physi-cally and therefore are assumedas hostages. The Sahar FamilyFoundation i s str iving t o reunit ethe members of these familiesagain using every possible

means.

Camp Ashraf is the base of theMKO members which is guardedby US forces in Iraq. On theother hand the present I raqi gov-ernment insists that Camp Ash-raf must be dismantled. Iraqiconstitutional law does not per-mit any foreign terrorist organi-sations to remain in that coun-

tr y. The US State Department as

well as that of Canada, alongwith the European Union andthe Bri ti sh parli ament and manyother governmental and interna-tional bodies have officially des-ignated the MKO as a destruc-tive and terrorist cult. Obviouslythe members of a cult and theirfamilies are considered to be theprime victims whom must be

helped. In May 2005 Human

Rights Watch published a report

called 'No Exit' which detailshuman rights abuses meted outby the MKO against its ownmembers.At the present time Baghdad isthe central meeting point for the

misfortunate families and theformer members, as well as con-cerned entities which are allwaiting for the crack of dawn.They seek help from all the hu-manitarian bodies throughoutthe world. Anyone can help alittle. On the other hand, of

course, Camp Ashraf, accordingto many international secu-rity professionals, is a cen-tre for training terrorists.

The families are concernedabout the fate of their chil-dren who are subjected tobrainwashing and terroristtraining.Please contact us. We wouldbe more than pleased tohave your comments andideas. Help us in any way

you can. The members ofSahar Family Foundation

are all volunteers who havemoved to Iraq to work in

the difficult situation of thatcountry merely to gain familyreunions. the world. Any-one can help a little. On theother hand, of course, CampAshraf, according to many inter-national security professionals,is a centre for training terrorists.The families are concerned about

the fate of their chi ldr en who are

subjected to brainwashing andterrorist training.Please contact us. We would bemore than pleased to have yourcomments and ideas. Help us inany way you can. The membersof Sahar Family Foundation areall volunteers who have movedto Iraq to work in the difficultsituation of that country merely

to gain family reuni ons.

Statement of Sahar Family Foundat ion(SFF) in I raq (saharngo.com)



4/8

Nejat Society, Tehran,

March 11, 2008

http://www.nejatngo.org/index_en.php?news_id=828

On Sunday March 2nd, ameeting was held by NejatSociety Gilan Branch, in

Rasht, where a lot of fami-lies of Nejat Society at-tended to represent their

determination to save theirbeloved ones from campAshraf and stop takingthem as hostages by MKO

Cult.

The meeting began withthe speeches of Mr. Ebra-him Khodabandeh, a for-mer political activist ofMKO in England.

He described the studiesmade on cults duringyears, stressing that all the

cults have the same nature

in brainwashing and psy-chologically manipulating ofthe members, forcing them

to divorce, separating thechildren from their parents.

Mr. Arash Sametipour, theformer member of MKOsoperational teams men-tioned the presence offamilies in Iraq to visit theirchildren citing the story of

a mother who was desirousto visit her son in CampAshraf but found him as arobot without any feeling.

She became assured thatthe manipulation system in

the organization is verycomplicated. She decidedto rescue her son by thehelp of international humanrights organizations.

Sametipour also introducedSahar Family Foundation

which was recently founded

by former MKO membersfrom Canada, England andUS, in Baghdad, in order to

aid all families whose be-loved ones are captured inCamp Ashraf.

At the end, Ms. MarjanMalek, a former member ofMKO military teams ad-dressed the meeting, de-scribing how she could

save her two daughterspursuing the case with thehelp of Holland authorities.

Mr. Fadaiee Kowsari also

talked of his trip to Bagdada few years ago and his de-termination to link families

with their children.

The meeting ended with

the appreciations made by

families.

Stop taking our beloved ones ashostages!



5/8

Nejat Society report

from Baghdad

On Sunday, February 3rd,2008, a number of family

members and relatives of MEK

members residing in CampAshraf as a delegate of a

large number of such families

visited Mr. Nazar MuhammadSaieed, the administrative di-

rector of Mr. Jalal Talibanisoffice. These individuals, who

were hosted warmly by Mr.

Saieed, explained their prob-lems for meeting their be-

loved ones.

During the meeting, the visi-tors, describing the troubles

and obstacles MKO created

against those who want tomeet their family members in

Camp Ashraf, stressed that

they are willing to meet themin Bagdad ,out of the organ-

izational atmosphere of MKO,without any intermediate ,for

at least three days. The other

problem presented in themeeting was that of defectors

who left the organization or

will leave it in the future.

The representatives describ-

ing the funny tricks and futile

efforts of MKO to representthem as terrorists, asked Iraqi

President and government to

protect their lives and providerequired cooperation in order

to help these defectors leavethe camp and reach a safeplace. They also presented a

number of documents provingMKOs terrorist operations in

Iranian cities, violation of

members human rights, andcooperation with Saddam

Hussein to oppress Iraqi peo-ple and submitted a com-plaint letter signed by 350

former members of MKO

for Iraqi President .

In Addition, they submitted aversion of Arrest Warrant forMojgan Parsaee, Sediqeh Hus-

seinie and Abbas Davari, inorder to reinforce the execu-

tion of the ruling.

They confirmed that their ob-

jective is totally to make sureof the condition of their be-

loved ones that if they are in

a healthy physical and mentalcondition having the free will

to choose and act. They also

asked that their concerns onthe destination of their chil-

dren who are under the brain-washing and manipulating in-

spirations and terrorist train-ings, would be brought toIraqi President and state andauthorities.

Mr., Nazar Saieed promising

to do anything the presiden-tial office is capable of andstressing the terrorist natureof MKO stated that the case is

completely related to humanrights.

Explaining that MKOs leader-

ship has also bloody hands of

Iraqi peoples blood as well asIranians, he noted that MKO

is one of the problems thatformer dictator left for our

nation. He pointed that Iraqistate and people wont toler-ate the presence of MKO, a

foreign terrorist organization.

Finally, the Mujahedins familymembers appreciated the

hospitality of the director ofpresidential office.

MKO family members and representatives talked toadministrative assistant of Presidential Office in Iraq


Mr Arash Sametipour, one of the officials of Nejat Society inTehran (on the left), accompanied the families of the membersof the MKO based in Ashraf Camp in Iraq visiting Mr NazarM ohammad Saeed (on the right ) the head of Ir aqi pr esident ial

office on 3 Febru ary 2008 in Baghdad.


6/8

Iran Ayandeh

Translation: Nejat SocietyMarch 7th, 2008

On Thursday, March 6th, a num-ber of human right associationsand MKO defectors attended aroundtable, investigating the hu-

man aid to captured people ofCamp Ashraf and TIPF; in theround table which lasted thewhole day, Mr. Masud Khoda-

bandeh submitted a report on hisactivities in Iraq during previousweeks, then they discussed the

ways to aid the Iranian captives of Ashraf and also harmonizing theefforts and functional ways in or-der to accelerate their salvation.

About 3400 members of MKOwhose lives are in danger; are in

Iraq and if the efforts to help themare not well organized, we mightencounter a human catastrophe.Therefore, all the associations in

the round table and the other as-sociations (via telephone) decided

to dedicate their activities to theextradition of Iranians from Iraqiterritory and their survival out ofIraq. During the round table Mrs.

Batoul Soltani the former memberof MKOs leadership Council whohas recently left Camp Ashraf andalso TIPF and is now working as a

responsible of Sahar Foundation inIraq, attended the meeting viatelephone and was interviewed by

Behzad AliShahi. The attendeeswere also engaged in cooperationwith Sahar Foundation on its hu-man rights activities. At the end astatement consisted of seven arti-cles was issued.

The resolution is as follows:The statement on the support ofCaptured Iranians in Camp Ashraf

1. Regarding the situation of Iraqtoday and particularly the recentconfirmations made by Iraqi gov-

ernment on the trial of some

members and the expulsion ofsome others, the problem of thefuture of members of Ashraf andhelping them is absolutely a hu-man problem and should be inves-tigated without any political ten-dency.

2. Regarding that the problem ofmembers captured in Ashraf isabsolutely a human one, there is

no difference between a defectorand a non defector of MKO andtheir ranks within the MKO. Thepriority is the support for the prin-

cipal human rights of the whole

3400 members.

3. Regarding the human emer-gency which dominates Ashraf and

the serious threatens for Ashrafmembers in Iraq and the docu-mented reports of a majority ofInternational human rights organi-zations, the transfer of these peo-ple to a third secure country

(especially European or NorthAmerican countries) has the prior-ity and we condemn any politicalabuse of such a situation.

4. As the individuals or organiza-tion settles in Europe or North

America, we stress the necessity

of the information given by massmedia in order to reflect the emer-gency and dangerous situation of

Ashraf and we demand for the

concentration of all the associa-tions on the problem.

5. We ask the entire Iranian

forces, oppositions, groups andindividuals in abroad to forgettheir political opinions and try todo their best to rescue their com-patriots who once stepped in theway to achieve democracy andfreedom for their nation.

6. We declare our complete sup-

port for the families who are ask-ing for their minimum humanrights including a private visit with

the captives of Ashraf, stating ourreadiness to assist Sahar Family

Foundation in Europe and NorthAmerica.

7. We ask the leader of MuajhedinKhalq Organization, Mr. Masud

Rajavi and his assistant Mrs.Maryam Rajavi and their foreigncooperators in Telaviv, London

and Washington especially theirsupporters committee in Britishparliament to recognize the humanrights of captured members in

Camp Ashraf after three decades

and stop their obstructions andhostility that heightens their pains,

setting for a logic and human turntowards cooperation with humanright organization such as SaharFamily Foundation.

Iran Peyvand Association

Aawa Association

Rahaiee Association

Iran Qalam Association

Iran Pars Association

Iran Sabz Association

Iran Intelink Association

Norw ay Peace Association

Negah-e-no Association


Camp Ashraf- Human CatastropheA report on the meeting of Iranian Human Right Association in

Europe and North America


7/8

Translated by:

BBC Monitoring

Text of article by Adalat Ab-

dallah entitled: "Problem in a

closed circle"; published byIraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdi-

stan-funded daily Aso on 12

March

Recently, and from a constitu-tional perspective, the presi-

dent of Iraq has made two

pledges to the two presidents

of Iran and Turkey. The firstwas to disallow the presenceof the Mojahedin e-Khalq. The

second one was to cooperate

with Turkey in coming up witha final solution to the PKK

problem. Some political

observers believe thateven although Talabani's

two current pledges are

supported by the coun-try's constitution, the

actual conditions in Iraq

and the provincial equa-tions deter them.

On the other hand, al-

though the Americansconsider the Mojahedin

[e-Khalq] as a terrorist

organization, it is impor-tant to the Americans

that they remain as a resis-

tance force against Iran. If itwere not for America, Iran's

sectarian allies in Iraq wouldhave forced the Mojahedin out

of the country a long timeago. As for the PKK, the re-gional [Kurdistan] govern-ment is unwilling to join the

fight against it, and the Bagh-dad government does nothave the power to do so.

Therefore, as we see, coop-eration with Ankara by Bagh-

dad will only remain as a con-

stitutional and ideological

stance. The mechanism of itsimplementation is weak. The

Turks themselves understandthis reality well. And even

when the Turkish parliament

showed the green light to thearmy, they unequivocally an-

nounced that they do not pin

any hopes on any cooperation

from Iraq.

Also, according to one of the

CNN Turk reports, one of the

points that Talabani clarifiedto the Turks in his visit was

the reality of Qandil mountainas a topographic impediment

in the way of any military

campaign that aims at puttingan end to PKK militias. During

the meeting he held with the

media figures and the out-

standing newspapers of Tur-

key, he summed up the issue,

saying: Even the Americanscannot annihilate the PKK in

that rugged area and forcethem out.

This view emerges from threesources, the first of which is

the experience of the Kurdish

armed movement in threeparts of Kurdistan - the east-

ern, northern and southernparts - which have all often

used Qandil as their hide-out,particularly the border triangle

of Iraq, Iran and Turkey.

Second, it was an indirect anddiplomatic urging and call on

the Turkish government tothink of a political solution

and not to adopt war as theonly way.

Third, it proved that, no mat-ter whether the Iraqi army or

the Kurdish parties get in-

volved in the war against thePKK, it will be a useless de-

mand, particularly in the cur-

rent conditions Iraq is passingthrough, when the state does

not yet have a completearmy. Even if we suppose that

it has such an army, it willhave to be redeployed accord-

ing to the consent of

the Kurdistan RegionGovernment.

With this meaning,there are only two pos-

sibilities remaining:

The first one is to tryanother proposition byTalabani, which is that

Ankara should hold adialogue with the

[Kurdistan] Region

Government with re-gard to any feasible

cooperation.

And second: Turkey could re-

sort to another armed cam-

paign, particularly as TheTurkish Daily News says inone of its reports that the

army did not withdraw under

any external pressure, andthat, whenever it wishes, it

will launch another campaign.

Source: Aso, Kirkuk, in

Sorani Kurdish 12 Mar 08

p5

Adalat Abdollah: Amer icans use proscribed Mojahedin KhalqOrganisation terr or ists against the wi ll of I raqi government


... On the other hand, although

the Americans consider the

Mojahedin [e-Khalq] as a

terrorist organiztion, it is

important to the Americans that

they remain as a resistanceforce against Iran.

If it were not for America,

Iran's sectarian allies in Iraq

w o u l d h a v e f o r c e d th e

Mojahedin out of the country a

long time ago ...


8/8

P E R I O D I C A LPU B LI C AT I O N O F T H E

N EJAT SO C I ET Y

country to restore regional

stability and security.

The premier pointed to the

current historic visit by the

Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad to Iraq and in-

vited Iran to carry out pro-

jects for the reconstruction of

Iraq.

M on, 03 M ar 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister Nourial-Maliki has said thatBaghdad would not let ter-rorists use its soil to attack

neighboring countries.

Democratic Iraq has a consti-

tution and will not let terrorist

groups including al-Qaeda,the Mujahedin Khalq Organi-

zation (MKO) or the KurdistanWorkers Party (PKK) insur-gents turn Iraq into a base

against friendly countries in

the region, al-Maliki told IRNA

Sunday.

He added that Iraq is the

'safety valve' of the regionand gave assurances that

Baghdad would destroy ter-

rorist group bases in the

'Ter ror ists wil l not use I raq

soil'

AddressP.O.Box 14395/679

Tehran, IranFax: 88 96 10 31

info@neja tngo.org

Were on the Web

www.nejatngo.org

N ej at Society

Happy Nowruz

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and thebeginning of the Iranian year . It is celebrated onthe day of the astronomical vernal equinox (startof spring in northern hemisphere), which usuallyoccur s on March 21 or the previous/fol lowing daydepending on where i t is observed.

As well as being a Zoroastrian hol iday, i t is also a

holy day for adherents of other religions and isthe traditional Iranian new year holidaycelebrated by Iranian, Turkic and many otherpeoples in West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia,North-western China, the Caucasus, the Crimea,and the Balkans.

In Iran it is also referred to as an Ei d festival,

although it is not an Islamic feast. Alawitescelebrate Nowruz. The term Nowruz first

appeared in Persian records in the secondcentury AD, but it was also an important dayduring the time of the Achaemenids (648-330BC), where kings from different nations underthe Persian empire used to bring gifts to theemperor (Shahanshah) of Persia on Nowruz.

Baghdad to presentplan on MKO to

AhmadinejadTEHRAN

Mar ch 1 (MNA) -

Iraqi national security adviser

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie has said his

country's plan for ending the is-

sue of Mojahedin Khalq Organi-

zation (MKO) will be presented

to Iranian President Mahmud

Ahmadinejad during his visit toIraq, the pan-Arab daily Asharq

Alawsat said in a report on its

Website. "We have an individual

plan for ending MKO dossier,"

al-Rubaie told the Asharq

Alawsat.: There will be a focus

on security issues during

Ahmadinejad's talks...

nejat newsletter - issue 21

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