NCRI – The Red Cross has said that it will not participate in a committee announced by the Iraqi President this week aimed at closing Camp Ashraf, home to 3,400 members of the main Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
According to Bloomberg, Red Cross spokeswoman Claire Kaplun said her organization in Iraq declined to participate in the committee when approached by Iraq.
“We will not take part in this committee,” she said by telephone from Baghdad.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had said earlier while visiting Tehran that Camp Ashraf, which came under attack from Iraqi forces in April, would be closed at the end of the year.
In a statement, the PMOI said Talabani is acting under orders from the Iranian regime, according to Bloomberg.
The exiles were given protection under the Geneva Convention in 2003, according to an April 18, 2011, Time magazine article.
Separately, al-Arabiya TV also said that while Talabani had claimed that a tripartite committee would be formed to close Ashraf, the Red Cross said that it will not participate in such a committee.
