Excerpts – AFP – July 20, 2011 – The People’s Mujahedeen, the main opposition movement outside the regime in Tehran, Wednesday rejected “an American plan” of “displacement” of the occupants of Camp Ashraf inside Iraq, during a press conference in Paris.
“It is clear that internal displacement in Iraq would be a prelude to another disaster,” said Maryam Rajavi, the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI, including the Mojahedin as a main component), referring to a recent attack against the camp where some 3,400 members of the Mujahedeen live.
On 8 April, an attack on Camp Ashraf by Iraqi forces left 36 dead and 300 wounded, according to the latest report of the NCRI.
The People’s Mujahedeen had settled in Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) .
After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, they were disarmed by U.S. forces. The Americans then ensured the safety of the camp before transferring in 2009 to Iraqi forces, whose leaders maintain very good relations with Tehran.
In June, the Iraqi authorities announced that Camp Ashraf would be closed by the end of 2011.
In a statement released after the conference, attended by the former head of the U.S. Democratic Party Howard Dean, Mrs. Rajavi said that the current situation of Camp Ashraf was due to the occupation of Iraq and called the United States to “take responsibility” in protecting the camp.
She also recalled that the Mojahedin had “accepted the solution of a displacement in third countries” and called for by this transfer, the protection of the UN, the United States and the European Union.
“It is time to act. The U.S. government is responsible for what happens in Ashraf, and we will be responsible, whether we acknowledge it or not,” said Howard Dean.
