NCRI – Angry protests met members of the Iraqi military and reporters Saturday at Camp Ashraf, a refugee camp sheltering Iranian dissidents, CNN reported about the smokescreen media show organized by Nouri al-Maliki and aimed at covering up crimes committed by his forces.
Reporters were taken on an organized tour to the camp, it added.
“[Iraqi] officials prevented reporters from speaking with residents. Camp dwellers staged angry protests, hoisting banners and inviting journalists to talk to them.”
“Please journalists — come visit us and check on our people,” one sign read, according to CNN.
Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned the news blackout on Camp Ashraf imposed by the Iraqi authorities.
CNN also reported on Friday, “For decades they’ve opposed one of America’s bitter enemies. The People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, long a thorn in the side of Iran’s Islamic regime. For years, thousands of Mujahedeen members have been given refuge at a place called Camp Ashraf in neighboring Iraq.
“Those Iranian exiles now say Iraqi security forces, who are close allies of the U.S., attacked the refugee camp and killed at least 30 people on Friday. They say women are among the dead.
“The People’s Mujahedeen posted videos online of what appear to be Iraqi troops shooting at crowds, and at least one case of a military vehicle ramming into a man.”
CNN spoke with Ali Safavi, member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, who said, “this is a definitive crime against humanity.”
CNN added, “Iraqi army officials confirm there was a conflict at the camp, but say Iranian exiles armed with shovels and stones provoked it, a charge denied by the exiles.
“The State Department says, while U.S. officials don’t know exactly what happened at Camp Ashraf, ‘this crisis and the loss of life was initiated by the government of Iraq and the Iraqi military.’”
