NCRI – A group of 17 leading European politicians have attacked the ‘unfathomable indifference’ of the EU to the rocket attack on Camp Liberty a month ago and demanded that they condemn the outrage in the strongest terms.
In a letter to European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, the MEPs also urged that the Iraqi government be warned that further attacks could seriously harm the EU’s relations with Iraq.
And it asked for the UN’s representative in Iraq Martin Kobler to be sacked and replaced by an impartial envoy who does not take the side of the Iraqi government.
The letter dated March 7 – and also signed by six European Parliament vice-presidents – said: “Four weeks have passed since the criminal attack on Camp Liberty that took the lives of seven people and injured over one hundred others.
“Credible and accurate information reveals that this attack was carried out by the Iranian Quds force in collaboration with the Iraqi Government.
“It is very sad and astonishing that, except a few insignificant words spoken by Baroness Ashton, the EU has been silent about this criminal attack. This indifference to a savage crime is unfathomable.”
The attack happened despite repeated guarantees from UN envoy Mr Kobler that Iranian dissidents would be safe in Liberty, the letter said.
It added: “This unacceptable inaction and silence has inspired the Iranian regime and the Iraqi Government to conclude that the consequences of these attacks are minimal for them.
“Thus the Iranian-fabricated group Iraq Hezbollah (also known as Mukhtar Army) which has claimed the responsibility for this attack has publicly threatened that they will stage more attacks on camp Liberty.”
The letter also reminded Presidents Van Rompuy and Barroso that the UNHCR acknowledged on March 1st that Liberty residents were entitled to international protection, and that they had urged Iraq to ensure this.
The MEPs also compared the ‘highly insecure’ environment of Liberty, which is just a half a kilometre square, to the safety of Ashraf, which is 80 times bigger.
It said: “The buildings in Ashraf are fortified by cement and the camp has safety bunkers as well. The air strikes and missile attacks over the previous twenty six years had caused the death of only one resident.”
Now despite the February 9th tragedy, the Iraqi government was still preventing the very basic safety equipment such as helmets, bulletproof vests, shovels and picks from entering the camp with a ‘clear intent’ to cause more casualties in future attacks, the letter said.
It also went on to condemn Mr Kobler’s ‘broken promises’ to Liberty residents who he forcefully relocated from Ashraf.
It continued: “All the promises which were made by the Special Envoy have proven to be wrong. There is no security and not even normal standards of living in Liberty.
“There has been no relocation to third countries as promised. In the thirteen months since the relocation to camp Liberty, only seven people have been moved out of Iraq. Many promises of relocation have proven to be untrue.
Furthermore, Kobler has continuously ignored the requests of the residents not to talk to the Iranian regime on their behalf.”
The MEPs said they were also worried about the ‘apparent support’ of the EU High Representative for Mr Kobler which they said had played a key role in the aftermath of the February 9th tragedy.
The MEPs demanded three steps now urgently be taken to help and protect Liberty residents.
Firstly, they said the attack on the camp should be strongly condemned and Iraq warned that any future attacks would have a very negative impact on EU–Iraqi relations.
Secondly, the Iraqi Government must return Camp Liberty residents to Ashraf – otherwise the US, EU and UN might be seen as bearing part of the responsibility for any further attacks.
And thirdly, the UN Secretary General must be urged to appoint an impartial envoy to instead of the current one who has ‘consistently sided with the Iraqi government’, the letter said.
