Number: 19
Nov .2005
• 13 MKO defectors repatriated
• Call for the Expulsion of a Controversial Iranian Rebel Group
• Saddam Hussein's Links with International Terrorism
• MKO remains on EU terrorist list
• BBC Woman's Hour interview with Anne Singleton
• Iranian Dissidents Square Off in DC
NO: 19 www.nejatngo.org NOV .2005
13 MKO defectors repatriated
October 14th
Nejat Society reporter: Mehr Abad Airport Tehran,October 14th, 16:30 pm. A Red Cross flight
in which there were 13 of separated members of Rajavi’s cult landed. These defectors returned
to their homeland by the help of International Red Cross.
It is notable that most of these members were in Rajavi’s cult for 18 to 20 years who are
separated from it due to threat, torture … in Rajavi’s cult and introduced themselves to TRC.
This indicates the disappointment and depressive atmosphere in Camp Ashraf- Iraq.
Call for the Expulsion of a Controversial Iranian Rebel Group
BBC/English Service
Newspapers in the Middle East are encouraged by the Iraqi constitution referendum, although
they see a long road ahead until stability is achieved.In Iraq itself, where many papers have
failed to publish over the past few days because of an election holiday, one daily is optimistic,
while another links the vote to a call for the expulsion of a controversial Iranian rebel group.
Commentary in Iraq's independent Al-Shahid;Now that Iraqis have voted on their new
constitution which has put an end to the presence of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation in
Iraq, we believe that the Iraqi government is now required to take action and implement the
constitutional article concerning this terrorist organisation. It should be brave, expel it from Iraq,
given the danger it poses and especially the horrible crimes it committed. The Mojahedin-e
Khalq has no place in the new Iraq.
Saddam Hussein's Links with International Terrorism
Group to Hold Press Conference on Saddam Hussein's Links with International Terrorism,
National Press Club, Oct. 24
To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor
Contact: Mahrukh Haji of Pars-Iran, 613-829-9598 or 613-261-2550 (cell)
News Advisory:
WHAT: Press conference on Saddam Hussein's links with international terrorism
WHEN: Monday, Oct. 24 at 12 p.m.
WHERE: National Press Club (First Amendment Lounge), 529 14th Street NW, Washington
DC
---
The following is a statement released by Pars-Iran:
The trial of Saddam Hussein is scheduled to start this week.
We demand that his closest ally, Massoud Rajavi, whose hands have been dirtied by many of
Saddam's crimes, also be brought to justice.
The toppled regime of Saddam Hussein actively supported international terrorism, and the
Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation, led by Massoud Rajavi, was at the top of the list of these
terrorist organisations.
-- The Mojahedin as part of Saddam's military played a decisive role in the suppression of the
internal uprisings in Iraq in 1991, and are responsible for the massacre of many Iraqi Shiites
and Kurds who opposed Saddam. The best documented of these being the massacre of the
Kurds in their uprising in March 1991.
-- The Mojahedin acting as 'Saddam's Private Army' have actively participated in the war which
Saddam Hussein waged against Iran between 1980 and 1988, engaging themselves in
intelligence gathering for the Iraqi army as well as participating in joint operations with them.
-- Each and every military and terrorist operation carried out by the Mojahedin in Iran has been
ordered directly by Saddam Hussein and his intelligence and secret services in Iraq.
On Monday, October 24, a press conference will be held in Washington, DC. The program
includes:
-- A documentary film exposing the Mojahedin's role in the suppression of the uprising of the
Iraqi people in 1991.
-- Video evidence, secretly filmed by Saddam's own security services, showing the financial
and spying relationship between the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation and Saddam's regime.
-- A three member panel (TBA) will speak on this issue.
-- Former members will be available to answer questions on the MEK.
MKO remains on EU terrorist list
Oct 19, IRNA
EU-MKO
The European Union published Tuesday an updated list of persons and groups that the 25-
member European bloc designates as terrorists.
The Iranian Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), which was put on the EU's terrorist list in
2002, remains on the new blacklist.
However, the MKO's political front, the so-called National Council for Resistance of Iran
(NCRI), which has its headquarters near Paris, is excluded from the list.
The MKO has been lobbying with some members of the European Parliament to have its name
removed from the EU's terrorist list.
The Communist Party of the Philippines was added to the new list, which contains the name of
45 individuals and 46 organizations.
The EU started the list following the Sept 11 attacks in the US as part of its efforts to fight
terrorism.
EU governments are obliged to freeze assets of people and groups on the list, according to EU
rules.
BBC Woman's Hour interview with Anne Singleton
BBC Radio Four, Woman's Hour with Jenni Murray, October 6, 2005
Her involvement with the Mojahedin
Anne Singleton became involved with the Iranian Mojahedin when she was at University in the
late 1970s. Initially offering practical and political support she eventually became so immersed
in the group she went to a military training camp in Iraq for 3 months. Eventually she became
disillusioned and struggled to leave.
So how did a girl from Sheffield get involved in a radical group from Iran? Anne talks to Jenni
about her experiences.
Iranian Dissidents Square Off in DC
By Sherrie Gossett and Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writers
October 25, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - A news conference conducted by self-described Iranian dissidents
descended into chaos on Monday as audience members and two journalists accused the
speakers of spreading disinformation and being agents of Iranian intelligence.
As supporters of the rival dissident groups vied for media attention, one group accused the
other of being imposters. An hour and a half into the National Press Club event in Washington,
D.C., organizers halted it and capitol police were called in to keep order.
Monday's news conference, titled "Saddam and Terrorism," was sponsored by the Iran
Peyvand Association and was supposed to focus on Iraq as it was. Speakers argued that after
fleeing Iran, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) operated out of Iraq as a terrorist
group. For that reason, its leader, Massoud Rajavi, should be brought to justice just as
Saddam Hussein was, the Iran Peyvand Association insisted.
The MEK was expelled from Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Starting in the late 1980s,
its main support came from Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. While it conducted terrorist attacks
against the interests of the religious regime in Iran, it also mobilized to suppress the 1991
Shiite and Kurdish uprisings against Saddam, a point the presenters emphasized.
According to U.S. government terrorist group profiles, the MEK advocates the overthrow of the
Iranian regime and its replacement with the group's own leadership. Currently, over 3,000 MEK
members live in Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, where they remain under the Geneva
Convention's "protected person" status.
A press release for Monday's event promised that attendees would see a documentary film
exposing the MEK's role in the suppression of the 1991 Iraqi uprising and "video evidence,
secretly filmed by Saddam's own security services," showing the "financial, spying and terrorist
relationship between the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and Saddam's regime."
Anti-war activist Carol Moore warned that if the U.S. attacked Iran, the result could be world-
wide nuclear war.
A flier distributed by the organizers echoed the "catastrophic" repercussions of an American
attack and argued that Iranian officials could deploy "millions of troops and enter Iraq," as well
as attack Israel's nuclear sites and cities, American bases and troops in Iraq and U.S. ships at
sea.
"They could cut off much of the world's oil, which comes through the Straight of Hormuz," read
the flier, which was produced by StopTheWarNow.net, DawnDC.net and UnitedForPeace.org.
Karim Haqi, introduced as a former member of the MEK, followed Moore's speech. After a
video was shown, he addressed the meeting in Farsi while Marukh Haji translated.
Shortly into Haqi's speech, audience members began interrupting, including one unidentified
young woman who said she spoke Farsi and complained the translation being given to the
audience was erroneous.
Another woman who refused to be identified except to say she was an immigration attorney,
stood up and complained that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had allowed a former
"terrorist" into the country.
A man who described himself as a "freelance journalist" asked Haqi whether it was true, as
alleged, that he had worked with Iranian intelligence. He was escorted from the meeting by
organizers. But the charge was echoed in questions by a British-Israeli journalist.
Haqi later denied any such ties to Iranian Intelligence, and through translator Marukh Haji,
added that he and his supporters had spent years in Iranian prisons and were the "first ones"
the government attacked.
"We put all our hopes in [the MEK]" said Haqi. "They betrayed us.
Two individuals carrying materials from the Committee Against Ahmadinejad (Iran's new
president) repeatedly interrupted Haqi and his translator. Later, members of the group gave
reporters copies of a document accusing the organizers of Monday's news conference of being
in the employ of Iranian intelligence.
