AP, Paris, 10 Dec 2011 – An exiled Iranian opposition group has issued a letter signed by ranking former U.S. military officials asking President Barack Obama to pressure Iraq to cancel the Dec. 31 deadline to close a camp of dissidents or risk a massacre.
The letter made public Saturday by the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran came three days before Obama’s meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The letter is signed by the likes of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman retired Gen. Henry H. Shelton.
Some U.N. and European officials have already voiced fears of a tragic outcome if the 3,300 unarmed members of the People’s Mujahedeen Organization are relocated in Iraq. The letter says that would be a ‘prelude’ to massacre after Iraqi forces killed at least 34 in two attacks.