Al Tagheer TV, 20 Sep 2013

Anchorman: The Iraqi government has denied any knowledge of the hostages’ presence, while we are saying that seven individuals are being held hostage. Are the words of the Iraqi government correct?

Mehdi Oghbaei, a Camp Liberty resident: This stance written in Maliki’s website is a sign of devious intentions and a filthy deal aimed at extraditing the seven hostages to the Iranian regime and not conducting any investigation into the Ashraf massacre. Everyone knows that this grave inhumane crime in Ashraf was under Maliki’s orders and carried out by the special SWAT forces known as the ‘dirty division’, and it was conducted only to meet the requests raised by the Iranian regime. In a meeting between the terrorist Quds Force commander Ghasem Suleimani and Maliki, the decision to carry out this grave crime was made and this meeting was unveiled by the Iranian Resistance. Now they want to deny everything. This behavior is another crime in addition to the inhumane crime that took place in Ashraf where 52 residents were murdered.

Anchorman: The Iraqi government says the [Iranian] opposition is spreading lies and there are no hostages, and the government has attempted to investigate inside the camp to find those individuals or hostages. However, the camp has not cooperated with them. Is this correct or incorrect?

Oghbaei: This is an all-out lie and has no basis at all because the camp is under a full siege imposed by security, government and military forces. Even lawyers were not able to enter the camp. An international organization and a senator of the US Congress intended to go inside Ashraf, but they were not permitted. How can a fully armed and equipped force enter the camp and kill and arrest people, and execute a number of the wounded in the camp clinic, and now they claim the residents have not allowed them inside…the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq went to Ashraf the next day of the massacre and has seen the scene with his own eyes.

Anchorman: Maryam Rajavi has called on the UN and US to protect Iranian dissidents in camps Ashraf and Liberty. How is the situation in Camp Liberty?

Oghbaei:  The situation in Camp Liberty is very concerning. Most of the residents are on hunger strike. They launched their hunger strike after the massacre in Ashraf and the murder of 52 residents until the release of the seven hostages, consisting of six women and one man. This situation in Camp Liberty is very concerning, especially after the fact that Maliki has now denied. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi has called on President Obama and the UN Secretary-General to take urgent action to prevent the violation of the non-refoulement principle and extraditing refugees to Iran. Mrs. Rajavi especially pressed the US government to assume responsibility on the extradition of the hostages.