Azzaman daily (Iraq), Baghdad, 24 Oct 2012 – Iraqiya slate advisor Hani Ashour said the removal of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran from the terrorist list was due to increasing US pressure on Iran, increasing punishing measures against this regime and actions intended to limit Iran in the region.
“The PMOI will have a new status in the international stage and will enjoy new characteristics in reinstating its opinions and activities. These new conditions have been imposed by the US by delisting this organization from the terrorist list, and this issue is in line with recent international positions based on the fact that Iran threatens regional peace and security and also many governments,” he said.
The pressures against the PMOI, from the downfall of the former regime which gave this organization refuge in Iraq, have never stopped for a moment, Ashour added. The current government’s positions are no different from Iran and this considers this organization as a threat against itself, just as it considers it a threat against Iran. The true solution for protecting them in Iraq is to give a positive answer to international laws and UN covenants under the framework of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the field of human rights, he explained.
The only solution to protect the PMOI in Iraq is to implement international laws regarding refugees, Ashour stressed.
On this issue, the President of the Egyptian Lawyers Association in Defense of Camp Liberty Residents said a delegation of Egyptian lawyers requested from the Iraqi embassy to visit Camp Liberty to become informed of the conditions inside the camp and talk with their clients. However, the Iraqi government did not permit such a visit under the pretext that Camp Liberty residents are only temporarily residing in Iraq.