Thursday, December 25, 2008
US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, clarified the State Department’s stance regarding the residents of Ashraf. He said in his daily press briefing on Tuesday, December 23 :
“We wanted to ensure that rights are protected, that any individuals, whether they are in Camp Ashraf or elsewhere, that their rights are protected
Answering a question about the Iraqi government’s National Security advisor’s remarks, he said:
“I know that we’re talking to the Government of Iraq. This is part of the process of handover responsibilities that was – has been taking place for quite some time. But also, it’s also now memorialized and enshrined in the recent agreements that we’ve signed with the Iraqi Government.
“We wanted to ensure that rights are protected, that any individuals, whether they are in Camp Ashraf or elsewhere, that their rights are protected whether they remain in Iraq or they end up elsewhere. So that is our general concern.
“As for the disposition of these particular individuals, it’s probably, at this point, too early for me to offer any particular comment as to where they might end up. But our – we will continue to monitor the situation and take a look at it with respect to those general principles that I’ve outlined… because there are also international standards and conventions that one would want to make sure that the Iraqis as well as any country around the world abided by.”
