Iraqis call for expulsion of MKO

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Iraq has held a conference urging the expulsion of members of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country, Press TV reports.

In the event, organized by the Iraqi Center for Media Development, a number of Iraqi officials and scholars discussed the insecurity that the MKO members had caused in the country, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday.

“The Iraqi government has responded to the people's call and decided to evacuate the MKO camp [Camp Ashraf] in Iraq and expel its members from Iraq by the end of the year,” the center's Director Adnan al-Sarraj said during the gathering.

On Friday, a large number of Iraqis staged a protest rally in the eastern province of Diyala, where Camp Ashraf is based, to urge the authorities to close the outpost down.

Baghdad has repeatedly said it is determined to shut the camp down by the end of 2011.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community and has committed numerous terrorist acts against both the Iranians and Iraqis.

The group fled to Iraq in the 1980s, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up the camp in Diyala near the Iranian border.

Over 3,000 MKO members are currently residing at the camp. In addition, the group sends elements to Iran on spying and terrorist missions.

The MKO also cooperated with Saddam in the massacres of Iraqi Kurds and helped the former dictator suppress 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq.

Since Saddam was deposed in 2003, the Iraqi government has set numerous deadlines for the terrorist group to leave the country, but the MKO has managed to maintain its base due to US backing.

Iran has repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to expel the group, but the US has been putting pressure on Baghdad to block the expulsion.