| An Australian journalist says the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq group is “fighting to be delisted as a terrorist organization in Australia and it has the backing of several Federal politicians.” |
According to a report by Habilian Association, in an article published on The Australian newspaper, Martin Silk wrote that following the removal of MEK from the US list of foreign terrorist organizations, few Australian Federal MPs who support the terrorist group hope their country “will follow suit”.
He added that the MEK is lobbying to be removed from the Australian list of terrorist organizations, saying, “it’s unclear whether the outfit will be able to shake off its past.”
He made reference to the MEK attack on the Iranian Embassy in Australia in 1992 and noted that the Federal Police did not arrest and charge anyone.
Silk referred to some international institutions’ reports on the MEK such as that of RAND Corporation which produced analysis for the group and listed its cult-like characteristics in 2009.
The Australian writer also published some parts of AAP interview with Dr Anthony John Billingsley, in which this Middle East expert described the US removing of MEK from its blacklist as “a dark illusion and a shameful demonstration of the power of lobbyists.”
The lecturer of International Relations at the University of New South Wales stated that he wouldn’t call MEK a force for democracy in Iran, adding, “They're a group of weird, quite nasty terrorists, guilty of killing a fairly large number of Iranians including leading members of the regime, but also a large number of Americans and other westerners as well.”
“Dr Billingsley insists that any portrayal of the MEK as a peaceful organisation is flawed,” the article further read.
In an interview with Martin Silk, Peter Murphy, an MEK advocate, denounced HRW’s report on the terrorist group as “a spray job, but useful slander.” “There are obviously HRW staff that are very pro-Iranian regime.”
Silk wrote that when he asked him about the MEK members’ self-immolation in France and hunger strike in Australia after the apprehension of their ringleader, Maryam Rajavi, his frustration became apparent, and said that there was “no evidence anyone asked them to do that.”
“After the interview with AAP Mr. Murphy took to Twitter to say this author was a pawn of the Iranian government,” wrote Martin Silk.
Martin Silk concludes his article with Dr Billingsley’s remarks:
Some people think the MEK isn't so nasty after all, he said, because "they're blowing up our enemies rather than us".
“The fact is they're killing civilians,” he said.
“It's terrorism by any definition.”