The Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaiifar, has said that Camp Ashraf, which was formerly inhabited by members of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), is now under the control of the Iraqi government. |
Iraqi officials announced on September 16 that the Iraqi government had evacuated the seventh and final convoy of 680 MKO members from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty (Hurriya), a former U.S. military base near Baghdad.
It had been decided that 3200 MKO members living in the camp be relocated in eight groups, each consisting of 400 members, but the relocation of the MKO members was done in seven groups.
The relocation of the group was part of an agreement reached between the United Nations and the Iraqi government in December 2011.
Speaking to the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency in an interview published on Tuesday, Ambassador Danaiifar said that it has not been announced yet how many MKO members intend to return to Iran.
Danaiifar said on April 13, 2011 that MKO members could return to Iran under certain conditions.
“These persons can travel to Iran or any other country if they are willing to do so and if no criminal case has been filed against them in Iran or Iraq. They will also be given passports,” the Iranian ambassador said at the time.
The MKO started its activities as a terrorist group based in Iraq in the early 1980s. In addition to the assassination of hundreds of Iranian officials and citizens, the group cooperated with Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in its repression of the Iraqi people.
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