- Title: IRAQ: Iran rebels resist leaving Iraq, fear for future
- Date: 29th January 2009
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 27, 2009) (REUTERS) IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE MORE OF IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE SAYING: "We've told the camp Ashraf inhabitants that we are here to deal with this inhumane and as according to the international law but our decision is to close this camp for many reasons." IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE SAYING: "Before we have received the responsibility of the security of the camp, the organization and some of the inhabitants have been involved in a lot of activities in Iraq, against the Iraqi government, against democracy in Iraq and trying to lobby the tribes, trying to work with some political entities and political organisations in Iraq." IRAQ' NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR MOWAFFAQ AL-RUBAIE ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 13th February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA1KC4MWE40528BRPJCMMC93PEU
- Story Text: Iraq's national security advisor meets diplomats from 12 Western countries and pleads with them to take in hundreds of the rebels.
Iraq's national security advisor Mowaffaq al-Rubaie met diplomats from 12 Western countries on Tuesday (January 28) and pleaded with them to take in hundreds of the rebels.
"We've told the camp Ashraf inhabitants that we are here to deal with this inhumane and as according to the international law but our decision is to close this camp for many reasons," he said The fate of 3,500 Camp Ashraf residents has been in question since Iraq took over the camp from U.S. forces this year.
Iraq's Shi-ite leaders, who are friendly with Tehran, say they want to close the camp within two months. But they also say they will not drive the residents out by force.
"Before we have received the responsibility of the security of the camp, the organization and some of the inhabitants have been involved in a lot of activities in Iraq, against the Iraqi government, against democracy in Iraq and trying to lobby the tribes, trying to work with some political entities and political organisations in Iraq," Rubaie told envoys from the United States, Canada, Australia and nine EU countries.
He said 35 of the camp residents have citizenship in Western countries and 914 have acquired refugee status abroad. He asked the diplomats to take in not only those 949, but also any others with family ties to their countries.
Iranian opposition exiles who have been told they are no longer welcome in Iraq say they will not agree to leave willingly and will use legal means to fight any attempt to drive them out by force.
The PMOI began as a group of Islamist leftists opposed to Iran's late Shah but fell out with Shi'ite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution. They have been based at Camp Ashraf north of Baghdad for 20 years and fought alongside Saddam Hussein against Iran.
The group surrendered its tanks, artillery and other weapons to U.S.
forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The group's presence in Iraq has become a source of friction between Baghdad, Washington and Tehran.
In a major diplomatic victory for the rebels, the European Union decided on Monday to remove the PMOI from its list of terrorist organisations.
The United States, Iraq and Iran all officially still consider the group terrorists.
The invading U.S. forces classed the Ashraf residents as protected persons under the Geneva conventions, which means they cannot be forced to return to Iran if they can show they will be persecuted there. But Rubaie said Iraq has no refugee law, and the Iranians cannot therefore stay in Iraq as refugees. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
