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US has assurances from Iraq on Iranian rebels: official
AFP - Tuesday, December 23
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The White House said it received assurances from Baghdad that an Iranian rebel group based in Iraq will not be expelled to a country where they may be persecuted, apparently excluding their return to Iran.
The Iraqi government promised Washington in writing that members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI) at a camp north of Baghdad would be treated humanely, White House spokesman Benjamin Chang told AFP.
The comments appeared to contradict a vow on Sunday from an Iraqi government delegation to oust the 3,500 PMOI rebels based at Camp Ashraf. The delegation spoke ahead of a trip by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki to Tehran, where the government has long demanded the rebels be transferred to Iran.
The fate of the rebels has put the Iraqi government in a bind, facing rival demands from its powerful neighbor Iran and the United States.
Militants at the camp, under US military protection since the US-led invasion of Iraq, last month sent an open letter to US President George W. Bush about their situation. As of January 1 the camp will revert to Iraqi control.
"What the (Iraqi) government has said is that no one will be forcibly transferred to a country where they fear persecution on account of political or religious beliefs or (where) they might face torture," Chang said.
"What the government in Iraq has provided us, or has told us, are assurances that the residents of the camp will be treated humanely in accordance with their constitution, and laws and international obligations," Chang said.
"So we have written assurances of humane treatment for the residents of the camp."
In March, Maliki told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he would take steps to ensure that Iraqi territory was not used by "terrorists" from Al-Qaeda or from Iranian rebel groups.
Maliki is due to visit neighboring Iran and Turkey from December 24, his fourth visit to the Islamic republic since taking office in 2006.
Washington will work with Baghdad and organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross "to find a humanitarian solution" for the camp occupants, Chang said.
"There is no goal to send residents of the camp back anywhere, whether it be Iran or elsewhere, where they might face torture or they might be persecuted. We are seeking to avoid that," he added.
US and European officials have labeled the group as a terrorist organization and Iran has called America's treatment of the PMOI members duplicitous given the stated aims of the US "war on terror."
Analysts say Washington has viewed the group as a possible source of intelligence and leverage against its arch-foe Iran.
The Marxist-Islamic PMOI was founded in 1965 with the goal of replacing first the shah and then the clerical regime in Iran.
After being thrown out of Iran in the 1980s, rebel group members fought with the forces of Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran and settled in Iraq.
Iraq "is responsible for their security and it continues to implement its plans to shut down the camp and to either deport its population to their country or to a third country," read a statement after a visit to Camp Ashraf on Sunday led by Iraqi national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie.
"Remaining in Iraq is not an option for them," the Iraqi statement said.
PMOI supporters have been holding demonstrations outside UN offices in Geneva protesting against their possible expulsion from Iraq.
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Enlarge Photo
File photo shows Iranian militants of the opposition People Mujahedin Organization of Iran at camp "Ashraf City", north east of Baghdad. The White House said it received assurances from Baghdad that an Iranian rebel group based in Iraq will not be expelled to a country where they may be persecuted, apparently excluding their return to Iran.
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