Supreme Council: MKO has 6 months to leave

Officials of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq (SICI) have become more vocal over the presence of the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization in Iraq. The recent rhetoric includes allegations of the MKO cooperating with Al Qaeda in Iraq and working to undermine the Iraqi government.

Over the weekend, Mohsen Hakim, the SICI representative in Tehran announced that MKO members had been given a six month deadline to leave Iraq. The implications of this announcement are not clear. SICI has made similar announcements in the past and has vowed to expel the group from Iraq’s borders, but the effect on the ground has been mixed.

The United States has a vested interest in the MKO issue and has taken a lead role in guarding the Ashraf compound, the organization’s main camp in Diyala province. US soldiers have also been involved in escorting MKO dissidents to the Iranian border for repatriation. However, the Iraqi government has pushed for more control over MKO bases and personnel. Iraqi Kurds and Shiites blame the group for assisting the Ba’thist regime in quelling the 1991 revolts, and Iranian officials have pressed the Iraqi government to expel MKO members and leadership from the country.

Iran is seeking to have the group disarmed and disbanded and its leaders returned to stand trial. While the latter is unlikely to happen (most of the top officials, including Masud Rajavi, have already left) the rank-and-file members wait in limbo. Iran previously offered amnesty to those members innocent of serious crimes, but recent statements have been more equivocal. Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, Hazan Kazemi-Qomi, was quoted in an interview with Iranian state television on Saturday:

"Apart from their criminal leadership, many members of this little group are repentant and regretful. In the past couple of years we have witnessed a number of them repatriated and returned to their families. What they explained is a picture of dejection and suffering. Many have endured hardship and they would have taken any opportunity to remove themselves from this grouplet earlier had it been available. Currently, many of them those who were duped and are repentant, would like to return to Iran and we would have to review this matter. " (FBIS, 6 September 2008).

[Image: MKO members in Camp Ashraf]