Iraq talks with EU on MKO expulsion

Iraq's ambassador to Iran says Baghdad has held talks with the EU on the expulsion of the terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from Iraq by the end of 2011. “After the formation of a political establishment in Iraq, the government decided this group must immediately leave Iraqi soil,” Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh said on Wednesday. He said Baghdad would not allow the MKO to remain in Iraq longer than the specified date, adding that “no country will accept them because of the bad record of the terrorist group,” IRNA reported. “We have held talks with the European Union so that the group would leave Iraq' soil on the determined date and we have told them that Iraq's government cannot support this group once the American forces leave [the country].” Sheikh said after the withdrawal of US forces, Iraq's government cannot control the anger of Iraqi people at the MKO which has committed many crimes. MKO members fled to Iraq in 1986, where they enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and set up Camp Ashraf in Diyala province near the Iranian border. The group is known to have cooperated with Saddam in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in southern Iraq and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds. Earlier in April, Iraq's government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that the cabinet is determined to shut down Camp Ashraf and disband the terrorist group.