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MKO terrorists must leave or face Iraqi justice: Official

An Iraqi official says the additional time for the members of the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) to remain in Iraq has come to an end and will not be extended, Press TV reports.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fyadh announced Tuesday in an international conference on the status of the terrorist group that the MKO members have never displayed any form of cooperation with the government in Baghdad during the extra six-month period extended to the group upon a UN request and the only option left for the terrorist group is to leave the country or face prosecution by the Iraqi justice system.

“The Iraqi Government has shown cooperation with the UN and the UN had asked Iraq to give the MKO six months before being expelled. The six months have passed and their continued presence is not an option. If they refuse to leave, Iraq with deal with them as a group which is a threat to Iraq’s sovereignty,” said al-Fyadh.

The conference, organized and chaired by the Iraqi national security advisor, was attended by representatives of eight countries including the United States, Britain, China, Russia, Canada, Australia as well as the EU and the Arab League.

The Iraqi official further emphasized that many MKO members are on the Iraqi wanted criminals list for committing crimes against humanity in the country during the nation’s 1991 popular uprising. The list, according to Fyadh, consists of 38 MKO members including its top leaders Masoud and Maryam Rajavi.

He also reiterated that in case the terrorist group does not withdraw from Iraq, the nation’s justice system will assume the responsibility of bringing the wanted criminals to justice and prosecute them according to Iraqi laws.

During the conference, UN Secretary General’s representative Martin Coupler also confirmed that time is up for the MKO members and urged them to get prepared for the next move.

He further said that the United Nation is directly involved in the issue and called for seeking a peaceful solution in handling the MKO’s exit from Iraq.

The MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, and is responsible for numerous terrorist acts against both Iranian and Iraqi citizens. The group is especially notorious in Iran for siding with executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 war he imposed on the Islamic Republic.

The MKO fled to Iraq in 1986, where it enjoyed the support of Iraq's executed despot and set up its camp near the Iranian border.

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