MKO CONFIRMS IT LOST 18 MEMBERS "UNDER IRANIAN ATTACK"
PARIS 13 Apr. (IPS) Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation (MKO), the outlawed Iranian armed group based in Baghdad confirmed Sunday they have lost at least 18 of their members, with 43 other wounded after some of their bases in Iraqi Kurdistan was attacked by forces they claimed were Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
But the Iranian Radio and Television said the attackers were "Iraqi Muslim combatants" who attacked the "terrorist group" near the Kurdish city of Kerkook, "killing scores of them", adding that the bodies of MKO terrorist members still lie in their camp.
In a statement, the MKO accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of having "violated" Iraqi borders by dispatching "large amount of heavily armed forces" into Iraq, attacking its camps.
Before the arrival of Kurdish and U.S. forces in the oil-rich city, which was "liberated" last week, the people of Kerkook had already killed some MKO members, and their bodies were lying alongside the bodies of Iraqi intelligence (Estekhbarat) agents, the State-run, conservatives-controlled Radio reported.
Other MKO camps, situated in Khaneqeyn, also in Iraqi Kurdistan and considered one of the Organisation’s major base that fought the Iraqi Kurds alongside Iraqi forces of Saddam Hoseyn were also attacked, the pro-conservative, but moderate "Entekhab" daily reported Sunday.
In another development, Mr.Jalal Talebani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), announced that the second phase of PUK attacks against the MKO would start soon, the Radio and Television’s Central News Bureau reported, citing PUK sources in northern Iraq.
Entekhab said some members of the MKO had started negotiations with Mr. Talebani and American commanders in the region to surrender and being moved either to Iran or another country of refuge.
Ina letter signed by 30 MKO members to Mr. Talebani, they called on him to stop attacking, promised to surrender, blaming their leader, Mas’ood Rajavi and other Organisation’s high-ranking officials for the tragic situation, stating that Mr. Rajavi and some of his closest colleagues had already fled Iraq to an undisclosed destination.
Last week, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Hojjatoleslam Ali Yoonesi announced that some 100 of MKO who had repented had returned to Iran and were living "normally.
He said if other members are willing to come back home, they would be welcomed and pardoned, "provided they repent and also have no one with any claims against them".
Iranians in general consider the MKO as a group that has betrayed the nation, working closely with Saddam forces in the Iran-Iraq war and taking part in operations against Iraqi Kurds. MKO ATTACKED 13403