Free Republic

TEHRAN/BAGHDAD - On Tuesday, Iraqi soldiers and riot police stormed Camp Ashraf, where Mojahedin Khalq Organization members had been based, triggering violent clashes that left at least 260 people injured. Iraqi officials say clashes broke out as they were trying to establish a police post in the camp. “After the failure of negotiations with the Mojahedin (Khalq) to enter peacefully, the Iraqi army entered Camp Ashraf with force and it now controls the interior and all entrances to the camp,” an Iraqi military source said. An Iraqi army spokesman in Diyala said two battalions of 400 soldiers each plus 200...

Iran and Iraq have formed a joint committee with the Red Cross to shut down Camp Ashraf in Iraq which houses thousands of outlawed Iranian opponents, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said yesterday. “The camp will be shut down by the end of this year,” Talabani said on the sidelines of a counter-terrorism summit in Tehran, the official Irna news agency reported. “For this, a tripartite committee has been set up by Iraq, Iran and the International Red Cross to make decisions and follow up on necessary measures to shut down the camp of this terrorist group,” Irna quoted him as...

Iran says scores of Iraq-based rebels defected TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Scores of Iraq-based Iranian rebels have defected and returned to Iran over recent months, taking advantage of an amnesty offered by Tehran, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying Monday. Iran has said members of the People's Mujahideen, listed as a "terrorist organization" by the United States and the European Union, can return if they voice regret for their actions against the Islamic Republic. "Around 100 defected members of the organization have returned to Iran in the past two or three months and were handed over to their...