Shiite militant threatens Iranian exiles in Iraq
Iranian educated in N. Korea becomes minister
BAGHDAD, Feb 26, (AP): The head of a new Shiite militant group in Iraq on Tuesday threatened to carry out more attacks on a refugee camp for Iranian exiles that was struck by dozens of rockets and mortar shells earlier this month.
Seven people were killed in the Feb 9 attack on the camp near Baghdad airport that houses members of Mujahedeen-eKhalq, or MEK, the militant wing of a Paris-based Iranian opposition group. Iraq’s government, which maintains friendly ties with Tehran, considers the MEK a terrorist group and wants its members out of country.
Tuesday’s comments from Wathiq alBatat suggest he shares the government’s goal, even if he disagrees with its handling of the exiles. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, al-Batat said his newly formed Mukhtar Army group was behind the attack and promised more attacks to come.
“It is time for the people of the MEK to leave Iraq. We have demanded that the government kick the group out of the country, but the Iraqi government did not respond positively to our demand,” he said. “We will strike them again until they leave.”
It was not possible to independently confirm al-Batat’s claim that his group was behind the attacks, but Iraqi officials and MEK members say they are taking his threats seriously. No other groups have taken responsibility.
“Mukhtar Army” appeared on threatening leaflets delivered to Sunni households in a Baghdad neighborhood last week warning residents to leave or face grave consequences.
The MEK opposes Iran’s clerical regime and has carried out assassinations and bombings in Iran. It fought alongside Saddam Hussein’s forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and several thousand of its members were given sanctuary in Iraq. It renounced violence in 2001. The Obama administration took it off the US terrorism list last September.
The refugee camp is located on a former American military base known as Camp Liberty. It is meant to be a temporary way station while the United Nations works to relocate the refugees abroad.
Also: TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament has approved a North Korean- educated former military official for a key post in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.
The official IRNA news agency says Mohammad Hasan Nami — nominated by Ahmadinejad last week for the post of communications minister — got 177 votes in parliament on Tuesday. There were 243 lawmakers present in the 290- seat chamber.
Nami is the third minister with a military background to join Ahmadinejad administration, after Defense Minister Gen Ahmad Vahidi and Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.
Nami holds a doctorate degree in state management from Kim Il-Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea. He is also a former deputy defense minister and Iran’s ex-deputy Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Army. Nami is fluent in English and is reportedly behind Iran’s national intranet project.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state TV says prosecutors have accused a close ally of the Iranian president of involvement in the deaths of detainees during unrest after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection nearly four years ago.
The allegations against Saeed Mortazavi, a former Tehran prosecutor, are the latest potential political troubles for Ahmadinejad.