Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki underlined Baghdad's determination to end the presence of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) on his country soil, Fars reported.
In the article "building a stable Iraq" published by US daily Washington Post, Nouri al-Maliki pointed to the presence of thousands of MKO members in the main training camp in the country's Diyala province, and said, "The residents of Camp Ashraf (the Camp of New Iraq) have caused a great deal of controversy here (Iraq) and in the United States. I would like to see this complex issue resolved peacefully and with the help of the United Nations."
"The camp's residents are classified as a terrorist organization by many countries and thus have no legal basis to remain in Iraq," Maliki added.
He reiterated the terrorist nature of the group, and added, "No country would accept the presence of foreign insurgents on its soil, but we will work hard to find a peaceful solution that upholds the international values of human rights."
MKO started assassination of the citizens and officials after the Islamic revolution in a bid to take control of the newly established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran's new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President Mohammad Ali Rajayee, Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by MKO members in 1981.
The MKO fled to Iraq in the 1980s, where it enjoyed the support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and set up Camp Ashraf in the eastern province of Diyala, near the Iranian border. Over 3,000 MKO members are currently residing at the camp.
The U.S. designated the MKO a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997; the group is still on the list. Britain and the European Union took the group off their terrorist lists in 2008 and 2009 respectively after court rulings that found no evidence of terrorist actions after the MKO renounced violence in 2001.