Iraqi riot police withdraw from Iran exiles camp

Iraqi riot police withdrew from a camp housing Iran's main exiled opposition on Wednesday after a raid by security forces triggered violent clashes that left more than 400 people wounded.

The Iraqi army had stormed Camp Ashraf on Tuesday after a months-long tense stand-off around the base north of Baghdad, but were forced to call in riot police to quell violence when residents tried to resist.

Iraq's defense ministry struck a tough tone, insisting the offensive against the People's Mujahedeen base in the province of Diyala was justified under a security agreement signed by Baghdad and Washington in November.

"It's our territory and it's our right to enter, to impose Iraqi law on everybody," defense ministry spokesman General Mohammed Askari told Al Arabiya.

"They (camp residents) have to submit to the law, and to Iraqi sovereignty. The SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) authorizes us to do what we did," he said.

They have to submit to the law, and to Iraqi sovereignty. The SOFA authorizes us to do what we did

General Mohammed Askari, Iraqi Defense Ministry

Iran welcomes the step

Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani welcomed the takeover by Iraqi security forces of the camp.

"Even though it is rather late, the action by the Iraqi government is praiseworthy," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Larijani as saying.

A leading Iranian MP also welcomed the raid on the Ashraf camp and said its residents should be handed over to Tehran.

"This move is effective in improving the security of Iraq and its neighbors," said Hossein Sobhani-Nia, who is a member of parliament's national security committee.

"But we still want the hypocrites to be handed over to Iran so we can investigate the crimes of this terrorist group," he added, using the Islamic regime's usual term of abuse for the Mujahideen.

But we still want the hypocrites to be handed over to Iran so we can investigate the crimes of this terrorist group

Iraqi MP Hossein Sobhani-Nia

"A crime"

The main Iranian opposition group in exile earlier denounced the Iraqi operation, accusing Baghdad of acting on the orders of Tehran.

A spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which includes the armed group the People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), called the raid "a crime at the request of and for the pleasure of the Iranian supreme guide."

Afchine Alavi said that six people had been shot dead by Iraqi forces and 50 more arrested.

Iraqi authorities have so far denied that there were any deaths, but they have confirmed 50 arrests. Spokesmen for both sides confirm that Iraqi forces are now largely in control of the camp.

"There's an extreme similarity, and it's no coincidence, between the Iraqi regime's use of violence and the repression in Iran. It's two sides of the same reality," said French-based Alavi.

"Everyone knows that the face of the supreme guide Khamenei is behind this. He's trying to cling onto power and he's never hidden his fear of the People's Mujahedeen," he declared.

There's an extreme similarity, and it's no coincidence, between the Iraqi regime's use of violence and the repression in Iran. It's two sides of the same reality

Afchine Alavi, NCRI

The supreme leader of Iran is the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom Iranian exiles allege has pressured Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government into taking action against their base in the central Iraqi town of Ashraf.

Alavi told AFP the camp's residents had launched a hunger strike to demand that Iraqi troops be withdrawn and replaced by the American forces "who disarmed the people of Ashraf and guaranteed their humanitarian rights."

Ashraf camp

Ashraf is home to around 3,500 Mujahedeen supporters and their families. It was set up in the 1980s, when now executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was at war with Iran, as a base to operate against the Iranian government.

After the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 overthrew Saddam, American forces disarmed the Iranian opposition fighters -- whose group is regarded by Washington as a terrorist organization -- but gave the Ashraf camp protected status.

The Iraqi government has vowed to close Camp Ashraf, home to Iranian dissidents for two decades, and return PMOI members to Iran or a third country.

Bezhad Saffari, an Ashraf resident and lawyer, had earlier told Reuters Iraqi forces fired tear gas at residents who barricaded a gate to try and prevent them entering the camp.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the Iraqi government had assumed security responsibility for Camp Ashraf and that it was therefore up to Baghdad to handle the matter.

We continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the residents of Camp Ashraf are treated in accordance with Iraq's written assurances that it will treat the residents there humanely

Ian kelly, U.S. State Department

"We continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the residents of Camp Ashraf are treated in accordance with Iraq's written assurances that it will treat the residents there humanely," Kelly told reporters in Washington.

The PMOI said in a statement that camp residents would be willing to go home if they had written assurances from Iran that any PMOI returning would "enjoy immunity from arrest, prosecution, torture, execution ... freedom of speech."

Iran is unlikely to comply, political analysts said.

While Iraqi officials insist they are respecting dissidents' rights, Ashraf residents accuse Iraqi forces of laying siege to it and sometimes blocking the entry of food and medicines.

Everyone knows that the face of the supreme guide Khamenei is behind this. He's trying to cling onto power and he's never hidden his fear of the People's Mujahedeen

Alavi