US war on terror is 'void' after decision to protect Mujahedeen: Iran
AFP, Tehran
Iran hit out at the US decision to grant protected status to the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen yesterday, the main Iranian armed opposition group, saying it proved Washington's war on terrorism was a sham. "The United States is using its fight against terrorism as a tool, and we knew from the beginning that this fight is void and they are not serious," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA. "Using the Geneva Convention to protect this terrorist group is naive and unacceptable," he added. The United States confirmed Monday it had granted protected status to nearly 4,000 members of the People's Mujahedeen, now confined to a military-run camp in western Iraq. This contrasts with the US designation of al-Qaeda detainees. The US State Department stressed, however, that the move had no effect on the US "foreign terrorist organisation" designation for the group, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) or National Council of Resistance of Iran. "The 3,800 members of the MEK that are in (Camp) Ashraf have been granted protected persons status," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. He explained that the move gave the militants rights under the Geneva Conventions but would not shield them from eventual prosecution on possible terrorism charges.
| 
