U.S. Must be Prepared to Prevent Another Bloodbath, Says Group

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents:

Information received from within the Iranian regime suggests the imminent likelihood of another attack on Camp Ashraf by Iraqi troops.

According to this information, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is poised to provoke Prime Minister Al-Maliki to launch another bloody assault on Ashraf.

According to an August 4, 2009 report by Reuters news agency, the regime in Tehran is particularly asking Iraqi government to arrest and extradite 55 individuals who constitute the leadership of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) at Camp Ashraf.

The demand was repeated on August 18, 2009, by Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki who asked Baghdad to extradite PMOI members, according to the United Press International.

There are also deep fears that operatives of Iran's Qods Force, designated by the United States as a terrorist entity, and its Iraqi agents would participate in such an attack. On July 31, 2009, CNSNEWS.com reported that that "Iraqi forces had permitted Iranian intelligence and Qods Force members, posing as staff from Iranian media organizations the English-language Press TV and Arabic-language Al-Alam TV, to enter" Camp Ashraf.

On April 18, 19 and 20, all buildings, living quarters, gardens, farms, and facilities in Ashraf were thoroughly searched by the Iraqi Army using all available detection equipment, including bomb-sniffing dogs.

According to a document signed by the commander of the search unit, no weapons or explosives were found anywhere. Therefore, there is no need for the use of armed force at Ashraf: the people there are unarmed and defenseless.

The U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents demands the U.S. forces in the area be promptly placed on alert and ready to deploy to the scene on very short notice if violence is threatened. This is the only way to prevent another bloodbath at Camp Ashraf.

SOURCE U.S. Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents

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