VP European Union: Camp Ashraf displacement, a Call for Catastrophe

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European UntionStop Fundamentalism, 26 May 2011 – Speaking at a conference held at the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday, Spanish conservative MEP Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice President of the European Parliament rejected any suggestion for forced displacement of Camp Ashraf residents to another location in Iraq as a call for another massacre, reported AFP.

He was referring to a raid by Iraqi forces on 8 April this year on the Iranian dissident Camp Ashraf north of Baghdad.  The raid cost the lives of 8 women and 26 men.   They were mostly shot directly by the Iraqi soldiers.

 Iranian officials have called on Iraq to extradite all residents of the camp back to Iran; an action that would result in further crackdown and execution of the residents who form the main opponents of the Iranian regime.

“The approximately 3,400 people who are in the camp, under pressure from the Iraqi army, should be allowed to European countries,” said the Spanish conservative MEP Alejo Vidal-Quadras at the conference.  He warned that the lives of the resident would be at risk if they are displaced inside Iraq against their wishes.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance also attended the conference.  She expressed her concerns about those who have been wounded and currently stay in critical condition in Ashraf.

The Iranian Resistance has called on the European Union to support the European Parliament’s initiative to peacefully solve the Ashraf Crisis and to stop a human catastrophe. It is calling on the United Nations to station a permanent observing team in the camp to stop another massacre until the final solution is achieved.