According to reports, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that arrest warrants have been issued for 120 members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). Maliki described the MKO as a “terrorist” group and said that it has committed terrorist acts in Iraq and Iran for many years. He also reiterated the Iraqi government’s decision to expel the members of the group and to bring an end to the issue. Maliki went on to say that Iraq wants to maintain relations with its neighboring countries and to put an end to the crises that Saddam Hussein created in relations with the countries including Iran and Turkey. He pointed out that Iraq had pushed for the expulsion of the group by mid-January, but foreign intervention hindered the process. Maliki further added that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had asked Iraq to be patient in this regard and extend the deadline for the expulsion. The MKO started its activities as a terrorist group based in Iraq in the early 1980s. In addition to the assassination of hundreds of Iranian officials and citizens, the group cooperated with Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in its repression of the Iraqi people. 1

• 1. “Iraq issues arrest warrants for 120 MKO members,” Tehran Times, January 19, 2012, at
  http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/94690-iraq-issues-arrest-warrants-fo...