Albanian PM warns MKO to leave Albania if it's after fighting

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
1 Jul 2023 22:00

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama warns the anti-Iran MKO group against fighting Iran on Albanian soil.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama speaks during a debate at the parliament in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (AP)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has stated that the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) must leave the nation if it wishes to combat Iran on Albanian soil.

Rama told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published on Friday that Albania has hosted the MKO "for several years," but the organization is not permitted to use the country as a platform for its political operations. He stated that Albania has no intention of going to war with Iran and that the country "does not accept anyone who has abused our hospitality."

He chastised the MKO for using Albania as a "trench in a war that is not ours," saying the organization "must leave Albania" if it wants to combat Iran.

The Albanian prime minister commended his country's outstanding relations with the US, which prompted Tirana to accede to then-US President Barack Obama's request to admit hundreds of MKO members in 2016. "We opened our doors because the group, then operating from Iraq, was systematically followed," Rama said.

Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the MKO has carried out several terrorist acts against Iranian citizens and government officials. MKO's terrorist acts have claimed the lives of over 12,000 Iranians.

MKO's terror, cyber attacks

Albanian police raided an MKO camp on June 20, owing to the group's involvement in "terror and cyber attacks" against foreign organizations.

Officials seized 150 electronic devices suspected of being used in terrorist activity. During the skirmishes in the Ashraf-3 camp in Tirana's northwest, at least one person was murdered and many were injured.

According to reports, one of the MKO members slain in the attack was Abdolvahhab Faraji, a high-profile commander of the terrorist organization. He was believed to be an expert in military engineering operations, and he was apparently in charge of technical and engineering efforts during an MKO terrorist operation against Iran in July 1988.

A week later, Albanian police entered the Ashraf-3 camp, and security troops were stationed at the camp's gate and regulated all vehicles leaving the facility.

Nasser Kanaani, the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, has stated that the anti-Iran terror group would always represent a threat to the security of its host countries. He hoped that Albania would "make up for its mistake of hosting this terrorist cult."

After the terrorists were rejected by the administration of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki after they had been hosted by Saddam Hussein, Albania began harboring them.

The European country is estimated to have been accommodating some 3,000 members of the terror organization since 2016.

Previously, the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan designated the MKO as a "terrorist organization." The group was removed from the United States' list of terrorist groups in 2012. Following suit, the EU removed the organization from its list of terrorist organizations as well.