Camp Liberty is a former U.S. base. Members of MeK have been at the base since 2012 with about 3,000 remaining to be relocated to other countries. The al-Mukhtar Army, a Shi’ite militia group, claimed to have warned MeK that it must leave Iraq as soon as possible. The army promised more attacks if it did not leave. The MeK was a close ally of Saddam Hussein and at the time of the 2003 invasion by the U.S. was listed by the U.S., Canada, and the EU as a terrorist organization. It was left in another camp at the time until relocated to Camp Liberty in 2012. From the beginning authorities planned to relocate the group to other countries as the Iraqi government and Shi’ite groups are naturally hostile to the MeK. The group fought with Saddam during the Iran Iraq war. It also took part in the violent repression of a Shia uprising against Hussein in 1991. The U.S. condemned the attack and said it would support relocation of the MeK to some other place. Some other country would be a lot safer for it.
At least 15 rockets crashed in and around Camp Liberty. Two Iraqi soldiers guarding the camp were wounded. An abandoned truck with rocket tubes was found north of the camp. The UN condemned the attack. U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said: “No matter the circumstances, on this point we remain absolute: the United States remains committed to assisting the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the relocation of all Camp Hurriya residents to a permanent and safe location outside of Iraq.”
Under a December 2011 agreement with the UN, the Iraqi government is responsible for protecting the MeK members in the camp.
The MeK has had an effective international lobby group and has links to politicians who support it in many countries. As a group that wants to overthrow the Iranian government and that has intelligence agents in Iran, many political opponents of Iran see the group in a positive light. In January of 2009 the EU removed the MeK from its terror list. The U.S. followed suit in a decision by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Sept. 2012. Canada followed in December of the same year. The MeK had renounced violence in 2001: Despite the public renouncement of violence, the MEK have been accused by the Iranian government and US officials speaking anonymously to NBC News of being financed, trained, and armed by Israel to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists and educators. The MEK has denied any involvement in the assassinations and the existence of any alliance with Israel.
Even though the Al-Mukhtar Army claims responsibility for the Camp Liberty attack, MeK continues to blame the Iranian government.
