URGENT / Anti-Tehran Ashraf Camp’s residents to move to Baghdad – Clinton

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has said that residents of the anti-Tehran Mujahedin E-Khalq Organization Asrah Camp in northeast Iraq shall move to a camp in Baghdad, in response to a Memo of Understanding (MOU), signed between Iraq and the United Nations, to achieve a humanitarian and peaceful settlement, securing a voluntary transfer of the camp, according to the US Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. “The signing of the MOU represents an important development in this issue and defines the necessary plans to find a peaceful and an accepted settlement by residents of Ashraf Camp, including a temporary transfer to the Liberty Camp, previously a US military camp, close to Baghdad International Airport,” a US Embassy statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency quoted Clinton as saying. “The new location shall enable the UN High Commission for Immigrants Affairs to take necessary measures to define the position of Ashraf Camp‘s residents as immigrants, being a preliminary necessary step to renew their residency in other countries,” Clinton said. “We are rejoiced to witness the Iraqi government’s readiness to commit itself to this step; we expect it will be fully committed to its responsibilities, especially the contents of the MOU, related to the security and safety of Ashraf Camp. “We welcome the Iraqi government’s agreement to allow the UN to send observers to the new location, to follow up the transfer from Ashraf Camp, round-the-clock,” she added. “US Embassy officials in Baghdad shall carry out organized and repeated visits to the new location, whilst we support the Iraqi government’s readiness to postpone the final closure of Ashraf Camp, in order to give enough time to implement this plan,” Clinton said. She expressed confidence in “the success of the said plan, as the process of the residing must enjoy full support by Ashraf Camp‘s residents, as we encourage them to act with the United Nations to implement the process of the transfer, whilst all other related parties, who care for the security and safety of Ashraf Camp‘s residents to act together to secure the  implementation of the said plan.” Noteworthy is that the United Nations and the Iraqi government had signed an agreement on Monday, regarding the temporary transfer and the residing outside Iraq of more than 3,000 residents of Ashraf Camp, now staying in Iraq.