Iraqis hold rally calling for MKO expulsion

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (MNA) – Thousands of Iraqi people held a demonstration in Tahrir square in central Baghdad on Friday calling for the expulsion of the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from their country. The MKO was granted asylum in Iraq in the 1980s under Saddam Hussein's regime and set up home at Camp of New Iraq (which was formerly known as Camp Ashraf) in Diyala province. But after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, they became an irritant to Iraq's government. According to AP, the demonstrators were urging the government to abide by an end-of-year deadline to expel the group from Iraq and close their camp here. Shouting some slogans, the protesters condemned the MKO and warned the Iraqi government about the terrorist group’s plans to kill the Iraqi people and to plague the country by internal divisions. Issuing a statement, the protesters also called on the government to prevent the European Union from interfering in the issue of expulsion of the MKO. They also urged the government to bring to trial the MKO criminals who have the Iraqi people’s blood on their hand.