Iraq terror threat remains, says Nicholson

Date: 24/04/03

By Martin Banks

EU governments were this week urged to work "harder than ever" to eradicate the threat posed by an alleged Iraqi terror organisation.

Liberal Democrat MEP Emma Nicholson, deputy chairman of the Parliament's foreign affairs committee, says the success of the US-led military action in Iraq had "seriously compromised" the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO).

But Nicholson, Parliament's rapporteur on Iraq, warned that the group retains "considerable international capability and reach".

Earlier this year, she presented a dossier of evidence to the UK government which she claimed was proof that the Iraq regime was "financing, directing, arming and training" the MKO.

She said: "The MKO professes to be a secular and democratic resistance movement committed to overturning the government of Iran.

"It is, in fact, a violent religious organisation that has been responsible for numerous atrocities in the region."

Despite the coalition's success in toppling Saddam Hussein, Nicholson cautioned against triumphalism.

The British MEP, who was in Iran this week to discuss the plight of the Marsh Arabs, said: "Although the fall of Saddam has compromised the MKO's operations, it remains well-armed and well-funded.

"The aftermath of the war will mark a new phase in MKO activity and all governments must work harder than ever to eradicate this threat for good."

Nicholson, a special envoy for the World Health Organization, has appealed on numerous occasions to the Parliament for the MKO terrorist threat to be taken seriously.

EU governments have been urged to work harder to eradicate the threat posed by an alleged Iraqi terror organisation.