NCRI – A group of British parliamentarians from both houses called on the UN Secretary General to request the Iraqi government and coalition forces to uphold the protected persons’ status of these PMOI members. Text of the letter addressed to Kofi Annan by Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Lord Archer of Sandwell, Lord Clark of Hampstead and Andrew Mackinlay MP is as follows:
"We wish to convey our sincere condolences to the families of those Iraqis killed and to those injured in a terrorist attack on their bus on the way to Ashraf City, the home of PMOI members, who are part of the Iranian Resistance Coalition on 29th May. It is safe to assume those who carried this out were acting on behalf of the Iranian regime.
"Thirteen were killed and 15 wounded in the attack in Khalis, north-east of Baghdad. Those killed and injured had been employed for several years and as you may know, agents of the Iranian regime have carried out similar attacks over the years. In 1999 a bus on the same route was destroyed by a remote-controlled bomb, killing 6 and wounding 21. Next day Asraf City was attacked by Iranian Scud missiles.
"This latest attack happened two days after a visit to Iraq by the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Our view is that Tehran is sending a message to the Iraqi people not to lend their support to the PMOI or they will find themselves targets of terror.
"The PMOI has protected persons status under the Fourth Geneva Convention, acknowledged by coalition forces. We request the Iraqi government to reaffirm the right to political asylum of the PMOI members at Ashraf City. It is the plain duty of coalition forces to provide effective protection for these people in compliance with their present status.
"We similarly ask H.E. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, to request the Iraqi government and coalition forces to uphold the protected persons’ status of these PMOI members."
Copies of their letter was also sent to H.E. Jalal Talabani, Iraqi President; office of the Hon. Dr. Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State; the Hon. Donald H. Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense; office of Hon. Gen. Jack Gardner; H.E. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad; H.E. Dr. Nouri Al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister and H.E. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi Foreign Minister.
