U.S. closes camp near Mujahadeen Khalq base in Iraq
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military said it would close Camp Grizzly, an American military camp that is located close to an
Iranian opposition camp to Iraq in July 2010.
Camp Ashraf contains up to
3,000 Iranian opposition fighters and their families and placed under the control of the Iraq government last year. In 2003,
the United States assumed formal responsbility for Ashraf, regarded as
the key base of Mujahadeen Khalq, the leading Iranian opposition force.
"U.S. forces will continue to reduce our footprint in Iraq . . . as we
continue our transition to stability operations," U.S. military spokesman
Lt. Col. Bob Owen said.
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The U.S. military had long been under pressure from Iran and the
Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad to relinquish full control of Camp Ashraf, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said Washington had helped arrange for the resettlement of more
than 1,000 Mujahadeen Khalq operatives and their families in Europe.
In July 2009, the Iraq Army and police raided Camp Ashraf in a clash
that killed 11 Khalq members and their families. Officials said the Iraqi
operation intensified the Khalq flight from Camp Ashraf.
The State Department has listed Khalq on the U.S. list of organizations
deemed terrorist. The European Union has been mulling the removal of Khalq
from Brussels' terror list and urged Washington not to abandon
responsibility for Camp Ashraf.
"It would be an extremely dangerous development that could lead to a new
humanitarian catastrophe with far greater dimensions compared to the events
of last July," EU parliamentarian Struan Stevenson said in a letter to U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
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