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Exit, Albania, October 24 2019:… In a statement today, the Albanian State Police and the Anti-Terrorism Directorate claim to have uncovered a “terrorist network directed by the Iranian regime” in Albania. The network allegedly consists of 4 Iranian citizens forming an “active terrorist cell of an external operations unit of the Iranian Quds Forces, which are part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.” No arrests have been made, and it is unclear whether international arrest warrants have been issued. Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Nobody Can Be “Comfortable” With Regime Change Involving MEK
Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Albanian State Police Parrots US: MEK Considered ‘Iranian Opposition Movement’
by : Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei
The MEK compound Ashraf-3 near Manza, Albania.
In a statement today, the Albanian State Police and the Anti-Terrorism Directorate claim to have uncovered a “terrorist network directed by the Iranian regime” in Albania. The network allegedly consists of 4 Iranian citizens forming an “active terrorist cell of an external operations unit of the Iranian Quds Forces, which are part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.” No arrests have been made, and it is unclear whether international arrest warrants have been issued.
In a response, former opposition MP Edi Paloka claimed that the sudden declaration was an attempt of the Rama government to deviate attention from the failure to open EU accession negotiations.
This is not the first time the Rama government has uncovered Iranian “terrorist” plots. In December 2018, the Albanian government expelled two Iranian diplomats from Albania, including the Iranian Ambassador for reasons of “damaging its national security.” The alleged reason was a planned attack on an Albania–Israel football match. The expulsion was publicly praised by US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia.
According to the police declaration of today, the uncovered terrorist cell is
responsible, among others, for the March 2018 plan to commit a terrorist act during the celebration of Novruz, frequented by high-level members of the Iranian opposition organization Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).
In an interview, Baba Edmond Brahimaj confirmed that two persons had tried to enter the World Headquarters (Kryegjyshata) of the Bektashi Order during Novruz 2018. It is unclear whether the two persons who were arrested back then and released because of lack of evidence are among the four suspects mentioned today in the police statement.
Camp Ashraf 3 Albania . MEK , ISIS , Al Qaeda Joint Terrorist Training Camp
By referring to the MEK as an “Iranian opposition organization” and an “Iranian opposition movement,” the Albanian State Police echoes the public statements of Prime Minister Edi Rama during his recent speech at the UN’s General Assembly:
Albania is especially worried by the destabilizing behavior of Iran in the Middle East, but also its activities that cause problems with regard to the Iranian opposition, the community of the Iranian opposition, which we have welcome with generosity in our country after extraordinary massacres, which they have been subjected to in other countries. We had to react to several illegal activities of Iran and security interests […].
The reference “Iranian opposition movement” is a recent change in the government’s language. When the great majority of the MEK members were transferred to Albania from a refugee camp in Iraq in 2016, Prime Minister Rama made no mention of the political context, but instead referred to the operation as “humanitarian” in a letter to Parliament:
Each member of the MEK organization who arrived in Albania has a residency permit and healthcare card. Each of the persons who arrived so far in our country has been accepted on a humanitarian basis and will be treated according to the legal framework in force. […]
So far, none of the citizens who are member of MEK has applied for Albanian citizenship. I want to inform you that the Albanian government has taken all necessary measures, in close cooperation with our foreign partners, to be apt at dealing with this important humanitarian operation.
There is no mention in the letter of the political activities that the MEK would be allowed to develop once inside their Albania compound in Manza, near Tirana. Indeed, the designation “Iranian opposition” appears to derive directly from the US government; the EU, for example, does not refer to the MEK as “Iranian opposition.” Under the Trump presidency, the MEK has become a centerpiece of US Iran policy, with countless US officials making the trip to Albania to meet MEK leader Maryam Rajavi. This includes personal Trump lawyer Rudi Giuliani (eyewitness report of his speech here), former advisor Newt Gingrich, as well as former FBI director Louis J. Freeh, late US Senator John McCain, and a delegation of US Senators Thom Tillis, Roy Blunt, and John Cornyn.
Olsi Jazexhi : MEK Helping Albania Slide Toward Authoritarianism
By designating the MEK as “Iranian opposition,” the US government attempts to pave the way to a possible regime change in Iran in which the MEK would play a possible role. Since Trump’s election, Maryam Rajavi has publicly called for an “uprising” in Iran.
In return, the Iranian government has accused the Albanian government of hosting “terrorists,” while there have been reports of human rights abuses in the Albanian MEK camp.
Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
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Albanian Police No Match For MEK Commanders Trained By Saddam’s Mukhabarat
MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks
Reza Alghurabi, American Herald Tribune, July 21 2019:… Listed for 17 years as a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, with various reports published about its violations of Human Rights and acts of violence and terror, the MEK enjoyed a significant increase in its activities during the first term of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet . The presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization (MEK, a.k.a MKO, NCRI, PMOI), an exile Iranian group perceived by many experts as a terrorist cult, in a base around Tirana could also make Albania’s situation more complicated in its EU accession talks . MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks .
The shadowy cult Trump advisors tout as an alternative to the Iranian government
MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks
Terrorism and Corruption: Albania’s Issues with EU Accession
Albania has been longing for joining the European Union for years, but the tiny Balkan nation still faces major challenges to its hopes of joining the bloc.
Extensive economic and administrative reforms, noninterference in the judicial procedures by the government, Election transparency and combating corruption are among Brussels’s top demands from Albania before its annexation to the EU.
However, corrupt political leaders and their alleged links to organized crime which have triggered protests by people from time to time, have played a key role in turning Albania’s wish for joining the EU into an unrealized dream.
For instance, German tabloid “BILD” leaked six wiretapped conversations in June indicating collusion between Socialist Party officials and members of a notorious criminal organization regarding coercing voters in the upcoming election.
The controversial audio file has sparked rage among the opposition parties leading to calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation and an earlier general election. Albania’s opposition parties have accused the governing party of corruption and of doctoring the results of the 2017 parliamentary election. Leader of the opposition party, Lulzim Basha, accused the Socialists of coming into power “through the votes of the crime and the mafia.” Basha’s Democratic Party relinquished their seats in Parliament in protest, and declared a boycott of the June 30 vote.
The presence of the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization (MEK, a.k.a MKO, NCRI, PMOI), an exile Iranian group perceived by many experts as a terrorist cult, in a base around Tirana could also make Albania’s situation more complicated in its EU accession talks. The MEK was relocated to Albania under the U.S. pressure after no other countries took the group in following its expulsion from Iraq.
Listed for 17 years as a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, with various reports published about its violations of Human Rights and acts of violence and terror, the MEK enjoyed a significant increase in its activities during the first term of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet
Listed for 17 years as a terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, with various reports published about its violations of Human Rights and acts of violence and terror, the MEK enjoyed a significant increase in its activities during the first term of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet. Despite he was expected to limit MEK’s activities to its bases in Tirana, Edi Rama allowed the group to act freely in Albania and provided it with a huge land in Durres to construct its fortified headquarters.
MEK’s generous donations to the Albanian Police, journalists and political figures have been regularly reported by the local media. Making a name for itself in the government of Edi Rama, the MEK has been able to pay a number of Albanian political figures and Parliament members to advocate for the group in its events.
A recent tweet from PM Edi Rama in which he blames Iran for fueling tensions in the Middle East, indicating his support for Iran’s adversaries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the U.S., resembles MEK’s stance against Iran. Considering these facts, MEK’s aids to Rama against his political opponents must be thoroughly investigated ahead of the upcoming election in Albania.
Albania should have understood in the first place why no other countries, including MEK’s top sponsor, the United States, agreed to allow the group into their soil after its relocation from Iraq. Wherever it has been, the MEK has been involved in conducting illegal activities and sabotage acts. The group’s dark past and a long list of its misconducts including violating the human rights of hundreds of its members in Albania, could cause many troubles for Tirana in the near future.
After 5 years of residence in Albania, the MEK has now become a part of the corruption process in this country and a link to its corrupted authorities. It is not unlikely at all to see MEK promote the ruling party, with which it shares common thoughts and interests, in the upcoming Albanian election. The experiences of MEK’s numerous overt and covert interventions in the Iraqi Parliamentary elections in favor of specific people through spending huge sums of money, could easily repeat in Albania and mark a more controversial situation than the 2017 Parliamentary election in Albania.
Finally, it is the Albanian people who will be the true victims of their government’s friendly policies towards the infamous MEK which has been known as a terrorist group for a long time; The policies that could negatively impact Albania’s already complicated accession negotiations with the EU.
Reza Alghurabi is an Arab journalist who lives in Iran. He is a former researcher at the Beirut Center for Middle East Studies and an independent researcher and journalist writing in Iranian newspapers including the Khorasan daily.
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MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks
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Mojahedin Khalq MEK Rajavi Cult Iranians in Albania
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Gareth Porter, Sputnick News, July 07 2019:… It was based on a series of false ideas that the intelligence communities began with and some maneuvering by high-ranking CIA officials … who interfered with the process of the assessment of Iran’s nuclear program within the CIA,” Porter explained. “It culminated in the approval of this set of documents that came from… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Terror Spring, July 06 2019:… While the group continues to proclaim it holds great popularity within Iran, it could not be further from the truth. Iranians never could overlook the series of betrayal and treasonous acts the MEK / MKO committed in the name of power – enabling Saddam Hussein’s forces by siding with him against Iran remains to this… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Massoumeh Torfeh, TRT World, July 05 2019:… Bolton’s alleged favourite team, the former US-terrorist-listed organisation, MEK, has disappeared off the radar after its controversial gathering last June in Paris attended by Trump’s inner circle. Meanwhile, the regime-change idea uttered by the US National Security Advisor John Bolton, and the lavish communications plans funded by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have all… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Habilian Association, Tehran, July 04 2019:… For decades, and based on U.S. intelligence, the United States government has blamed the MEK for killing three U.S. Army colonels and three U.S. contractors, bombing the facilities of numerous U.S. companies and killing innocent Iranians. Multiple administrations have rejected efforts by the MEK and its surrogates to claim that any bad acts were… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Assal Rad, Lobe Log, July 02 2019:… The MEK also utilizes promoted content on news sites. For instance, The Hill is running a 10-week mini-series on Iran sponsored by the Organization of Iranian-American Communities (OIAC), a front group for the MEK. Even more unsettling is the MEK’s creation of fake personas that publish in major U.S. outlets as a way to promote the pro-regime change… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, July 01 2019:… Chief among these was the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a State Department-designated terrorist group that had previously assassinated six US officials when it was fighting the Shah’s regime. Despite this, the US military secretly trained MEK fighters while the terror group paid leading US officials to lobby for its cause. USA Uses MEK Terrorist Against… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Press TV, June 30 2019:… A US and Saudi Arabia-backed anti-Iran terrorist group, which is responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent Iranian civilians and officials, has announced a plan to assassinate a senior Iranian military commander and the country’s new Judiciary chief. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) informed its members about the plan through a recent internal communiqué. MKO… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Soraya Sepehrpour Ultich, American Herald Tribune, June 30 2019:… What is even more mind-boggling is the fact that Israel was supporting a terrorist cult that had massacred the Kurds in Iraq in 1991, and only a few year later, the Israelis were training the Kurds in Iraq who has survived the massacre (obviously something that has been lost on the… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
Iran Interlink, June 29 2019:… Well, forget regime change in Iran, forget Trump losing his mind in America, Maryam Rajavi has lost her mind and gone berserk against Sweden over this. The MEK have gone full rant against the Swedish people. How dare they side with Iran. An audio of a phone conversation between two MEK members leaked to Iran… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
The Economic Times and The Telegraph, New Delhi, June 29 2019:… Iran also claimed it was a victim of terrorism — and had lost 17,000 citizens to acts of terror committed by the “US-supported terrorist group (MKO/PMOI)” and by being at the “forefront of fighting groups such as (the) ISIS”. The mission’s statement further accused the US administration of jeopardising… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
WIONews, June 27 2019:… “Iran as a victim of terrorism which has lost 17,000 of its citizens by US-supported terrorist group (MKO/PMOI) and being in the forefront of fighting these groups such as ISIS, has identified its regional interests with good-neighborliness, and peace and stability in the highly sensitive Persian Gulf region,” the statement added. “Iran is determined to actively… MEK Terrorists in Albania Complicating Edi Rama’s EU Accession Talks Albanian Police MEK Statement Ordered by Washington
