MOHR ON GOI MEK DISCUSSIONS

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 002105 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2018 TAGS: PHUM KJUS PINS IZ SUBJECT: MOHR ON GOI MEK DISCUSSIONS Classified By: PolCouns Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) On July 3 Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Salim briefed PolOff on her recent discussions with the Prime Minister about the Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK). Wijdan said she recently met with the PM about the GoI plan to take over responsibility for the MEK at Camp Ashraf. The PM said he wanted the Ministries of Interior and Defense to be in control of security outside the camp. Wijdan told the PM she was not involved with external camp security, but wanted to make sure that the Ministry of Human Rights and the ICRC had responsibility for protecting the MEK inside the camp. The PM questioned the need to involve the ICRC, but Wijdan insisted that the ICRC be included in order to give international credibility to GoI assurances to protect the MEK, and to help enforce those assurances. The PM accepted her response and told Wijdan to proceed with her plans to visit Ashraf with the ICRC. ¶2. (C) Minister Wijdan is out of the country and will return to Baghdad on July 15. She will meet with Juan Pedro Schaerer, the head of the ICRC Iraq delegation, soon after returning to discuss the plans for security and responsibility transfers and to convince him to participate in an upcoming trip to Ashraf. She has been in touch with Mr. Schaerer about the trip previously. She suggested she may try to come back to Baghdad a few days earlier, and said she would be ready to visit Ashraf as soon as she returned. CROCKER