Britain removes PMOI from terrorist list

LONDON, June 24 (UPI) -- British legislators Tuesday backed a court decision to remove the Iraqi dissident group People's Mujahedin of Iran from their list of terrorist organizations.

A British court of appeals ruled in May the group, known variably as the PMOI or the MEK, should no longer be classified as a terrorist group. The decision allows the group to organize more freely and raise money in England, Alalam reported.

Several Western nations, including Canada and the United States, list the group as a terrorist organization and the European Union has blacklisted the entity, though it officially no longer lists it as a terrorist organization.

Several Iraqi leaders oppose the group's presence in Iraq due to its strong anti-Iranian stance. They accuse the United States of holding a dual policy toward the group, as it both lists it as a terrorist entity and embraces it as a deterrent to Iranian influence in Iraq, Radio Netherlands Worldwide said.

"The U.S. sees the group as a terrorist organization, but at the same time they're offering it protection," said the leader of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.

The Iraqi Parliament moved unanimously last week to forbid dealing with the group and issued calls for its expulsion from Iraq.