Baghdad moves to expel PMOI in six months

BAGHDAD, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- The Iranian envoy to Baghdad said Iraq passed legislation to compel the dissident People's Mujahedin of Iran out of the country in six months.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi said in an interview with the Iranian Fars News Agency that Baghdad has passed a measure to order the group out of Iraq.

"The Iraqi government considers the terrorist group as a factor behind the insecurity in Iraq," he said.

The U.S. military provides protection for the group in its safe haven in Ashraf City in Diyala province. Many nations, including the United States, consider the group a terrorist organization for its anti-Iranian militancy during the former Iraqi regime, though several countries have delisted the group.

Iranian supporters of the group assembled outside the British offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, to call on the world community to urge U.S.-led forces to continue protecting the group in Ashraf City.

PMOI points to a June 17 provision in Iraq that calls for national security forces to assume security responsibility from U.S. forces while issuing demands for the group to leave the country.

Officials with the group say such a move will encourage sectarian retribution for the group's activity during the previous regime.

The group claims protection status in Iraq under the Fourth Geneva Convention.