France opposes PMOI delisting

PARIS, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- France has appealed a European court ruling that triggered the removal of an Iranian opposition movement from the EU terrorist list.

The French government has challenged a Dec. 4 decision reached by the European Court of First Instance that annulled a move to include the People's Mujahedin of Iran in the EU list of terrorist organizations, EuropeanVoice.com reported Thursday.

The court in a swift ruling in December found the EU had "violated the rights of defense" of the PMOI, adding there were not sufficient grounds to include the group on the European blacklist.

The 27-member Council of Ministers Monday adopted a terrorist list that did not include the PMOI.

The PMOI is based at its Camp Ashraf enclave in Iraq's Diyala province near the border with Iran. Several nations, including the United States, consider the group a terrorist entity for its violent opposition to the Iranian clerical regime.

The French government launched a series of measures in opposition to calls for the delisting of the PMOI, saying there was evidence to support the continued listing of the group.

On Jan. 12 U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice filed a notice in the Federal Registry saying, "The circumstances that were the basis for the 2003 re-designation of the aforementioned organization as a foreign terrorist organization have not changed."