PMOI denied refuge in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Pakistan will prohibit members of the Iraqi-based People's Mujahedin of Iran, facing expulsion from their enclave in Diyala province, from entering the country.

Iraqi security forces stormed the Camp Ashraf enclave of the PMOI in July using tear gas and water cannons. Authorities promised to expel the 3,500 members of the group.

The PMOI sided with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, earning a reputation as a terrorist organization for its violent opposition to the clerical regime in Tehran.

The group surrendered its weapons to the U.S. military following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and now claims it supports peaceful opposition.

Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a noted critic of the group and Iranian ally, says the PMOI had contacted the Pakistani-based opposition movement Peoples Resistant Movement of Iran, or Jundallah, in an effort to relocate from Iraq.

Islamabad rejected the notion, saying they would never allow dissidents with a terrorist reputation to enter the country, Iran's Press TV reports.

"As part of its efforts to reduce terrorism in the region, Pakistan will not allow PMOI refugees set foot on its soil," said Pakistani foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit.