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Iranian dissident ordered out of Canada

TAWA, April 3 (UPI) -- Canada has ordered an Iranian woman deported on terrorism charges, after a finding that she had been a member of the rebel National Liberation Army of Iran.

Mahnaz Samadi, 35, who entered Canada illegally and applied for refugee status, was taken immediately to the Canada-U.S. border after the ruling by the refugee board adjudicator. She was accompanied by anti-terrorist personnel.

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Samadi admitted she was an Iranian dissident, but said she had worked as a human rights activist to expose the torture and other human rights abuses in Iran after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power.

However, the adjudicator rejected her application after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service found that she had lied about being a member of the Iranian rebel group. The CSIS produced a picture published in a NLAI magazine identifying Samadi as a commander in the rebel army.

The NLAI, the military wing of the Mujahideen Khalq organization, a major Iranian dissident group, is based in Iraq and has launched several cross-border attacks against Iranian troops.

It is also suspected of making several attacks on Iranian embassies outside Iran, but the Mujahideen Khalq has strongly denied the charge.

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In a recent newspaper interview, Samadi admitted she had lied about being a member of the rebel army, but said she had worked with them for only seven months in 1993-94. "I work for human rights," she said, insisting that "I am not a terrorist."

The Mujahideen Khalq organization currently has offices in Washingtton, D.C.

Before crossing into Canada, Samadi had permanent resident status in the United States, along with several members of the Mujahideen Khalq group.

While her case was before the refugee board, a large number of U.S. senators and congressmen sent letters in her support to Canadian authorities.

The adjudicator acknowledged that members of Samadi's family had suffered torture and execution at the hands of Iran's Islamic authorities.

However, he said he did not believe that Iranian dissidents had the right to use force to try to overthrow the Iranian government.

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