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Iranian exile group demands removal from EU terror blacklist |
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Friday, 02 March 2007 |
Agence France Presse - The main Iranian opposition group in exile on Thursday called on the European Union to take its name off the official terror blacklist, accusing it of "an abuse of power".
The EU had given the group 30 days, till Thursday, to put forward its case for being removed from the list.
The People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI) duly handed over the letter in Brussels in which its lawyers accused the EU of "flagrant disregard" of an earlier European court ruling.
Last December the European Court of First Instance annulled an EU decision in 2002 to freeze the group's assets, a move that forces the bloc to rethink the way it compiles its terror blacklist.
The 27 EU member states wrote to the group a month ago explaining its motives for putting them on its terror list, recalling that group's past activities, "notably the attacks for which it was responsible."
The EU "does not rely on any evidence since 2001," said senior Iranian opposition figure Mohammad Mohaddesin addressing a meeting in Brussels.
The PMOI was the armed wing of the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) but renounced violence in June 2001.
Following the response by the People's Mujahadeen, the EU member states will look again at their decision to blacklist them, according to a European source. |
