AFP: Some 200 people demonstrated at the European headquarters of the United Nations Monday, demanding US and UN protection for Iranian exiles at the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq.
GENEVA, August 8, 2011 (AFP) – Some 200 people demonstrated at the European headquarters of the United Nations Monday, demanding US and UN protection for Iranian exiles at the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq.
“If something happens in Ashraf, the (United Nations) will be held responsible,” Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told the protestors, some of whom have staged a sit-in since an April raid by Iraqi forces left more than 30 people dead.
“We also tell United States authorities they will be held accountable to any incident in Ashraf,” she added.
The fate of the 30-year-old camp, located near the border with Iran and home to some 3,400 people, mostly Iranians, has been in the spotlight since an Iraqi security raid in April left 34 dead and scores injured.
NCRI spokesperson Omid Khadir told AFP that Ashraf remained under threat from Iraqi troops, and called for UN assistance pending relocation of residents to third countries under a plan outlined by members of the European parliament.
Khadir added that the NCRI would continue the sit-in at Geneva’s famed Palace of Nations until a solution would be found.
