Hunger strike

Washington Times: Iranian activists Wednesday began a hunger strike across from the White House to demand that the United States defend disarmed Iranian rebels at a camp in Iraq, as Iraqi authorities continued to assert control over the former resistance fighters and their relatives.

The Washington Times

Embassy Row

By James Morrison

Iranian activists Wednesday began a hunger strike across from the White House to demand that the United States defend disarmed Iranian rebels at a camp in Iraq, as Iraqi authorities continued to assert control over the former resistance fighters and their relatives.

"We will continue as long as necessary until we get guarantees from the Obama administration to protect the Iranians in Camp Ashraf," said Shirin Nariman, an Iranian-American activist in Washington. "The news is not good."

Citing reports from sources among the resistance, Ms. Nariman said Iraqi authorities have killed nine Iranians in the camp since they raided the facility Tuesday. Reports from Iraq confirmed seven deaths.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the senior Republican on the panel called on the Iraqi government to honor a commitment it made to U.S. forces to guarantee the safety of the 3,500 residents of Camp Ashraf and promise not to force them to return to Iran, where many of them fear they would be executed.

"The Iraqi government must live up to its commitment to ensure the continued well-being of those living in Ashraf and prevent their involuntary return to Iraq," Rep. Howard L. Berman, California Democrat, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Republican, said in a joint statement.

The Clinton administration listed the Iranian resistance as a terrorist organization to meet a demand from Tehran when the United States attempted to normalize relations in 1997.