On Tuesday, November 26, Haidar al-Akailli, a member of the Nouri al-Maliki’s investigative committee into the September 1, 2013 massacre at Camp Ashraf released an initial statement about the attack and the seven hostages. The report provides initial details into who carried out the attack and what the Government of Iraq (GOI) is doing to help locate the seven missing camp residents.
Throughout the report the GOI denies any involvement in the attack on Camp Ashraf and says that an “unknown militant group was behind it (the attack).” Additionally, the report states that the seven missing camp residents are not in the hands of Iraqi forces, “Pictures of the alleged missing persons have been circulated to airports and checkpoints and we have not received any news about any of them.” Lastly, the GOI stated that “there had been a dispute within the camp and some of the attacker had come from inside” and that “the seven missing camp residents were behind the assault.”
According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) the statement is full of lies and is an attempt to ward off the international abhorrence and escalating condemnations as well as international calls for the release of seven hostages. The international response to the attack has been fast and furious; hundreds of NCRI supports across the globe have been on a hunger strike since the attack to protest the capture of the seven missing residents.
NCRI released a statement in response to the report contradicting every point in the investigative committee’s report. The statement thoroughly details lies in the GOI’s report and includes supporting documents from the UN Refugee Agency and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. Read the full statement by NCRI here.
