Late Danielle Mitterrand commemorated at Auvers-sur-Oise

Maryam Rajavi: Iranian Resistance deeply mournful along with French people

NCRI - On Thursday, November 24, a memorial ceremony to offer respects to the late Danielle Mitterrand and to honor the exalted humanitarian values of this great lady was held at the Headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran at Auvers-sur-Oise (northern Paris suburb) at the presence of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance.

Participants in this memorial were a number of friends and colleagues of Mrs. Mitterrand, including Michel Joli, the Secretary General of the France-Libertes Foundation; a number of political personalities, including former prime minister of Algeria Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former President of the Belgian Senate Anne-Marie Lizin, former minister and president of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Cults in France Alan Vivien; French mayors, including mayor of Auvers-sur-Oise Jean-Pierre Bequet, and mayor of Taverny Maurice Bouscavert; the progressive French cleric Jacques Gaillot, a number of residents of Auvers-sur-Oise, and some members and officials of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and supporters of the Iranian Resistance.

In her brief speech, Mrs. Rajavi once again offered her condolences to the people of France, the respectable Mitterrand family, and members and officials of the France-Libertes Foundation. She said, "Me, residents of Ashraf, and all members of the Iranian Resistance share in this great sorrow with the French people."

Mrs. Rajavi added, "Danielle was one of those great people that belonged to everyone; to France and the world. In fact, she not only was the first lady of France, but the first lady of human rights in the world."

She continued, "Dear Danielle who stood up against the Nazis at age 17 with the French resistance, never rested. Because of her stature - as she put it - she walked over many red carpets in the furthest parts of our world. She was welcomed in all palaces. However, from all that she concluded that she should only struggle more for the sake of the oppressed, the forgotten, and the victims."

Mrs. Rajavi accentuated, "That wakeful conscience that wished not to witness 'the tearing up of the world for the sake of power and riches', and that rebellious and restless soul has not died and shall continue its struggle. I see this in all the French people who stand up with the oppressed and also in all the freedom-loving people of our world."

During her fruitful life, Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand visited the Headquarters of the National Council of Resistance at Auvers-sur-Oise on several occasions to offer her support to the Iranian Resistance. Her presence in front of this Headquarters in the third day of the uncalled for assault of 17 June 2003 of the French police, was a pivotal point in support of the French people for the Iranian Resistance.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 24, 2011

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-resistance/11471-late-danielle-mitterrand-commemorated-at-auvers-sur-oise

Foil massacre at Camp Ashraf

Scoop Independent News - By: Zohreh Shafaei - 24 November 2011

I wrote about the story of my life in an article on August 2nd (American Chronicle) where I asked for help to save the life of my brother who resides in the camp Ashraf. He is the only member of family that I have left. Today, my brother and many others like him live in Camp Ashraf and are in a great danger.

The situation is highly critical now as the Iraqi government has stated that it is going to close the camp by the end of the year 2011. This ultimatum is a decision to carry out a massacre of the inhabitants of the camp, where 3400 Iranian civilians, including 1000 women live. The inhabitants have already experienced two similar attacks in July 2009 and April 2011, where 47 persons were killed and hundreds were wounded.

As for myself, I have already had six members of my family killed by the rule of the mullahs’ dictatorship in Iran. I now have only one brother left who happens to live in the camp Ashraf now. Many of the 3400 civilians in the camp have experienced similar situation as myself, and their lives are at danger now.

President Obama: The U.S. is responsible for securing the safety of the 3400 inhabitants of the camp, as the U.S. army accepted to protect their lives when they handed over their arms to the U.S. army. The fact is that by keeping the name of the MEK in the F.T.O. list, you are authorizing the Maleki government to carry out the massacre of innocent civilians

Is it right to call terrorist, those who have risked their lives to save their country from the mullahs’ dictatorship?

President Obama, is it not a well known fact that the U.S. administration decided to put the MEK in the FTO list in 1997, as a good will gesture to the supposedly moderate government of Khatami, and without having any legal grounds.

Is it not true that the DC's Appeals' court stated on 16th July 2010, that the Secretary of States needed to reconsider the decision to list the MEK, as the correct legal procedures had not been followed.

Is it not a fact that the Iraqi government has to date twice carried out deadly attacks in July 2009 and April 2011.

Is it not a fact that dozens of innocent persons were killed and hundreds wounded as a result of these attacks.

I am very worried over the state of my brother and the others in Camp Ashraf.

Why do you accept to pave the way for the massacre of our dear ones in the camp, by keeping the MEK in the FTO list.

Is it fine for the U.S. to collaborate with the mullahs and the Maleki government in Iraq in their crimes?

Mr Obama, as an Iranian woman, I ask you to delist the MEK and not allow the Maleki government and the mullahs to use the FTO list as the pretext they need to massacre the residents of Camp Ashraf.

I also urge Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to declare the ultimatum announced by the Iraqi government as illegal.

I urge all those reading this letter to pray for Ashraf and pray for freedom in Iran. Please let everyone know about my plea to save the lives of the civilians in the Camp Ashraf.

Zohreh Shafaei is a human rights activist and prominent figure in the Iranian opposition movement for freedom in Iran (NCRI)

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-resistance/11473-foil-massacre-in-camp-ashraf

Forcible Relocation of Ashraf Residents is Illegal and Inhuman

News Blaz - By Shahriar Kia November 27, 2011

Warning against forcible relocation of Ashraf residents inside Iraq.

Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras is vice president of European Parliament and president of the International Committee of In Search of Justice (ISJ), that enjoys the support of over 4,000 parliamentarians throughout the world.

Dr. Vidal-Quadras warns in a statement against any forcible relocation of Ashraf residents inside of Iraq.

Calling on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq (UNAMI) to stand firm against what he called the dangerous plans of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, Dr. Vidal-Quadras says Maliki's aim is to displace Ashraf residents.

Dr. Vidal-Quadras has asked the EU High Representative to follow the resolutions and guidelines of the European Parliament. He says the EU High Representative should publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf, and also that time should be given to UNHCR, to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

Mr Struan Stevenson MEP, President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, says Maliki is undertaking a blatant effort to set the stage for the massacre of Ashraf residents. Mr Stevenson says the effort is clearly at the behest of the Iranian regime.

The press release issued by the ISJ and signed by Dr. Vidal-Quadras says:

We call on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq (UNAMI) to stand firm against dangerous plans of Maliki for displacing Ashraf residents.

We call on the EU High Representative to follow the European Parliament's resolutions and guidelines and to publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf in order to give time to UNHCR to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

We have been informed by our colleague Mr Struan Stevenson MEP, President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq of the official position of the Iraqi government on the issue of Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 Iranian democratic opposition members of PMOI-MEK, in a 10 point document which was sent to the Parliament by the Iraqi Embassy in Brussels before the weekend. We completely agree with Mr Stevenson that this document is "a blatant effort to set the stage for the massacre of Ashraf residents, clearly at the behest of the Iranian regime and is disingenuous and illegal in its entirety and amounts to a virtual declaration of war on the UN and international community and a death warrant for the residents of Ashraf."

The document stated: 'The Iraqi government was left with no choice, but to evacuate the camp based on principle of sovereignty - and transfer its residents to other camps in Iraq.' A day later we were astonished to hear that the newly appointed UN Representative in Iraq, Mr Martin Kobler, has been quoted as saying that: "The primary and overall responsibility to deal with the situation in Camp Ashraf lies with the government of Iraq within its sovereignty.'! and "I count on the full cooperation of the Government of Iraq" (AFP).

Iranian regime media reported : "Special Representative of UN in Iraq has talked about the negotiations of EU, USA and UN officials with Iraqi government to close Ashraf Camp" There is no doubt that any relocation inside Iraq is tantamount to sending the residents to their deaths.

We in the European Parliament do not trust the Iraqi government and its assurances. According to the UN, more than 34 were killed on 8 April 2011 by Iraqi forces including 8 women. Two of the wounded died a few weeks later. Iraq's official position was first that there were no casualties and then it said they had committed suicide! So there is no doubt that if Ashraf residents are to be dispersed in small groups, Iraqi forces will be able to torture and assassinate them and claim they committed suicide.

The international community, in particular United Nations, USA and the EU must mobilise all their efforts to prevent another predictable bloodbath and a repeat of Srebrenica in Ashraf. The United Nations should do its utmost efforts to approve the refugee status of Ashraf residents, facilitate their immediate transfer to third countries and force the Iraqi government to postpone its deadline until the process is completed.

Ashraf residents have shown all kinds of flexibility; they have agreed to the European Parliament's plan to be transferred to third countries, despite their obvious right to remain in Ashraf, where they have lived for the past 25 years; they have filled individual asylum application forms.

But they are not at all prepared to be forcibly displaced inside Iraq and one should not expect them to volunteer to be slaughtered. If they are forced to be displaced, they will have no other option but to resist. We sincerely hope that the UN Secretary General would convey this simple reality to the Iraqi government, to Mr Kobler, to Mr Guterres and other relevant parties in the United Nations. UNAMI must explicitly and without any ambiguity reject Iraqi plan for forcible relocation, which is designed to kill the residents. UNHCR should demand immediate access to the residents to start its registration and refugee status determination and break its silence about Iraq's impeding attitude.

Finally we call on Baroness Ashton to follow the European Parliament's resolutions and guidelines which reject forcible displacement inside Iraq and to publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf to give time to UNHCR to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras
President, International Committee In Search of Justice

International Committee of In Search of Justice (ISJ) enjoys the support of over 4,000 parliamentarians throughout the world.

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/ashraf/11477-forcible-relocation-of-ashraf-residents-is-illegal-and-inhumanhttp://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/ashraf/11477-forcible-relocation-of-ashraf-residents-is-illegal-and-inhuman

Alan Dershowitz: We must act now to protect Camp Ashraf residents

NCRI - Speaking in a conference in Washington DC on November 19,2011 renowned lawyer and rights activists Professor Alan Dershowitz called on United States and United Nations "to act now to protect" the "3400 vulnerable individuals" in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. He warned that Iranian regime, is "planning the mass killing of the largest concentration of witnesses to their crimes in the world today, those who are living in Camp Ashraf in Iraq: 3,400 unarmed Iranian dissidents."

Referring to the scheduled visit by Nouri al-Maliki on December 12 to the White House, he said: "If the President of the United States does not demand a change in the Iraqi government’s commitment to close the camp [by end of 2011], his silence will be taken as acquiescence, and that is so dangerous, silent acquiescence."

Dershowitz said: " After the Second World War we said Never Again. But you know what’s happened to never Never Again? It’s become again and again and again. This time we must keep our collective humanitarian promise. The world is now on notice, it has no excuse. When the holocaust happened, everybody said we didn’t know. When the Armenian genocide occurred, we didn’t know, when Cambodian genocides were occurring, people were telling us it was propaganda, we didn’t know. Rwanda Darfur, we didn’t know. We know. We have been told. We have been warned.

He warned that " The conscience of the world has been pricked. We know, we are on notice, we must act now to protect these 3,400 vulnerable individuals. If we fail to do so, the blood of innocents will be on our collective hands and there are specific lifesaving steps our government can take immediately."

"We said after the Second World War never again. But you know what’s happened to never again? It’s become again and again and again. This time we must keep our collective humanitarian promise. The world is now on notice, it has no excuse. When the holocaust happened, everybody said we didn’t know. When the Armenian genocide occurred, we didn’t know, when Cambodian genocides were occurring, people were telling us it was propaganda, we didn’t know. Rwanda Darfur, we didn’t know. We know. We have been told. We have been warned. The conscience of the world has been pricked. We know, we are on notice, we must act now to protect these 3,400 vulnerable individuals.

"If we fail to do so, the blood of innocents will be on our collective hands and there are specific lifesaving steps our government can take immediately.

"We should appoint a special envoy to lead to efforts to peacefully resolve this matter. We should call publically on the Iraqi government to remove the December 31st deadline. We should do that before Maliki comes to the United States. We should take the matter to the UN Security Council for binding decision to prevent the human catastrophe and we should do it immediately. The State Department should act immediately to eliminate this horrible excuse that’s being used by the Iraqi regime, by removing MEK from its list of foreign terrorist organizations and the United States, ... So there is no time to wait; the clock of death is ticking. If not now, when? "

Forcible Relocation of Ashraf Residents is Illegal and Inhuman

Warning against forcible relocation of Ashraf residents inside of Iraq.

Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras is vice president of European Parliament and president of the International Committee of In Search of Justice (ISJ), that enjoys the support of over 4,000 parliamentarians throughout the world.

Dr. Vidal-Quadras warns in a statement against any forcible relocation of Ashraf residents inside of Iraq.

Calling on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq (UNAMI) to stand firm against what he called the dangerous plans of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, Dr. Vidal-Quadras says Maliki's aim is to displace Ashraf residents.

Dr. Vidal-Quadras has asked the EU High Representative to follow the resolutions and guidelines of the European Parliament. He says the EU High Representative should publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf, and also that time should be given to UNHCR, to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

Mr Struan Stevenson MEP, President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq, says Maliki is undertaking a blatant effort to set the stage for the massacre of Ashraf residents. Mr Stevenson says the effort is clearly at the behest of the Iranian regime.

The press release issued by the ISJ and signed by Dr. Vidal-Quadras says:

We call on the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Iraq (UNAMI) to stand firm against dangerous plans of Maliki for displacing Ashraf residents.

We call on the EU High Representative to follow the European Parliament's resolutions and guidelines and to publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf in order to give time to UNHCR to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

We have been informed by our colleague Mr Struan Stevenson MEP, President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq of the official position of the Iraqi government on the issue of Camp Ashraf, home to 3400 Iranian democratic opposition members of PMOI-MEK, in a 10 point document which was sent to the Parliament by the Iraqi Embassy in Brussels before the weekend. We completely agree with Mr Stevenson that this document is "a blatant effort to set the stage for the massacre of Ashraf residents, clearly at the behest of the Iranian regime and is disingenuous and illegal in its entirety and amounts to a virtual declaration of war on the UN and international community and a death warrant for the residents of Ashraf."

The document stated: 'The Iraqi government was left with no choice, but to evacuate the camp based on principle of sovereignty - and transfer its residents to other camps in Iraq.' A day later we were astonished to hear that the newly appointed UN Representative in Iraq, Mr Martin Kobler, has been quoted as saying that: "The primary and overall responsibility to deal with the situation in Camp Ashraf lies with the government of Iraq within its sovereignty.'! and "I count on the full cooperation of the Government of Iraq" (AFP).

Iranian regime media reported : "Special Representative of UN in Iraq has talked about the negotiations of EU, USA and UN officials with Iraqi government to close Ashraf Camp" There is no doubt that any relocation inside Iraq is tantamount to sending the residents to their deaths.

We in the European Parliament do not trust the Iraqi government and its assurances. According to the UN, more than 34 were killed on 8 April 2011 by Iraqi forces including 8 women. Two of the wounded died a few weeks later. Iraq's official position was first that there were no casualties and then it said they had committed suicide! So there is no doubt that if Ashraf residents are to be dispersed in small groups, Iraqi forces will be able to torture and assassinate them and claim they committed suicide.

The international community, in particular United Nations, USA and the EU must mobilise all their efforts to prevent another predictable bloodbath and a repeat of Srebrenica in Ashraf. The United Nations should do its utmost efforts to approve the refugee status of Ashraf residents, facilitate their immediate transfer to third countries and force the Iraqi government to postpone its deadline until the process is completed.

Ashraf residents have shown all kinds of flexibility; they have agreed to the European Parliament's plan to be transferred to third countries, despite their obvious right to remain in Ashraf, where they have lived for the past 25 years; they have filled individual asylum application forms.

But they are not at all prepared to be forcibly displaced inside Iraq and one should not expect them to volunteer to be slaughtered. If they are forced to be displaced, they will have no other option but to resist. We sincerely hope that the UN Secretary General would convey this simple reality to the Iraqi government, to Mr Kobler, to Mr Guterres and other relevant parties in the United Nations. UNAMI must explicitly and without any ambiguity reject Iraqi plan for forcible relocation, which is designed to kill the residents. UNHCR should demand immediate access to the residents to start its registration and refugee status determination and break its silence about Iraq's impeding attitude.

Finally we call on Baroness Ashton to follow the European Parliament's resolutions and guidelines which reject forcible displacement inside Iraq and to publicly condemn the deadline of 31 December 2011 to close Ashraf to give time to UNHCR to resettle Ashraf residents in third countries.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras
President, International Committee In Search of Justice

International Committee of In Search of Justice (ISJ) enjoys the support of over 4,000 parliamentarians throughout the world.

Call by 1,050,000 Iraqi citizens: Urge the UN Security Council to dispatch a UN contingent force and UN monitors to protect Camp Ashraf

Call by 1,050,000 Iraqi citizens
The deadline for closure of Camp Ashraf and compulsory relocation of its residents inside Iraq sets the stage for another bloodbath
UNHCR must start its work in Ashraf as soon as possible
November 2011

In the closing months of 2011, and with unbridled meddling of the Iranian regime in Iraq and its efforts to dominate our country’s affairs, our society is in a state of great concern and anxiety about the future and the fate of our country. The national partnership has not been materialized yet and the political agreements upon which the government was formed have been violated. Patriotic figures like Dr. Allawi, the leader of victorious bloc in the parliamentary elections, have been eliminated from the political stage; with democracy on the demise and dictatorship fortifying its grip on power. It was for this very reason that Dr. Allawi’s refusal to head the National Council for Strategic Policies is a nationalistic reaction and the desire of the Iraqi people who widely welcomed it. Clearly such a big rift undermines political legitimacy and popularity of the government which from the outset was to be a national partnership, underscoring the need, as indicated by many patriotic leaders, for the current situation to be rectified either through early elections or by the ‘Spring of Iraq’.

It was in such crucial circumstances that the National Council for Tribes of Iraq embarked on a nationwide campaign for dialogue with Iraqis in all provinces. It is a known fact that here in Iraq, the manner in which one treats opponents of the Iranian regime, is a significant criterion for independence and adherence to democracy. Unfortunately, during the past three years - since responsibility for camp Ashraf’s security was transferred to the Iraqi government, the residents of which are protected persons and have political asylum – rather than being respected, their rights have been violated excessively. An inhumane and tyrannical siege has been imposed on the camp, and its residents are deprived of the most basic needs. During numerous aggressions against the camp, a total of 47 residents were killed and more than 1000 wounded. Instead of heeding calls by the international community and Iraqi political factions - for an independent and international investigation - the Iraqi government has made an illegal announcement to close the camp and expel its residents by the end of 2011. No doubt, notification of this cruel and illegal decision for relocation of the residents to international parties and insisting on it is only a prelude to another massacre and is an Iranian demand. This decision was strongly condemned by the international community and Iraqi political factions including 94 Iraqi nationalist leaders and members of the parliament. It was on this basis that Iraqis throughout the country, from all walks of life, including 2,317 tribal sheikhs, 7,056 lawyers and jurists, 5,069 physicians, 10,297 engineers, 1,125 university professors, 2,091 writers and journalists, 516 clergymen, 45 human rights and social organizations, 119 provincial level officials condemned gross violation of the residents’ human rights, especially the illegal deadline to close the camp by year’s end, demanding that it be canceled by the government. The statement, signed till this moment by 1,050,000 Iraqis from across the country, including 375,195 noble Iraqi women, underscores the following points:

1- As the international community and the U.N. have announced repeatedly, we urge the Iraqi government to treat the Camp Ashraf residents in accordance with the international law, and refrain from closing the camp and forcibly relocating or expelling its residents.

2- While stressing the need for MEK to remain in Iraq, as our special quests and until democracy is established in Iran, we insist that any attempt to relocate them within Iraq, as well as the 2011-end deadline, are merely excuses to pave the path for their slaughter as desired by the Iranian regime. We reject and condemn, with the strongest words, such efforts and urge the UN Secretary General, the UNHCR, the UNHCHR, the EU, the European Parliament, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament and Iraqi political leaders to take urgent actions to prevent another massacre.

3-We urge the UN Security Council to dispatch a UN contingent force and UN monitors to protect Camp Ashraf residents, who are protected persons under the 4th Geneva Convention, and prevent another aggression and slaughter which promises to be much larger, in scale, than previous instances.

4-We demand that the inhumane and illegal siege, especially the medical siege, imposed since early 2009 against the residents, be lifted and the psychological torture of the residents with 300 loudspeakers be stopped. These measures are in stark contrast with the Islamic teachings, Arab traditions and the international law and are enforced only at the request of the antihuman and anti-Islam rulers of Iran.

5-The Spain’s National Court’s ruling, carrying out investigation over the April 8 atrocities, and prosecution of its culprits serves our national interests which we welcome and underscore because it exposes the Iranian regime’s meddling within the Iraqi government and its military and security organs and has been the source of many atrocities in Iraq.


Secretariat of the National Council of Iraqi Tribes
November 23, 2011

EU urges Iraq to allow more time for Ashraf solution

By David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The European Union urged Iraq on Tuesday to allow time for the United Nations to determine the status of residents of a camp of Iranian dissidents that Baghdad has threatened to deport by the year-end.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been trying to arrange to interview the 3,400 residents of Camp Ashraf to see which of them qualifies for refugee status to permit their resettlement, but Iraq has not allowed this.

Members of the European Parliament called on EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to step up pressure on Iraq to extend the year-end deadline it has set for the closure of the camp to allow the interview process to take place.

"The moment of truth is coming in this very difficult problem," said Jean De Ruyt, a senior Belgian diplomat appointed by Ashton to work with the United Nations, Iraq and others to resolve the issue.

"Obviously the closure of the camp without a process of UNHCR to identify and organise the refugee status determination would bring a deadlock," he said. "I hope that the Iraqi government will soon accept that this (process) takes place."

De Ruyt said that if Iraq would not allow the interview process to take place at Ashraf itself, it was important that the residents were not "put in isolation or in jail".

"To be sure that this process is organised in an orderly way the U.N. has to give some monitoring, has to reinforce its presence close to them," he said.

De Ruyt told Reuters the European Union had "insisted very much" to Baghdad that the deadline for closure of Ashraf should be extended, but added, "Probably this will remain a red line for the Iraqis".

Ashraf, some 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad, is the base of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which mounted attacks on Iran before the U.S.-led removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The future of its residents became uncertain in 2009 after the United States, which lists the PMOI as a terrorist organisation, turned the camp over to the Iraqi government, which considers its residents a threat to security.

Rights group Amnesty International says they are subject to harassment by the Iraqi government and denied access to basic medicine. More than 30 residents were killed in a clash with Iraqi security forces in April.

Iraqi embassy counsellor Jwan Khioka told the European Parliament meeting that Iraq would stick to its plans to evacuate the camp, "and will transfer its residents to other camps in Iraq in preparation to deport them out of Iraq".

Struan Stevenson, head of the European Parliament's Iraq delegation, said that the only place the residents could be deported to was Iran and added: "There is no question they would then face certain torture and execution."

Esther de Lange, a Dutch member of the European Parliament and vice president of its delegation on Iraq relations, said it was time for the European Union, which removed the PMOI from its terrorism list in 2009, to put pressure on Iraq.

She said the EU could exert considerable leverage as Iraq's biggest development aid donor and a major trading partner.

"Please let us be a bit pro-active," she told De Ruyt. "We should at least be working to extend this deadline."

An adviser to the Iraqi government said this month Baghdad may extend the deadline -- if a quick solution is found to resolve the issue of where the Ashraf residents should go.

De Ruyt said there had to be a U.N. process to determine the status of the residents first.

"For the moment nobody will welcome them because they are considered as a group which some countries consider as a terrorist group," he said. "Only individual identification can bring a solution for the relocation of these people."

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom)