Saudi Arabia Asked Abbas to Meet MKO Ringleader, Palestinian Source Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An informed Palestinian source said a recent meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and head of the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) has been held at the request of Saudi Arabia.
The Riyadh regime had asked Abbas to hold talks with Maryam Rajavi in France, the Arabic-language Al-Masdar News quoted the source as saying.
Abbas met with Rajavi in Paris on Saturday. According to reports, they talked about the regional developments, with Rajavi briefing Abbas on the MKO’s recent annual gathering.
The source further pointed to the presence of a Palestinian delegation in a gathering of the MKO members in Paris in early July, saying the Saudi and French governments had asked the Palestinians to attend the gathering.
A number of Saudi officials and supporters of MKO, including Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, attended the gathering of the terrorists on July 9 and made hostile remarks against Iran.
The MKO - listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community - fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq and was given a camp by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
They fought on the side of Saddam during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-88). They were also involved in the bloody repression of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq in 1991 and the massacre of Iraqi Kurds.
The notorious group is also responsible for killing thousands of Iranian civilians and officials after the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979.
More than 17,000 Iranians, many of them civilians, have been killed at the hands of the MKO in different acts of terrorism including bombings in public places, and targeted killings.