from Iraq by year’s end—but the UN swiftly said that was false.
The departing head of the UN mission in Iraq bluntly disputed Maliki’s account of their farewell meeting, saying he did not embrace the government’s efforts to deport the group.
The public disavowal was rare for any official of the UN, which goes to great lengths to avoid political disputes.
UN monitors have been among the few people the Iraqi government has allowed to go inside Camp Ashraf, where about 3,400 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq live, since the April raid that killed 34 members of the group. UN officials have remained mum about the government’s goal to deport the Ashraf residents.
In a statement after they met to say goodbye Sunday, al-Maliki said UN envoy Ad Melkert affirmed UN support on many matters, “including the issue of Camp Ashraf and the necessity of implementing the cabinet’s decree to deport its residents outside Iraq by the end of this year.”
In one of his last acts after two years as envoy to Iraq, the mild-mannered Melkert flatly said Monday that was not true.
“The UN continues to advocate that Camp Ashraf residents be protected from forcible deportation, expulsion or repatriation,” Melkert’s office said in a statement. It said Melkert reiterated that position during his meeting with the prime minister.
