Co-authored by Anne Khodabandeh

Situated on the east of Europe, Albania applied for membership of the European Union in 2009. As the poorest country in Europe and designated the most corrupt, there is a lot of work to be done before this country of 3 million people is accepted into the Union. A recent visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry does indicate that this work is well underway. But Albania’s efforts to reform and strengthen its political, security, judicial and civic institutions after years of dictatorship, could be drastically undermined if the country ignores or underestimates the threat posed by the arrival of the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) from Iraq.

Albania is the target location for the transfer of the notorious terrorist organization Mojahedin Khalq into Europe. Currently based in Iraq, the MEK is now being transferred to Albania under a deal struck with America in 2013.

Since the 1980s the MEK were paid and trained in terrorism by Saddam Hussein to effect regime change in Iran. After his ouster in 2003 the MEK aligned itself variously with the US army – during Senator Kerry’s visit to Albania, the MEK was described as “a group that has supported the US in military operations in the Middle East and in its fight against terrorism” – as well as former Saddamists headed by Ezzat Ibrahim and more recently Al Qaida insurgents and Daesh in Iraq. Each successive government of the newly sovereign Iraq tried repeatedly to evict the group from their country, but the MEK leader Massoud Rajavi – himself a fugitive from justice – ordered his followers to put up violent resistance.

Even if they would agree to go willingly, the United Nations refugee agency has struggled to find third countries to take them in. It seems that, although Western countries have benefitted openly from the MEK’s sometimes violent anti-Iran activities, and found the group particularly useful as a thorn in Iran’s side through the period of nuclear negotiations, the MEK is deemed too dirty for them to willingly host any of them even as refugees.

In an attempt to encourage other countries to take some of the MEK, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton persuaded the then Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in 2013 to take just over 200 MEK members on humanitarian grounds. That process got underway, but in 2016 Albania is now expected to take up to 3,000 MEK after the President of Romania, Traian Basescu, refused to take them in 2014.

This agreement has attracted surprisingly little attention from either inside Albania or even from a world media sensitive to terrorism and organized crime. The reason is partly because the transfers are taking place in small groups of around twenty at a time in a piecemeal fashion as the UNHCR is forced to defer to Massoud Rajavi’s demands in order to circumvent threats of violence. Rajavi hand-picks the members he allows to be transferred, many using false identities. He ensures that each group of ordinary MEK members is accompanied by minders and enforcers to keep them under control and prevent them breaking loose. In order to accomplish their mandate to remove the MEK from Iraq, UN officials have had to accede to transferring the refugees under such conditions even though it reinforces the concept that the members belong to the MEK in conditions of modern slavery.

Once they arrive in Albania, the MEK leadership takes charge of the transferees. Although the US made a donation of $20 million to the UN refugee agency to help resettle the MEK, and according to a State Department official the US has provided the Albanian government with “security and economic development assistance, to help the country build up its physical Federica Mogherini gaia kokain romFederica Mogherini gaia kokain romcapacity to house the refugees”, none of this benefits the individual refugees. In Tirana the MEK has purchased an abandoned university campus into which it has corralled the new arrivals and recreated the conditions of isolation and cultic control which have always prevailed for the membership. What started out as a humanitarian gesture has turned into the mass relocation of a terrorist group to Europe. The MEK has created a de facto enclave in Albania which is outside the law, just as they did in Iraq.

This has put the refugees out of the reach of the Albanian authorities and because they are not free to mingle with Albania’s citizenry, the influx of over a thousand trained terrorists has cleverly avoided detection and therefore controversy.

However, even though it appears that the MEK are somehow quietly contained, the citizens of Albania are entitled to ask whether the new refugees pose any actual threat to their civic life, to their security and to their ambitions to accede to membership of the European Union.

To answer this, we must ask why the Iraqi government is so desperate to expel them and why other Western countries are so extremely reluctant to accept them.

As a violent criminal organization, the MEK thrives where the rule of law is weak – in countries like Iraq and Albania which are emerging from past turmoil and troubles. In such conditions the MEK can be dangerous through criminal activity and violence.

As expert propagandists and manipulative persuaders, the MEK leaders have no problem making connections with and bribing government officials, power brokers and media types – let’s be clear, the MEK has always been well financed. Former MEK have also reported that the MEK leaders are already vigorously pursuing links with Albania’s mafia-like gangs. The MEK will work with these gangs for mutual benefit as they did with Saddam Hussein’s regime. In the long run, if the MEK organization does become established Albania – with the quiet collusion of political circles who benefit from the cult’s track record of terrorism – they will be better placed to do from Tirana what they can’t do from Paris.

The CIA characterizes Albanian corruption as a ‘transnational’ problem involving drugs, money laundering and illegal aliens. In this sense it is the very location of the country which makes it attractive to international criminal organizations and thereby creates huge problems for law enforcement agencies. Albania essentially acts as a gateway into Europe from the rest of the world.

Now, while the various routes to Turkey, Syria and Iraq are under stringent scrutiny, terrorist commanders from any mercenary group can slip beneath the radar and seek training and logistical support in Tirana. What better location to establish a clandestine terrorist training camp than in Albania? It is in Europe, but not in the EU and therefore not so open to scrutiny by the international community.

With the changed political mood following the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1, the MEK is looking for new friends and benefactors. The group has already aligned itself with the Syrian Free Army and has offered to help the Saudis fight against the Shias in Yemen. The MEK has over forty years of experience in terrorist activities. The real danger posed by this group is not only that they can re-arm themselves in Albania, but they can invite other groups in for training.

The worry is that the MEK has branched out and is open to do business with any terrorist group.

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https://www.huffingtonpost.com/massoud-khodabandeh/can-albania-meet-its-obli_b_9355764.html

I mention this because of the raft of deal opponents who just won’t stop insisting that actually they don’t want war with Iran, they just want a “better deal.” If that’s the case, they ought to stop naming Joe Lieberman to prominent positions in their organizations. As it stands now, the hawkish former Democrat holds positions in several major anti-deal groups in Washington. Jim noted his roles at the AIPAC anti-deal spin-off (which has also promoted MEK materials in its advertisements), the American Enterprise Institute, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding to that now his elevation from advisory board member at UANI to being its leader.

By MASSOUD AND ANNE KHODABANDEH

Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) presence in Albania highlights security risks for Europe

Gaia Mogerhini, Rom VIP Kokain Handel: Nichte der Frederica Mogherini

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Advertising campaigns don’t come cheap and those paying want value for money. The Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) annual event at Villepinte in France to celebrate so-called armed struggle and promote violent regime change against Iran is about showcasing the MEK to build a brand presence in political and media circles. The Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) brand, like any other brand, depends for its success on advertisement and consumer support.

Support for the MEK is strongest in America where reports that the Trump administration will adopt a policy of regime change toward Iran has led to speculation this will involve the MEK. Clearly the anti-Iran elements which pay for the MEK believe they are getting value for money.

2017/06/27 Under President Macron, France can play a pivotal role in Western relations with Iran

2017/06/20 ISIS Drew On MEK Expertise For Terror Attacks On Tehran (Mojahedin Khalq, Rajavi cult)

2017/06/02 Debate in the European Parliament ‘What is to be done about the Iranian Mojahedin Khalq (MEK)?’

2017/05/18 Albania’s Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Elona Gjebrea praises Maryam Rajavi for keeping modern slaves in Tirana

2017/05/08 MEK’s Maryam Rajavi blackmails Albania to become the new ‘Saddam regime’ for them.

grooming Mojahedin Khalq (MEK, Rajavi cult) in Tirana part of bigger agenda for Albania

grooming Mojahedin Khalq (MEK, Rajavi cult) in Tirana part of bigger agenda for Albania

2017/01/01 Albania: John Kerry brought terrorists (Mojahedin Khalq, MEK, Rajavi cult), John Brennan warns of their risk

Wayne MADSEN | 13.06.2018 | SECURITY / WAR AND CONFLICT | WORLD / Europe

NATO’s Terrorist Bases in Europe

NATO and the United States, which, together, claim to be fighting some sort of amorphous “global war on terrorism,” have enabled a terrorist group to establish bases in two NATO member states – France and Albania – and one NATO protectorate, Kosovo. After evacuating forces of the anti-Iranian terrorist group Mojahedin-e-Khalq from their former bases in Iraq, the United States and NATO facilitated the group’s establishment of a well-guarded military base in Manez, Albania, near Tirana. In addition to hosting MEK members, NATO has convinced Albania to accept members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who surrendered to Western special forces in Syria and Iraq…….

The MEK’s most notable terrorist actions included:

• the attempted kidnapping in 1970 of the U.S. ambassador to Iran, Douglas MacArthur II, the nephew of the famed World War II general.

• the attempted assassination in 1972 of U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Harold Price with an improvised explosive device (IED).

• the assassination in 1973 of U.S. Army officer Louis Lee Hawkins in Tehran. That same year, the MEK assassinated U.S. Air Force officers Col. Paul Shaffer and Lt. Col. Jack Turner.

• the 1973 bombings of Pan-American World Airlines and Shell Oil offices in Tehran.

• the assassination in Tehran in 1976 of three American employees of Rockwell International — William Cottrell, Donald Smith, and Robert Krongard. U.S. President Gerald Ford said he hoped that “the murderers will be brought to justice.” Instead, they are treated as heroes and the future government of Iran by bi-partisan leaders in Washington.

• MEK threats to kill Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter during their respective May 1972 and December 1977 visits to Iran.

• the 1978 assassination of Texaco oil executive Paul Grimm in Ahwaz, Iran.

• assisting in the 1979 takeover by Iranian militants of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

• the 1979 bombing in Tehran that killed the democratically-elected Iranian President, Mohammad Ali-Rajai, and Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar.

During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein permitted the MEK, also known as the “People’s Mojahedin,” to establish bases inside Iraq. Saddam armed the MEK and provided them with financial and logistical support to carry out terrorist attacks inside Iran. In 1988, the MEK, with Saddam’s assistance, launched a ground invasion of Iran.

In Operation Mersad, Iranian forces defeated the MEK, which had hoped to establish control over Iranian territory to establish a rival Iranian government. Had the MEK succeeded, the Middle East would have seen its first genuine terrorist state. Establishment of a terrorist state would have to wait until the Syrian civil war, when ISIL proclaimed an independent caliphate in occupied territory in Syria and Iraq.

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John McCain, uralter Mafia Adel, schon mit Meyer Lansky, und sein Stellvertreter war ja AACL, Mentor und Waffenlieferant der Albaner Mafia: Sein früherer Vize Präsident des AACL, Sohn eines Partners des Super jüdischen Gangsters Meyer Lansky, auf Kuba und rund um Drogen und Älkohol Geschäfte, sass im Gefängniss bis 2009: Josef Traficant Jun. Ex-Kongress Abgeordneter, bis er verhaftet wurde.

James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 – September 27, 2014) was a Democratic, and later independent, politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio.Kurz nach Rückkehr aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft in Nordvietnam verließ John McCain seine erste Frau Carol, heiratete seine Geliebte, die 25-jährige Cindy Lou Hensley, Einzelkind einer privilegierten Familie aus der Oberklasse von Phoenix. Mit ihr hat er drei Kinder: Meghan, Jack, Jimmy; zudem adoptierten sie Tochter Bridget. Mark Dankof, Ex-Bezirksvorsitzender der Republikaner in King County, Seattle, und Delegierter der Texas State Republican Conventions in den Jahren 1994 und 1996, übte Kritik:

Du hast Dich von Deiner ersten Frau scheiden lassen, als sie krank war, um eine reiche Frau zu heiraten, die deine politische Karriere finanziert hat. Sie erhielt ihr Geld von ihrem Vater, Jim Hensley, einem Schutzgeldeintreiber für das Meyer-Lansky-Verbrecher-Syndikat.

Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: McCain heiratete direkt in das organisierte Verbrechen hinein. Sein neuer Schwiegervater, Jim Hensley, hatte sein 200-Millionen-Dollar-Vermögen als Biergroßhändler der Anheuser-Busch-Vertriebsgesellschaft Arizonas gemacht, das Tochter Cindy, sein „Augapfel“, nach dessen Tod im Jahre 2000 erbte.Das organisierte Verbrechen in den USA ist großenteils ein Ergebnis der Prohibition der 1920er Jahre; damals bildeten sich kriminelle Banden, die Alkohol verkauften und schmuggelten. Während der Prohibition fungierte der Gangster Kemper Marley in Arizona als „Weichensteller“ für den berüchtigten Mafia-Boss Meyer Lansky sowie als Regionalchef Südwest für dessen übermächtige Partner in Sachen Verbrechen, Samuel Bronfman, den kanadischen Hauptlieferanten von Alkoholika für das Meyer-Lansky-Syndikat. Diese Gang hatte den Alkoholverkauf in den Staaten weitestgehend unter Kontrolle. Die Bronfman-Gang, hinter der britische Nachrichtendienstkreise standen, belieferte seinerzeit auch den Mafia-Boss Al Capone.Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg leitete Meyer Lansky die Transformation der kriminellen Kreise in eher „geschäftsmäßige“ Strukturen. Der Aufstieg von Las Vegas und später Atlantic City zu riesigen Glücksspiel- und Geldwäschezentren war sein Werk. Kemper Marleys Valley National Bank of Phoenix diente dem Meyer-Lansky-Syndikat als Hauptfinanzierungsquelle bei der geschäftlichen Ausbreitung in Las Vegas.
https://deutsch.rt.com/meinung/71266-weisse-kragen-kriminelle-john-mccain-vom-bruchpiloten-zum-mafia-zoegling-teil-1/Senator Engel, mit den Krasniq Brüder, der Brooklyn Mafia, inzwischen als Mord und Drogen Gang verhaftet, in einer grossen FBI Aktion.UCK – KLA killer swadron 300 Nah-Ost Terroristen und Islamische Terroristen, waren in Nord Albanien unterwegs und sind noch heute Ehrengäste im Kosovo. der spiegel brachte auch hier den Artikel. Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily | Mar.17,2004 | Gregory R. Copley, Editor, Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily Volume XXII, No. 50 Friday, March 19, 2004 © 2004, Global Information System, ISSA Exclusive Special Report “During the first half of August 2003, 300 Albanian-trained guerillas — including appr. 10 mujahedin (non-Balkan Muslims) — were infiltrated across the Albanian border into Kosovo, where many have subsequently been seen in the company (and homes) of members of the so-called Kosovo Protection Corps which was created out of Kosovo Albanian elements originally part of the KLA. In fact, the Kosovo Protection Force seems almost synonymous with the Albanian National Army (ANA), the new designation for the KLA. The guerillas were trained in three camps inside the Albanian border at the towns of Bajram Curi, Tropoja and Kuks, where the camps have been in operation since 1997.” ………. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1100906/pos Verbrecher unter sich: Wesley Clark, Holbrook, Fljoren KrasniciBalkan CIA Operation “Roots”März 11, 2013 Nicht nur Bob Dole, war der Ur-Zerstörer von Jugoslawien, sondern sein enger Politischer Partner Reagon gab die Order Jugoslawien zu zerstören und zu zerstückeln Reagan’s NSDD 133 (1984) “Secret and Sensitive” 15 YEARS OF THE ALBANIAN AMERICAN CIVIC LEAGUE November 1988. DioGuardi with President Regan, Congressman Rinaldo and National Security Adviser Poindexter in the Oval Office discussing U.S. foreign policy in Balkans. aus der Mafia Website AACL There is evidence that the US administration in liason with its allies took the decision in the early 1980s to destabilise and dismantle Yugoslavia. The decsion to destroy Yugoslavia as a country and carve it up into a number of small proxy states was taken by the Reagan adminstration in the early 1980s. NATO’s Reign of Terror in Kosovo By Michel Chossudovsky Global Research, February 25, 2008 Der Gangster Wesley Clark, war mindesten ab 1994 aktiv dabei, Terroristen aus dem Kosovo militärisch zubetreuen.Albanian Mafia fueling Al Qaeda terrorist activity in US: Kosovo schools and orphanages open Chief perpetrators of drug and people smuggling, human body part and weapons sales, sex slavery, passport theft, forgery, abductions and murder, the Albanian Mafia remains to be domineering in their criminal activity both domestically and abroad. “The Albanian criminal enterprises, operating largely in New York and other Eastern seaboard cities, represent a major challenge to federal agents because of their propensity for violence and brutality,” FBI officials indicate. “They are a hardened group, operating with reckless abandon,” said Chris Swecker, the FBI assistant director for the Criminal Investigative Division according to a CNN report. Interpol stated that “Kosovo Albanian Mafia hold the largest share of the heroin market in Switzerland, in Austria, in Belgium, in Germany, in Hungary, in the Czech Republic, in Norway, and in Sweden.” The head of Sweden’s anti drug unit believes that the gangs supplied “hundreds, maybe thousands, of kilos of heroin” to the Scandinavian countries. The Albanian Muslim Mafia clans are dispersed in Kosovo and Macedonia as well as Albania proper. The Italian Mafia and the Albanian Mafia“I hate these f**** Albanians,” a captain in the Genovese crime family was captured saying on tape. The captain continued, “If you have a beef with them you have to kill them right away. There’s no talking to them.” Reports indicate that the Albanian Mafia including immigrants from Kosovo has replaced the Italian La Cosa Nostra Mafia, an offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia. To understand the capacity and how far the arms reach of the Albanian Mafia is to understand briefly the magnitude of La Cosa Nostra aka The Italian-American Mafia: There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno and Colombo families. The Italian-American Mafia aka La Cosa Nostra dominated organized crime in the U.S. It used this status to maintain control over much of the organized crime activity in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Providence, New Jersey, and New York City, as well as in other cities in the Northeastern United States and across the country, such as Las Vegas, Tampa, New Orleans, Miami, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and many others. La Cosa Nostra often referred to as the “original Mafia,” was at one time thought to be one of the largest organized crime groups in the United States and held dominance of the National Crime Syndicate. The Albanian Mafia has been thought to greatly exceed this dominant power and poses as an outstanding figure as one of the most violent crime organizations in operation particularly with their strong connections in Europe union. Replacing La Cosa Nostra in its rank, size, power and figure in organized crime, the Albanian Mafia holds itself as a domineering force in the Mafia underworld. Further, a predominant Catholic Mafia is being replaced by a predominant Muslim Albanian FIS.The Gambino crime family recruits ethnic Albanian assassins In the 1970s, the Italian Mafia, more specifically the Gambino family recruited and employed Albanians as couriers, transporters, and more significantly assasins as a result of their proficiency. By 1996, ethnic Albanians were the main assassins for the Gambino family. At least two of the Gambino Family’s major players or “high level associates,” including Zef Mustafa were of Albanian enthnicity. Mustafa allegedly made over $700 million for the Gambino family, was later arrested for a $19 million dollar internet heist, and subsequently released on a $5 milliion bond disappearing from the United States. Reputation“The ethnic Albanian mafia is very powerful and extremely violent,” said Kim Kliver, chief investigator for organized crime with the Danish National Police. “If you compare them to the Italian Mafia, the Albanians are stronger and not afraid of killing.”“The Albanian criminals were special from the beginning,” said Francesca Marcelli, an organized-crime investigator for the Italian government. Marcelli continued: “When they started appearing here in 1993, they were much different than other immigrants. They have strong motivations and are very violent. Some of them actually pulled machine guns on the son of an Italian Mafioso. To do that in Italy is unbelievable.”In the north of Italy, the Albanians have taken the prostitution racket away from the country’s toughest Mafia branch, the ‘Ndrangheta. A representative from the Polish Mob in 2002 was found saying: “I’m willing to do business with just about anyone. Dominicans, Blacks. Italians. Asian gangs. Russians. But won’t go near the Albanian mob. The Albanians are too violent and too unpredictable.”Ties to Kosovo Liberation Army and Al Qaeda Alleged ties to Al-Qaeda, the Albanian Mafia, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the United States and Europe stretches throughout the United States, Canada, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia. The FBI believes largely that the Albanian Mafia could be involved in “terrorist financing,” adding more specifically, “ties to organizations suspected of involvement in terrorist financing.” Even more so, support of Al Qaeda prove notable in the following: Even more so, support of Al Qaeda prove notable in the following: Yossef Bodansky, former Director of House Task Force on Terrorism, committed to saying, “The Albanian mob will not commit acts of terrorism…but will aid Al Qaeda..The role of the Albanian Mafia-tightly connected to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA a declared terrorist organization) is laundering money, providing technology, safe houses and other support to terrorists within this country.” Most if not all of the KLA has been trained and financially supported by Al Qaeda. (Kosovo was marked as a potential recruiting ground for Islamic extremists. The large numbers of young Muslims living in abject poverty in Kosovo plays ideally into the hands of terrorist recruiters. Al-Qaeda is extremely interested in the region because the Muslim families are large and teenagers make up half of Kosovo’s population, making Kosovo a prime reservoir for the recruitment of young Mujahedeen.)

Gekauft von den MEK Terroristen: Elona Gjebrea

Even Albania’s deputy anti-trafficking coordinator, Dr Elona Gjebrea, who is also the deputy minister of the interior, has bowed down in the Court of Maryam Rajavi.

Mojahedin Khalq (Rajavi cult) and Albanian Mafia are getting closer

Aus Tirana in den Ort MANZA umgesiedelt Ende 2017