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Massacre remarks infuriate Baghdad

13 June 2011 19:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Frustrations expressed by the Iraqi prime minister over claims of crimes against Iranian dissidents in the country were misguided, a U.S. lawmaker said, APA reports quoting upi com web-page.
Baghdad during the weekend said a visiting delegation of U.S. lawmakers was no longer welcome in the country. The Iraqi government made the statements following controversial comments from U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.
Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations, said that the "massacre" of 35 members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran was probably tantamount to a crime against humanity.
Baghdad is trying to come up with a solution for the dissident group, a one-time ally of Saddam Hussein. Europeans have relaxed their stance on the organization, though Washington still lists it as a terrorist organization.
Rohrabacher told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki his subcommittee was investigating the April attack on the PMOI, prompting a strong rebuke from the Iraqi government.
The congressman told the McClatchy news service that he never laid the blame at Maliki’s feet, however.
"If the prime minister felt guilty about it, for whatever reasons, that’s his business. We didn’t say anything to implicate him," Rohrabacher said from Turkey. "We did say that the massacre of so many civilians was a crime and we needed to make sure that those responsible for it were held accountable."