NCRI- According to obtained information, seven Ashraf residents who were taken hostage during the September 1 massacre in Ashraf by the Iraqi forces, are held near Baghdad airport by the forces affiliated to the Prime Minister’s Office. The hostages have been on hunger strike since their abduction.
It is said that the hostages would be turned over to the Iranian regime in the next few days through Alemarah border in south of Iraq.
Video clip of the two vehicles that the Iraqi forces used to move the hostages to the other side of berm erected by Iraqi forces at the north flank of Ashraf after the 2011 attack is available.
Transfer of the vehicles from inside Ashraf to the other side of the berm is only possible through the route that is under the control of Iraqi forces.
The hostages are all protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention and as it was stipulated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, are asylum seekers and people of concern and enjoy international protection.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the U.S. President and Secretary of State, UN Secretary General, and the High Commissioner for Refugees, who have direct responsibility towards safety and security of the hostages, to work out the release of the hostages with their active engagement and do not allow the Government of Iraq that is the puppet of the Iranian regime to hand over the opponents of the religious fascism ruling Iran to the clerical regime.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
September 10, 2013