Open letter to Pope Benedict 16^th

Edward Termado, 26rd November 2007

I am an Iranian Christian who served as a soldier in 1981 during the war between Iran and Iraq. I was injured during one attack by Saddam Hussein's forces against Iran and subsequently was taken prisoner by Saddam's army.

I suffered every kind of deprivation and hardship in the Iraqi POW camps for 9 years and was visited regularly by the Red Cross which will have information about me on their files.

During my captivity I was kept in a prison camp in the city of Ramadi in Iraq. There I received the special kindness of the late Pope John Paul the second, on whose behalf I was visited by four representatives. The head of this delegation was Cardinal Rogers.

During this long time, among 1300 prisoners of war some committed suicide under the harsh pressures and some even committed self-burning. Many others became mentally ill. I remember that every time Saddam would intensify the bombardment of Iranian cities, the letters and contacts would stop for months. This was, of course, one kind of mental pressure every one of us would suffer.

Many people from both sides lost their lives during this terrible war. Many children became orphaned and many fathers and mothers never managed to see their children again. Of course we all know about the damage this war inflicted on the people and your good self knows what disasters follow any war.

Now a new war is threatening Iran; another war which none of the people of Iran have never wanted except a cultish organisation under the name of Mojahedin Khalq Organisation (aka: NCRI, PMOI, MEK, MKO, Rajavi cult, Saddam Private Army…) which thinks about nothing except personal power for its leader. This cult has proven during its bloody history that it would not hesitate to abuse every single human right. It is now threatening its critics even in European countries. It is after silencing us from informing our countrymen so that they would not fall in the same trap we fell into by following this cult.

Your Reverence,

After 9 years of suffering prison and 9 years of separation from family, unfortunately near the end of the Iran – Iraq war, I was influenced by the false propaganda of Mojahedin which targeted every prisoner-of-war, and rejected the offer of repatriation. Instead I joined the National Liberation Army of the Mojahedin with the intention of bringing freedom to the people of Iran. This of course was the biggest mistake of my whole life.

I remember clearly when Cardinal Rogers tried to solve the problem I was facing and ask for my release. Unfortunately I rejected his offer under the psychological influence of the Mojahedin Khalq.

At the start I had no knowledge about the group and its army except watching their television programmes, but I soon found myself in the hands of a group which would commit any crime and which would abuse any human rights in order to gain personal benefits and power. This included sending youngsters to their death facing heavily trained and armed army units to forcing people to burn themselves in the streets of European countries and perform terrorist operations inside and outside Iran because of which many ordinary people have paid heavy prices. It is of course not to forget the many people who have been kept in Iraq under brainwashed conditions so that they could be spent by the leader when and where he needs people to burn themselves or blow themselves up with innocent men, women and children.

Out of 3 Christians who were in the Mojahedin, Philip Yousefieh was forced to denounce his religion under the pressure imposed by the Mojahedin Khalq. They sent him to his death (one of their terrorist operations with no chance of return) only shortly after he announced publicly that he had changed his religion.

Later we found out that they had deliberately sent him to his death in order to use his name as a Christian who had become a Martyr for the Rajavi cult and so that this could open their way in to the main church of Baghdad and connect them to the Christian officials in the Arab world.

Every time they would take me to visit the officials of the church in Baghdad, the officials would privately distance themselves from the group and would criticise the Mojahedin. Every time these good people would spend some time convincing me to find a way to run away from the Mojahedin Khalq (aka: Saddam's Private Army).

Your Reverence,

My exit from this cult organisation took a long time. As you can imagine, the presence of a Christian man among them was very important for the leaders and was a good propaganda subject.

When the situation in Iraq became unstable, the Mojahedin accepted that I didn't want to be with them, but instead of releasing me, they sent me to an internal prison for 4 months after which they handed me over to the Iraqi security who took me to the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in a bid that, under the pressure imposed by Saddam's henchmen I would come to accept whatever they say. There were a lot of Iranians in Abu Ghraib prison. Many of them have similar grievances and stories. There were some who had been handed over [to the Iraqis] by the Mojahedin many, many years ago.

Your Reverence,

Even right now there are many such people who are kept against their will in the Mojahedin's camp in Iraq. Many of these people are looking desperately to find a way to run away and reach the free world.

These people are kept with various physical and mental pressures for a day, as I mentioned before, that the leaders would decide to use them as they have before in the times they feel in danger. They are kept for self-immolation to save the leaders from answering in courts. The only path in front of the Rajavi cult is the path David Kuresh followed in Waco which ended in the massacre of hundreds of innocent people, mostly his own followers.

As a Christian who has spent most of his youth and life under the psychological influence of the leaders of this inhuman cult, I beg you as the leader of the Christian community to intervene to stop yet another disaster like the self-immolations carried out by the Mojahedin Khalq in June 2003 in the streets of European countries.

Myself and other ex-members and survivors of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation are ready to actively give our support in any way possible to see the freedom of these innocent people from this cult.

Yours sincerely,

Edward Termado