Journalist: US embassy blackmailing Albania police over MKO trafficking report

Investigative journalist Olsi Jazexhi says Albanian police chief Gledis Nano “has gone mad” over a report sent to the US embassy in Albania that the anti-Iran Mujahedin-Khalq Organization (MKO) had attempted to traffic over 400 of its members to France.

Albanian media revealed on Thursday the country’s police had alerted the US embassy that members of the MKO terrorist group are involved in various criminal activities in Europe, including human trafficking, with possible links to the Daesh terrorist group.

Gazeta Shqiptarja, one of the outlets that published the story, removed the article later in the day, and instead published a statement by the police claiming that the leaked report was a “fake document.”

Jazexhi, an Albanian historian and social activist, said the US embassy is blackmailing the police.

“Albanian chief police Gledis Nano who most probably wrote the report to @USEmbassyTirana has gone mad,” he wrote in a Twitter thread, which came after he disclosed that the MKO forced Gazeta Shqiptarja to remove the article.

“The letter was sent to Gazeta Shqiptarja, probably by a police insider. Shqiptarja removed the article but does not deny its authenticity,” he said.

US fixed on Iran, Turkey

Jazexhi also said the Albanian police chief was promoted to his post by the US embassy to Tirana after serving as a spy for the Albanian counterterrorism police, where, the Albanian journalist explained, he jailed dozens of Albanian Muslims, expelled the Iranian ambassador from Albania, and served loyally to the US and Israel instead of his government.

“Gledis Nano has received training in US and Israel. A major policy objective of the US in Albania in the past years has been to crush the Muslim community in the country and restrain its connections with the Muslim world: in particular Turkey and Iran,” he said.

He pointed out that Albania hosts both the MKO and FETO, making a reference to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, the name used by the Turkish government to refer to the Gulen movement.

Jazexhi said the Albanian police have not denied the fact that top MKO commanders have been arrested for smuggling drugs and trafficking refugees to Europe.

“Even though the Albanian State Police has declared their leaked [report] to @USEmbassyTirana as ‘Fake’, they HAVE NOT denied the fact that top mojaheden commanders have been arrested for smuggling drugs and trafficking refugees to Europe,” he said.

Greece, Italy ‘gone mad’ over MKO activities

The journalist also said Greek and Italian security services have gone “mad” over what the MKO terrorist group is doing in their countries.

“Greece is very nervous about activities of #MaryamRajavi mafia in Athens,” he said, referring to the MKO by the name of its leader.

“In August 2020, when Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj wanted to illegally expel MKO defector Ehsan Bidi to Greece – on orders of Maryam Rajavi and probably kill him in the border, Greek embassy in Tirana & its Ministry of Interior were put in high alert!”

He said the MKO has established connections with the Afghan mafia and used Athens to smuggle its members to France. “In February 2021 Mehdi Abrichamchi smuggled Hadi Sani Khani to France via Athens,” he added.

The Italian government, Jazexhi went on, has also gone mad over the MKO’s activities, with the Italian secret service being “horrified” of the group’s activity in the Adriatic although the MKO has hired Italian politicians like Giulio Terzi to lobby on its behalf.

Last December, Albania-based Exit News reported that two members of the MKO had been arrested for drug smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering.

Members of the ill-famed MKO terrorist group enjoy freedom of activity in the US and Europe and even hold big events attended by senior American, European and Saudi officials.

After it was founded more than 50 years ago, the MKO launched a campaign of bombings and assassinations in Iran. Out of the nearly 17,000 Iranians killed in terrorist attacks over the past four decades, about 12,000 have fallen victim to the group’s acts of terror.

The MKO’s members fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where they enjoyed backing from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. A few years ago, they were relocated from their Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s Diyala Province to Camp Hurriyet (Camp Liberty), a former US military base in Baghdad, and were later sent to Albania.

The MKO has been heavily propagandized by the West as an “Iranian opposition group.”

The cultish terrorist group was on the US government’s list of terrorist organizations until 2012. The European Union (EU) also removed the MKO from its list of terrorist organizations in 2009, seven years after blacklisting the outfit.

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