Saudi Daily: Paris witnessed the largest gathering of the Iranian opposition

Al-Jazeerah, July 3, 2007- The Iranian opposition coalition, in which the People’s Mojahedin organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has a leading role, organized a large gathering in the French capital, Paris. It is estimated that 50,000 Iranians from across Europe participated in the large rally. Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian opposition, spoke at the meeting, which was held on June 30th.

The meeting coincided with the fourth anniversary of the French police raid against the offices of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris, as well as the 26th anniversary of the foundation of NCRI.

In her speech, Mrs. Rajavi talked about the gasoline (rationing) crisis in Iran, and also attributed the instability of Iraq to the Iranian meddling in that country.

Sid Ahmad Ghazali, the former Prime Minister of Algeria, who was among the dignitaries in attendance said in his speech: “We consider the struggle of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran to be the struggle of all democratic forces in the Arab and Islamic countries.”

Bob Filner, a member of United States House of Representatives, also spoke at the meeting.  He said:  “I have brought the support of the United States House of representative for you and your struggle”.

Also among the attendees were Mr. Vidal Quadras, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Lord Slynn, former Judge of the European Court of Justice, Mr. Brian McKinley, member of the British Parliament, and Mr. Tariq Masarweh, a former Jordanian Senator. They all expressed their support for the struggle for democracy and human rights in Iran.

At the meeting of the Iranian Resistance, political and parliamentary figures and delegations from various countries such as the United States of America, Canada, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Italy, France and Arab countries (Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Palestine, and Qatar) participated.

It is notable that on June 14 about 10,000 Iraqis from various social strata participated in a meeting chaired by Dr. Saleh Mutlaq, leader of the Iraqi National Dialogue, which was held in the city of Ashraf in Iraq. The participants declared their solidarity with the People’s Mojahedin of Iran. They supported the presence of the Mojahedin of Iran in Iraq in order to confront spread of extremism supported by Iran.