U.S. Calls On MKO Group To Accept Albania Resettlement Offer

The United States has called on the leaders of exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO or MEK) to "immediately" accept an offer from Albania to resettle 210 of its members.

Tirana's March 16 offer was rejected by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which oversees the MEK.

It said asylum for only a small portion of the group was unacceptable.

More than 3,000 MEK members currently live at a former U.S. military base near Baghdad.

The arrangement is meant to be temporary while the United Nations works to relocate the exiles abroad.

The group previously lived in a compound known as Camp Ashraf in northeastern Iraq, which twice experienced deadly raids by Iraqi security forces.

The U.S. State Department is urging the group's "unconditional cooperation."

Based on reporting by AP and RFE/RL