[Changleen]

So, finally the US invokes the Geneva convention to one of the groups it holds 'interned' - However in a complete shocker it looks like they're doing it for political reasons rather than because it's the right thing to do.

The US has interned 3800 MKO (Mujahideen Khalq Organisation) fighters at a base in eastern Iraq, and declared them "protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention".

This is a group of fighters that the US and Europe recognise as a terrorist group. So why not the slowboat to Gitmo for these guys? That's where it gets interesting.

The MKO are (wait for it) an anti-IRANIAN group of fighters who have since 1986 been allowed to have bases in Iraq for the purpose of cross border nastyness in Iran.

From Al-Jazeera, the only people apparantly offering any backstory:

MKO was granted bases in Iraq in 1986, and was allowed to establish militias dedicated to back up Iraqi forces in the then ongoing Iran-Iraq war.

Iraq harboured MKO as a retaliation to Iran's fostering of the Iraqi armed opposition group, the Badr Brigades the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq

The head of the MKO's political wing (the NCRI, also designated a terrorist group by the US) said: "(This is a) triumph for the Iranian Resistance and the Iranian people". Hmm. Why's that then? Are the US going to allow them to continue to do what they like to do? I do not know, I'll be interested to see.

More from Al-J:

Iran regards the roughly 3,800 MKO fighters in Iraq as one of its biggest external threats and wants the group's members to be handed over.

Diplomats say Tehran has offered to exchange some al-Qaida prisoners it is holding for MKO leaders. Washington has refused the swap, the diplomats say.

Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said the US move to grant the MKO protected status undermined Washington's claims to be fighting "terrorist groups".

Gotta pretty much agree with him there, unless the US hands them over to Iran. Chance of that?

"I hope those who claim they are combating terrorism prove the truth and confront the ones who have committed extensive crimes against the Iranian nation," he told a weekly news conference.

The Iranian government gave a cautious warning to the United States on Monday, for granting the main Iranian armed opposition a protected status in Iraq.

"I have no information about the truth of such a thing," Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told reporters, the day after its public enemy number one boasted it was now immune from being handed over to Iran.

But even though Ramazanzadeh said the "hypocrites" - as the Mujahedeen Khalq are referred to by the Iranian government - have "never told the truth", he did warn Washington against making any concessions towards the group.

"The attitude towards the hypocrites in Iraq will show the truth of the claims from anybody who claims to be fighting terrorism globally," he said.

"We hope the ones who accuse others of supporting terrorism act honestly themselves," he added, a clear reference to fresh US allegations of an Iranian link to the al-Qaida network.

Yes, this will be an interesting little test for GW. What would you have him do?

Iran has been pushing for repatriation of the several thousand Mujahedeen fighters under US military guard at Camp Ashraf northeast of Baghdad, and last December Iraq's US-installed interim leadership voted unanimously to expel them.

But now the US has over-ridden the 'Sovereign' government. Suprise me not a jot there. Why would they do this unless they had something in mind for them? These people are Terrorists, after all.

Hmm. "Stop making Nukes and you can have the MKO" springs to mind. I dunno. This is an interesting little story. Why do you think the US is 'protecting' Terrorists?