Terrorist group has Republican voice in Congress...

A senior lawmaker on the House International Relations committee has defended her ongoing support for a group the State Department says is a terrorist organization fighting against coalition troops in Iraq.

"This group loves the United States. They're assisting us in the war on terrorism; they're pro-U.S.," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) in an interview with The Hill.
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The group killed several Americans during the 1970s. It also participated in the 1979-1981 U.S. Embassy seizure in Tehran. In 1997, the MEK and its various appendages were designated a "foreign terrorist organization."

Last week, State Department spokesman Greg Sullivan told The Hill the MEK is considered "a combatant" and U.S. officials believe its soldiers "are undertaking some of the action in the south [of Iraq] where enemy combatants have disguised themselves as civilians.
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Ros-Lehtinen dismissed the group's anti-American actions as "past history." She said, "It has no bearing on what is going on right now in the field."

"In no meeting or briefing I have ever attended has anyone called this group an anti-U.S., terrorist organization," she continued, adding that the group has provided useful intelligence to the U.S. government on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Ros-Lehtinen further said that there is "wide support" in Congress for the MEK and that it will be "one of the leading groups in establishing secular government in Iran."

FAILED GESTURE

Like other defenders of the group, Ros-Lehtinen said the decision to put the MEK on the terrorist list resulted from an attempt to gain favor with a reformist president, Mohammed Khatemi, elected in 1997.

''It was a goodwill gesture that failed,'' she said.

The Bush administration, which sees Iran as part of the ''axis of evil'' for its support of terrorism, recently credited the MEK with disclosing vital information about Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

But the administration continued the MEK's terrorist designation, and some of the group's earlier supporters in Congress are now retreating.

Ros-Lehtinen last fall sought colleagues' support for a letter praising the opposition group and asked the State Department to reconsider its terrorist label. She claimed 150 signatures but did not release the list.

The group's backers include Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, and such liberal Democrats as Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Gary Ackerman of New York.

In recent months, some House members asked that their names be taken off the letter, including Reps. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, and Richard Pombo, R-Calif.

The chairman and ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee -- Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos respectively -- warned colleagues away from the MEK.

The MEK and the National Council ''are a well-funded, well-organized group, but they have now discredited themselves,'' said Rep. Bob Ney, a Ohio Republican who was an English teacher in Iran.

''They are a danger to our men and women fighting in Iraq right now,'' added Ney, who said ''only a handful'' in Congress back them now.

Equipped and protected by Hussein, the MEK's ''national liberation army'' of several thousand has launched forays into Iran from bases in Iraq, attacking police stations and assassinating some top Iranian military leaders. According to the State Department, the MEK helped Hussein crack down on Kurds and Shiites.

Last month, early in the invasion, U.S. forces bombed two MEK units near Baghdad, according to a defense intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''They were seen as a threat to coalition forces,'' the officer said.

Neither the State Department nor Central Command could confirm that the MEK had taken up arms against coalition forces.

Diaz-Balart said Tuesday he still backed the ''pro-democracy efforts'' of the National Council, but said he would retract support if it's shown that the group is involved ``in either anti-U.S. terrorism or combat against U.S. forces.''

The National Council of Resistance, known for its articulate, well-financed lobbying efforts, once attracted the support of 220 House members and John Ashcroft before he became attorney general. Members of the group made sizable contributions to incumbents in the 1990s.

Brand X- it is 'aisle', couldn't work out which island you were referring to for a moment there.