Are the Mujahedeen-e Khalq Terrorists?

	French police arrested 165 members of the MEK on June 17, 2003, including Maryam Rajavi, in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris.

The Mujahedeen-e Khalq (or MEK), an Iranian opposition group, is highly controversial; in May 2003, Patrick Clawson and I argued that it should be taken off the U.S. government's terrorist list. Since then, the French government has raided the group's headquarters outside Paris, accused it of planning terrorist operations, and arrested ten of its leaders. To which, the MEK has responded with self-immolations (one woman died of her burns) and hunger strikes. The fear of these is such that as MEK figures were put on trial, the Associated Press reports, "A fire truck was parked outside the front door of the courthouse Saturday and a vehicle mounted with a water cannon stood nearby." Which prompts this question: Do members of a self-respecting terrorist organization set themselves on fire or do they retaliate with violent operations against their enemies? Just asking. (June 22, 2003)