California congressman: I was not kicked out of Iraq! .

THE HILL  - By The Hill Staff - 06/13/11

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is pushing back against reports that he was ordered to leave Iraq over the weekend

Rohrabacher, who was visiting the Middle East with other lawmakers, reportedly called for Baghdad to repay the U.S. for some of the money spent since the 2003 invasion. And that didn’t go over so well.


“We called the U.S. Embassy [Friday], and we told them to ask the congressmen to leave Iraq,” government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh said, according to an article posted on myfoxorlando.com. “We don’t want them here. What they said was inappropriate.”
In a statement, Rohrabacher denied he and his colleagues were expelled: “There was no change in our scheduling while we were in Iraq. Our itinerary remained exactly the same and we departed as scheduled. We were not officially told to leave the country before we left and were never told or warned not to come back.”
Other members who were on the trip included Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), Ted Poe (R-Texas), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.), according to CNN.
Rohrabacher noted in his release that he will be holding a hearing “into the April 8 massacre at Camp Ashraf in eastern Iraq where 35 unarmed civilians were killed and scores more injured during an attack by Iraqi soldiers.”
He added that his request for access to the site was denied by the State Department and the Iraqi government.

US ambassador: Investigations will continue about Camp Ashraf incidents .

Following the release of a statement by a visiting US congressional delegation to Iraq, al-Hurra TV reported that the US ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, has announced, “Investigations about the incidents in Camp Ashraf will continue and the Iraqi government, security forces and the residents of this camp must cooperate to complete the investigations.”

We had a frank and spirited discussion about the Camp Ashraf massacre by Iraqi troops: Rohrabacher .

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE REALESE
June 11, 2011

 Rohrabacher Statement on Baghdad Meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister
CODEL not officially expelled from Iraq
(Istanbul, Turkey)- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) issued the following statement on his recent meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki while in Baghdad as part of an official Congressional delegation:

“We had a frank and spirited discussion about the Camp Ashraf massacre by Iraqi troops,” said Rohrabacher. “There was never any indication the Prime Minister  was angered  by having this discussion  or the during  the portion of the conversation about the  current economic situation in the U.S., which lead to the suggestion of repayment by the Iraqis.
The meeting was originally scheduled for an hour but continued for an extra 40 minutes.

Aswat Al Iraq / Politics , Baghdad Al-Iraqiya Leader attacks Prime Minister Maliki, charging him with hypocrisy and deception

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Chairman of al-Iraqiya Coalition, Iyad Allawi, has launched a strong attack against Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, charging him with lying, hypocrisy, deception and depending on the foreigner and Iran to become prime minister.

“He (Maliki) has forgotten that he was and still is holding the position of defense, interior, national security ministers and the intelligence chairman, and had depended on the foreigner and was supported by Iran to become prime minister,” Allawi said in a televised interview on Friday.

Congressman Ted Poes Staetment: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DENIED ACCESS TO CAMP ASHRAF

Press Release 

Washington, Jun 10 -

 Today, Congressman Poe visited Iraq to visit U.S. troops and meet with Iraqi officials. Congressman Poe and other Members of Congress attempted to visit Camp Ashraf where they were turned away by the Iraqi government. Congressman Poe issued the following statement in response:
“I am deeply disappointed that Members of Congress were denied access to Camp Ashraf by the Iraqi government.  Earlier in the day, we had the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Al-Maliki for nearly two hours and heard his candid position on this complex issue. These discussions were important and productive. However, it was also important to be able to hear the position of the residents of Camp Ashraf in order to get a fair assessment from both sides of what really occurred that day. We were not allowed to hear their side of the story. It is unacceptable for the Government of Iraq to continue to silence the Iranian freedom fighters at Camp Ashraf.”
On April 8, 2500 Iraqi forces attacked unarmed Iranian dissidents in Camp Ashraf. 35 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in these attacks. The international community has not been allowed access to the Camp. Members of the European Parliament were also denied access to Camp Ashraf when they visited Iraq at the end of April.