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Iranian rebels held in Paris raid

PARIS JUNE 17. Masked and heavily armed French police on Tuesday raided the offices of an Iranian opposition group accused of links to terrorism, rounding up 165 members and seizing $1.3 million in American currency, the Government said.

On the orders of France's leading anti-terrorism judge, some 1,300 police personnel poured into the streets and blew down doors of the offices of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran in a vast sweep of sites north and west of Paris.

Police also seized large quantities of computer material and sophisticated transmission systems, an investigator said on condition of anonymity.

Maryam Rajavi, wife of the Mujahedeen leader, Massoud Rajavi, and Saleh Rajavi, Massoud's brother, were among those detained, judicial officials said. Mr. Massoud Rajavi is based in Iraq where the group, also known as Mujahedeen Khalq, has its National Liberation Army of Iran, which has been fighting the Muslim clerical Government in Teheran. In May, however, the army began turning in its weapons to U.S. forces under a surrender agreement.

The French offices raided on Tuesday housed the political arm of the group, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the European Union in May 2002. The United States also labels the group a terrorist organisation. The raids were carried out on the orders of the anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, for ``criminal association aimed at preparing terrorism acts and for financing a terrorist enterprise,'' the Interior Ministry said. The sites of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran implanted in the Paris region ``are considered organisational, logistical and operational bases of questionable financing,'' the Ministry statement said.

The Mujahedeen denounced the action. ``The individuals arrested in the unjustifiable raids this morning were all in France legally and had not conducted any illegal activity whatsoever,'' said a People's Mujahedeen spokesman, Ali Safavi, speaking by telephone from London.

``They have churned out these lies to justify this act which is only to the satisfaction of the terrorist regime that rules Iran,'' Mr. Safavi said. He was referring to the legal grounds used to order the raids.

French judicial officials opened an investigation into possible terrorist links by the group in 2001. However, the prosecutor's office only last week added ``financing a terrorist enterprise'' to the dossier.

Still, the officials said the operation had been planned for a month. It was the first time since the E.U. named the group a terrorist organisation that French authorities moved to detain members.

AP

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