he US is set to remove dissident Iranian group Mujahideen-e Khalq - MEK - from its terror blacklist. Officials said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sent a classified opinion to Congress and a decision is expected to be announced in the following days. A state department spokeswoman has not confirmed what the opinion contains, but US congressmen welcomed the expected decision in favour of MEK. Members of the group have been based at a refugee camp in Iraq but Baghdad is taking steps to expel them.

The state department says its presence on the list puts members living in Iraq under threat. The MEK, also known as the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, was listed as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in 1997. But the MEK has insisted that it has renounced violence and has lobbied fiercely in Washington to gain congressional support for its delisting. Britain removed the group of its terror list in 2008, followed by the European Union in 2009.