Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Europe

Radical Kurdish militant Krekar faces new charges in Norway

2016-06-20

[RUDAW.NET] A court in Norway officially charged the radical Kurdish Lion of Islam Mala Krekar ...I think they must mean Mullah Krekar, born in Iraq with the name of Najm al-Din Faraj Ahmad or possibly Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad or even Fateh Najmeddin Faraj... Thursday for alleged terror links to a group based in Italia, according to online pages close to Krekar who is also wanted in Kurdistan region on multiple terror-related cases. According to the charges, Krekar is accused of having criminal masterminded a ’terror group’ in Italia while serving a sentence at the Kongsvinger prison in Norway. Krekar has denied involvement. The court proceedings will continue till June 15 when a verdict is expected to determine his possible extradition to Italia for further investigations. Krekar’s lawyer has said his client had no access to communicate with the group in Italia from his prison cell. According to the charges, Krekar instructed the group through regular Skype meetings while in prison. Mala Krekar was sentenced in March 2012 to 6 years in prison but was released in January 2015 after a judge reduced his sentence. He has faced several legal charges in Norway, where he has lived since 1991 with his family. Krekar, a flamboyant Kurdish Islamist in exile, is wanted in Kurdistan Region for terrorism charges dating back to late 1990s and early 2000 when he found the Kurdish jihadist group Ansar al-Islam, and declared a caliphate-like colony in southern Kurdish towns of Biara and Tawela in the run up for the 2003 US-led incursion to Iraq. The US army demolished Ansar al-Islam strongholds in Biara and Tawela with Tomahawk and Cruise missiles during the Iraq invasion of 2003 and dismantled the group’s network. Kurdish authorities say Ansar al-Islam were responsible for killing and torturing numbers of locals in the area who opposed the caliphate and want to try its leader Krekar for the charges.

Link

Europe

Mullah Krekar threatens 'reaction' if expelled from Norway

2007-11-30

Mullah Krekar, the founder of an Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, has warned there will be “reactions” against Norway if it goes ahead with a court ruling to expel him, NRK television reported on Thursday. Three groups would “react” if he was deported, according to an NRK translation of comments the Iraqi Kurd made earlier this month to a website called Awane, which means “mirror” in Kurdish. The three groups were: his relatives, an unidentified armed organisation and people, possibly from Somalia or Morocco, who follow his religious teachings, according to the translated comments, which gave no details of what the reactions would entail. Norway’s Supreme Court on November 8 upheld previous court rulings and a 2003 decision by the Norwegian authorities to expel Krekar from the Scandinavian country, claiming he was a national security concern. Norwegian law however prevents Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, from being deported to his homeland until the situation in Iraq improves.

Link

Europe

Mullah Krekar leader fights to keep his turban in Norway

2007-10-10

OSLO: Mullah Krekar, the founder of radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, appeared before Norway’s Supreme Court yesterday in a new attempt to have an expulsion order against him declared invalid. Norwegian authorities decided in February 2003 to expel Krekar from the Scandinavian country, claiming he was a national security concern. After several failed attempts at having the expulsion order overturned, Krekar appealed yesterday through his lawyer Harald Stabell for the Supreme Court to retry the validity of the verdict. Regardless of what the court decides, a lower court has already ruled that Krekar cannot be deported until the situation in Iraq improves. Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, has lived in Norway as a refugee since 1991, and has been under threat of deportation since Norwegian media revealed he was the founder of Ansar al-Islam, which figures on the US’s list of terrorist organisations. The Iraqi Kurd admits that he founded the group but insists he has not headed it since he handed the leadership over to Abu Masab al-Zarkawi in May 2002. Krekar, who insists his life would be in danger if he returns to Iraq, has meanwhile come out in support of “jihad” in Iraq. He has compared the US occupation of Iraq to the Nazi invasion of European countries, and insisted that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is “a good man”.

Link

Europe

Mullah Krekar hails Bin Laden and Zarqawi

2006-06-22

OSLO - The founder of a radical Islamist group living in Norway since 1991 hailed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on Thursday, and praised the good work of bid Laden’s recently slain lieutenant Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. “Osama bin Laden is a good man. I wish him a long life. He is a good Muslim and he is against the Bush administration,” Mullah Krekar, head of the radical Ansar Al Islam organization, told AFP in Oslo. Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, is considered a national security risk in the Scandinavian country and is to be expelled, though his deportation has been suspended until the security situation in Iraq improves. “Abu Musab Al Zarqawi became a martyr. His death is bad news but I am not sad because he went to paradise,” Krekar said. Zarqawi was killed on June 7 in a US air strike on his hideout in farmland north of Baghdad. “Of course everything he’s done was not good. When he was fighting against the American troops in Iraq, it was good but when he carried out crimes against civilians, Shiite Muslims and some Sunni Muslims, it was not good,” he said. Krekar denied however reports that he had claimed to be “ready to sacrifice himself” for Osama bin Laden. The reports were carried Thursday by the Norwegian media, citing Kurdish weekly Awene. “The translation of my words is perhaps not exactly right,” he said, refusing to comment further on his remarks. Translation: "I'm too holy to sacrifice myself"

Link

Europe

Mullah Krekar takes Norway to court

2005-06-03

Mullah Krekar, the founder of radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam who is fighting an expulsion order from Norway, took his case against the Norwegian state before an Oslo court on Thursday. Norwegian authorities decided in February 2003 to expel Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, due to national security concerns, but his deportation was suspended until the situation in Iraq improves. But Krekar insists that he presents no threat to Norway, noting that Norwegian police have closed their preliminary investigation into his possible involvement in financing terrorist activities. Krekar has lived in Norway as a refugee since 1991. He has been under threat of deportation for more than two years after Norwegian media revealed that he was the founder of Ansar al-Islam, which figures on the United States' list of terrorist organizations. The Iraqi Kurd admits that he founded the group but insists that he no longer heads it. The Norwegian government last month rejected his appeal against the deportation order.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-5 More