Spiritual leader of Islamic militant group arrested in Norway

Associated Press ^ | 1-2-04 | WILLIAM STOICHEVSKI

[Oldeconomybuyer]

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Mullah Krekar, the spiritual leader of the Iraq-based Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam, was arrested Friday, his brother told The Associated Press.

Police went to Krekar's house in the morning and took him to a police station in Oslo, said Khalid Faraj Ahmad.

[Tijeras_Slim]

This guy must have really stepped over the line considering Norway's attitude.

[Eurotwit]

According to Norwegian media, the new charges involves Krekar coordinating the current suicide bombing campaing of Ansar Al Islam in Iraq.

Apparently the New York Post might have been right:

"Norway Rat Runs Iraq Terror

October 27, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The leader of an al Qaeda-linked terror group responsible for some of the biggest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq calls the shots from an apartment in Norway, U.S. counterterrorism officials say.

The officials told The Post they are increasingly frustrated over Mullah Krekar, the founder and spiritual leader of Ansar al-Islam. Last week the Pentagon branded the group the "principal terrorist adversary" of U.S. forces in Iraq.

U.S. intelligence officials believe Krekar, 48, plays "an active leadership role" in the group's terror campaign in Iraq by using couriers and secret Internet chat rooms to communicate with followers from his Oslo apartment.

"We are following the case closely," a State Department spokesman told The Post.

Krekar and his family have held refugee status in Norway since 1991 - although he spent much of the time in northern Iraq leading a Taliban-style reign of terror in small villages under Ansar al-Islam's control.

Pentagon officials said the group has moved into the Baghdad area, where it is coordinating with pro-Saddam Ba'athists and al Qaeda fighters. The group is believed to be responsible for a series of suicide car-bombing attacks on coalition installations.

Brinjar Meling, Krekar's Norwegian lawyer, told The Post his client "is no longer part of Ansar and cannot be held responsible for anything Ansar has done after 2002.""

[miltonim]

Krekar and his family have held refugee status in Norway since 1991 - although he spent much of the time in northern Iraq leading a Taliban-style reign of terror in small villages under Ansar al-Islam's control.

[nuconvert]

Yeah, I've been waiting for this guy to be caught again.

[mylife]

Ping

[nuconvert]

Oil makes strange bedfellows, too.

[Happy2BMe]

Notice - he was REarrested . .

Norway arrests founder of Iraqi Islamic group
By Reuters
OSLO - Norway rearrested the founder of an Iraqi Islamic group accused of attacks on U.S. troops on Friday, less than six months after authorities dropped terrorism charges against him for lack of evidence.
Police said they would bring new charges against Mullah Krekar, an Iraqi Kurd and co-founder of Ansar al-Islam, a group which Washington says has ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Krekar, who has had refugee status in Norway since 1991, has denied links to militant groups. He was arrested at his home in Oslo around midday, police said. Senior police official Erling Grimstad, who headed the investigation, said police would ask an Oslo court on Saturday to order that Krekar be detained for four weeks while they prepare a case against him. "We have a new charge in the case against Mullah Krekar," Grimstad told Reuters. He declined to elaborate and said police would also ask for a closed-door court hearing. Police first arrested Krekar on March 20, the day U.S.-led forces began an invasion to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Krekar was charged under anti-terrorism legislation of links to a terrorist organisation and of threatening violence. An appeals court ordered his release in April and the charges were finally dropped in July when Grimstad acknowledged that police did not have enough evidence. Krekar's attorney Brynjar Meling said on Friday that he had been informed of the arrest but had not yet met his client and did not know what the new charges were. "I am not sure exactly what they have connected him to," Meling told Reuters on his way to meet Krekar who led Ansar al-Islam in 2001-2002. The U.S. air force targeted Ansar's camps in northern Iraq during the war and U.S. officials have named it as one of the groups behind an insurgency that has killed more than 200 American soldiers since major combat was declared over in May. Last year Washington asked Oslo to extradite Krekar to Jordan to face criminal charges there. In November Norway rejected a Jordanian request for his extradition to face drug trafficking charges.