Posted on 02/10/2003 6:39:53 AM PST by Fitzcarraldo
OSLO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - An Islamic militant suspected by Washington of ties to both Baghdad and al Qaeda is becoming a hero to some in the Norwegian capital Oslo where he lives with his family as a refugee.
Reviled by the United States but free because NATO-member Norway has been unable to find legal grounds to jail him, Mullah Krekar is sometimes cheered by well-wishers or stopped by autograph hunters in Oslo.
His lawyer says he feels like the manager of a rock star.
"I feel safe here in Norway," said Krekar, the founder of the Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) rebel group which controls a sliver of land in north Iraq where it battles other Kurdish groups opposed to Baghdad. It has perhaps 700 fighters.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, laying out evidence against Baghdad to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, said Ansar harboured members of the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Powell also said that Ansar included a senior Baghdad agent and that it may have tried to make chemical weapons.
"These are wrong things about me and chemical bombs, about link with Osama bin Laden, about link to (President) Saddam Hussein," Krekar said, walking home from police questioning.
Two men of Moroccan origin stopped Krekar in the snow to shake his hand. "He's a good man. It's good that he lives here," said one taxi driver of Pakistani origin by Krekar's home in Groenland, an area of central Oslo where many immigrants live.
Officials concede that Krekar's freedom is a deep embarrassment to Norway's government. "Despite all the accusations, we haven't yet found any cause to detain him under asylum or other Norwegian laws," one said.
"HURRAH, MULLAH"
Reflecting unease, one Norwegian joke asks: "What do children chant as they march past King Harald's palace during the May 17 national day parade?" Every Norwegian knows the answer: "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"
It then follows up: "What do people in Groenland chant?" The answer: "Mullah! Mullah! Mullah!"
Bearded Krekar, 47, won asylum after the Gulf War and his wife and four children went on to gain Norwegian citizenship in 1999. Krekar denies that Ansar tries to impose Taliban-style rule, even outlawing music or dancing. "It's not true," he said.
Most of Krekar's supporters in Groenland are Muslims and oppose Washington. Krekar has been open with the media, even holding a news conference in a bar to reject Powell's charges.
Krekar was freed from jail in the Netherlands in mid-January after he had been detained for four months en route from Iraq to Norway. One day shortly after his return to Oslo, he said that he got 280 phone calls from well-wishers.
Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, argues that Norwegian anti-terrorism laws are meant to prevent extremists from setting up militias in Norway and so are irrelevant. "What happens in northern Iraq has very little to do with Oslo," he said.
Another charge is that Krekar has violated the terms of his asylum by going to Iraq.
Krekar says many Kurds do the same and that he only goes to areas out of Saddam's control. And Norway praised former Kenyan refugee and dissident Koigi wa Wamwere for visiting Kenya in the 1990s to oppose ex-President Daniel arap Moi.
Mulla Krekar (C), whose real name is Najumuddin Faraj Ahmad, is met by journalists upon his arrival at Oslo airport after his release from prison in the Netherlands, January 13, 2003. The Dutch government on Monday rejected a extradition request from Jordan for Krekar, a Kurd suspected of drug trafficking and links to al Qaeda, and expelled him to Norway, authorities said. SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK OUT; NO THIRD PARTY SALES. REUTERS/SCANPIX/Tor Richardsen - Jan 13 12:55 AM ET
This says more about us than Norway. A single bullet, a knife thrust, even a well aimed lead ball to the head from a wrist rocket would end his 'safety'.
Krekar says many Kurds do the same and that he only goes to areas out of Saddam's control. And Norway praised former Kenyan refugee and dissident Koigi wa Wamwere for visiting Kenya in the 1990s to oppose ex-President Daniel arap Moi.
In other words, 'I can break the terms of the phony "asylum" with impunity with these handy-dandy excuses, as long as you dumb Norskis are stupid enough to believe them. Especially the line about "areas of Iraq out of Saddam's control" Hoo-Hah!'
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