Free Republic

Norway probes four refugees suspected of al-Qaeda links Monday, 26-Aug-2002 4:40AM      Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) </CLARI-ITEM HEADER>OSLO, Aug 26 (AFP) - Norway's intelligence agency PST has launched a probe into four refugees suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda network, Norwegian daily Verdens Gang reported Monday.One of the four being investigated at the request of British and US intelligence agencies is Mullah Krekar, a Kurd presumed to be the leader of the suspected bio-warfare group Ansar al-Islam, which is linked to al-Qaeda.The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration confirmed last week that Krekar has had...

<p>BIYARA, Iraq - A terrorist group with ties to al-Qaida that escaped a U.S.-led attack last March has reconstituted itself and is involved in the recent wave of car bombings and other suicide attacks that have killed and wounded hundreds in Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.</p>

Biyara, controlled by militant Islamists until the US-led war, is wary of news that such groups may be returning. By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BIYARA, IRAQ - The merchant shuddered when told that Islamic militants of Ansar Al Islam - the Al Qaeda-backed group dispersed by American bombs last March - may be returning to Iraq. "If they come to my orchard, I will shoot them myself!" vows Shaho Abdulkarim, a merchant-smuggler with a perfect moustache. Such a visceral reaction is common in this village on Iraq's northeastern border with Iran, where Ansar imposed...