Norway
Ready to Rid Itself of Radical Mullah Krekar
|
|
|
Share:  
|
  Be the first of
your friends to like this.
It seems time is running out for the main protagonist in a
quarter-century-long saga involving radical Islam and
hyper-humanitarianism, extending from Iraqi Kurdistan to Norway. A
U.S.-designated terrorist group, Ansar al-Islam (Volunteers of Islam) is
prominent in the Syria and Iraq fighting, reportedly with Saudi backing,
as an opponent of both the Bashar al-Assad regime and the so-called
"Islamic State" (ISIS). Ansar al-Islam has been led
by a figure notorious in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mullah Krekar, whose real name
seems to be Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, and whose current age is 59.
An exponent of extreme Wahhabism, Mullah Krekar appeared in Iraqi
Kurdistan in the late 1980s, before the autonomous zone was under Western
protection. Unable to reestablish control over the restive region,
dictator Saddam Hussein supported Mullah Krekar and a band of
Saudi-funded radicals in terrorizing Kurds, especially traditional Sunnis
and spiritual Sufis, who dominate among them. Krekar himself cleared out
of Iraq in 1991, applying for refuge in Norway.
While his accomplices continued a bloody series of atrocities in Iraq,
Krekar was treated with extraordinary sensitivity for 25 years by the
Oslo authorities. The Norwegians wanted to expel him after he was accused
of terrorism in 2003 but were thwarted from extraditing him to Iraqi
Kurdistan because the latter may apply the death penalty. Although most
such sentences have been commuted in the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG), the Iraqi Kurds hanged 11 accused Ansar al-Islam members in 2006.
Norway, in line with EU policy on capital punishment, would therefore not
consent to any such handover. After his flight to Norway and grant of
residence there, Krekar was said to have visited Iraq to lead terrorist
attacks.
Krekar was arrested in 2012 for
making death threats against Norwegian government officials.
|
In November 2015, in a raid coordinated by Italian police, 17 terror
suspects were arrested across Europe. Italy detained six, the UK three,
Norway three, including Krekar himself, and Finland one. BBC News noted
that Krekar's activities while he was in Norway had resulted in several
local jail terms. He was arrested in 2012 for death threats against
Norwegian government officials. Krekar was locked up again for praising
last year's murderous assault on the staff of Charlie Hebdo in
Paris. Throughout his sojourn in (and out of) Norway he has played to the
media, boasting of his power. One of the men held in Britain in November,
Zana Rahim, 32, was identified by the Guardian as the son-in-law
of Mullah Krekar and effective leader of his network while the jihadi
leader sits in prison.
As described by the New York Times, Krekar had
created a new offshoot of Ansar al-Islam, Rawti Shax ("New
Course" or "Toward the Mountain"), aligned with ISIS. The
recent police action by Italian officials and EU antiterrorism
investigators allegedly broke up a conspiracy by Rawti Shax to get Krekar
out of detention in Norway. Krekar's disciples are charged with planning
attacks on political and media figures and kidnappings of Norwegian and
British diplomats as hostages for his release.
According to Norwegian media, Mullah Krekar should have little time to
remain in their country before he is shipped to Italy for trial. In
December, Italy delivered a formal extradition order to Oslo for Krekar
and Kamil Jalil Fatah, a 42-year old Iraqi suspect also living in Norway.
On December 10 the respected Norwegian daily Aftenposten said
Krekar and his accomplice would be handed over to Rome as soon as the
Norwegians are assured that Italy will not send him on for trial in Iraq.
A Norwegian lawyer representing Krekar, Brynjar Meling, asserted his
client's innocence and warned that appeals could take "between two
and three years." But Norwegian minister of justice Anders Anundsen
commented, "I have no second thoughts about extraditing a person who
is not a citizen of Norway to Italy."
|
Norwegian
Minister of Justice Anders Anundsen says he has "no second
thoughts" about extraditing Krekar.
|
Mullah Krekar's activities are diverse, although all fit the pattern
of violent jihadism. He claimed to have abandoned Ansar al-Islam in 2003,
but the organization continues, gravitating between past associations
with al-Qaida, and current involvements with ISIS and the Wahhabi group
Jabhat al-Nusra, according to the recent European indictments. And there
remain unclarified questions about his former and probably current
relations with representatives of the former Saddam Hussein regime.
Iraqi Kurds, like their co-ethnics in Turkey and Syria, hate ISIS and
are not necessarily eager to see Mullah Krekar return to their territory,
even for trial. Last year, a Kurdish commentator, Osamah Golpy, wrote
in the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw (Events) under the headline
"Kurdistan is better off without Mullah Krekar," calling on the
Norwegians to keep him under watch. Golpy wrote that "support for
any Islamic group or political party is at its lowest level in the
Kurdistan Region, especially since ISIS [shocks] the public with most
barbaric acts against humanity."
Still, the Kurdish writer warned,
Lack of the death penalty in the
[KRG]—except for very rare cases—and the credibility the Kurdish
authorities have gained in the fight against ISIS, make the possibility
of Krekar's return more likely. As far as the Norwegians are concerned,
the farther he is the better. But for the Kurdistan Region, allowing him
back would be a fatal mistake. There are only two scenarios for his
return: either he will be deported to Kurdistan and will be tried for
terrorism charges for his involvement in founding Ansar al-Islam, or the
charges will be dropped and he will walk a free man. . . . Krekar does
have some support. For that reason, should the KRG jail him upon his
return, it will have to deal with a significant number of Krekar sympathizers,
large enough to cause trouble.
Golpy concluded, "The Kurds say they are fighting the Islamic
State on behalf of the free world. On that note, the Kurds should ask the
Norwegian authorities to do their part in this particular case: please
keep him in Norway. We have had enough of him."
Responsibility for bringing Mullah Krekar justice will likely, as
indicated, end up in the hands of the Italians—who, like the Norwegians,
do not have a death penalty.
Stephen Schwartz is executive
director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, DC, and a
fellow at the Middle East Forum.
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment