Norway Drops Case Against Exiled Kurdish Mullah Krekar

15/06/2004| IslamWeb

Prosecutors in Norway dropped their case against Mullah Krekar, the Iraqi Kurd founder of Ansar al-Islam accused of inciting murder and funding terrorism, largely due to lack of evidence. "The decision to shut the case means that the crown prosecutor found no basis on which to charge Krekar with any crime and he (Krekar) therefore has the right, from a legal standpoint, to be considered innocent of the accusations brought against him," the crown prosecutor's office said. Krekar has lived in Norway as a refugee since 1991. He had since September 2002 been the target of a Norwegian police inquiry concerning, among other things, his possible involvement in conspiracy to commit murder against Kurdish-Iraqi political rivals and possible funding of terrorist organisations. He repeatedly pleaded innocent to all charges. Krekar founded Ansar al-Islam in December 2001, but insists he has not led the group since May 2002. US Secretary of State Colin Powell alleged in the run-up to the war on Iraq that Ansar al-Islam, which means Helpers of Islam, was linked to Saddam Hussein, but no such link has been proven. Norway's crown prosecutor Tor-Aksel Busch told a press conference that some of the allegations against Krekar had come from former Ansar al-Islam members in prisons held by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a rival Kurdish organisation. Krekar said meanwhile that he considered the prosecutor's decision a "victory". He said he now planned to give Arabic lessons in Oslo. Krekar was jailed twice during the inquiry but released both times. He was also arrested in the Netherlands in September 2002 and detained for four months. There he was questioned by US FBI agents before being released and sent to Norway. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Mullah Krekar (L) talks to journalists in Oslo Courthouse. (AFP)