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OSLO,
March 10 (AFP) - The new Iraqi administration will
not condemn radical Islamic leader Mullah Krekar to
death, Iraq's justice minister said Thursday, after
Norwegian authorities ordered the expulsion of the
Iraqi Kurd.
Iraqi authorities could not however guarantee
Krekar's security, Malek Dohane al-Hassan was quoted
as saying by Nettavisen, a Norwegian web-based
newspaper.
U.S. authorities say Krekar is the founder of Ansar
al-Islam, a group allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda that
has conducted terrorist attacks in Iraq. They also
suspect him of involvement in the August 2003
suicide bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad, and of
links with a suspect in the Madrid March 11 bombings
last year.
"We are building a democratic state in Iraq and we
are not going to punish a man because he sympathizes
with militant groups or because he has resisted the
occupation," al-Hassan said.
"The Iraqi government holds nothing against Krekar,
but of course we cannot guarantee his security if he
has enemies in Iraq," he added.
On Monday, Norwegian authorities confirmed the order
to expel Krekar, whose real name is believed to be
Fateh Najmeddin Faraj.
Krekar has lived in Norway as a refugee since 1991,
but authorities revoked his status last year because
he had returned to Iraq several times.
Although prosecutors have had to drop charges of
murder and terrorist financing brought against him
due to lack of evidence, authorities said they
believed he represented a threat to Norway's
national security.
In Monday's order of expulsion, they underlined that
"several sources have linked the suspect to
Al-Qaeda".
Krekar has repeatedly pleaded innocent to all
accusations and his lawyer said he would continue to
appeal against his expulsion.
AFP
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