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Kurdish Muslim leader Mullah Krekar hails
Bin Laden and Zarqawi
22.6.2006
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OSLO, June 22, 2006 (AFP) , -- The founder of
radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, Mullah Krekar,
on Thursday hailed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden
and the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
who was killed two weeks ago.
"Osama bin Laden is a good man. I wish him a long
life. He is a good Muslim and he is against the Bush
administration," Krekar, known for his controversial
statements, told AFP in Oslo.
Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj and
who has lived in Norway since 1991, is considered a
national security risk in the Scandinavian country
and is to be expelled, though his deportation has
been suspended until the security situation in Iraq
improves.
"Abu Musab al-Zarqawi became a martyr. His death is
bad news but I am not sad because he went to
paradise," Krekar said.
Zarqawi was killed on June 7 in a US air strike on
his hideout in farmland north of Baghdad.
"Of course everything he's done was not good. When
he was fighting against the American troops in Iraq,
it was good but when he carried out crimes against
civilians, Shiite Muslims and some Sunni Muslims, it
was not good," he said.
Krekar denied however reports that he had claimed to
be "ready to sacrifice himself" for Osama bin Laden.
The reports were carried Thursday by the Norwegian
media, citing Kurdish weekly Awene. |
Mullah Krekar, the founder of radical and Terrorist
Islamist group Ansar al-Islam
Photo: AP
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
Al Qaeda Islamic
terrorist leader in Iraq
Photo:Reuters |
"The translation of my words is perhaps not exactly
right," he said, refusing to comment further on his
remarks.
After several failed appeals against the Norwegian
government's expulsion order, Krekar now says he
wants to return to Iraq, but "as a free man" to
fight against the US-led coalition.
"I hope to return to Iraq to fight the American
troops. They try to destroy my country, its
civilization, its culture, its language, its
economy, everything, just like the Nazis did in
Europe until 1945 and like the Russians did in
Afghanistan," he said.
"But I want to do that as a free man, not because
Norway obliges me to," he added.
Krekar insists that he is no longer the head of
Ansar al-Islam. The group is based in Iraqi
Kurdistan near the border with Iran and is on the US
list of terrorist organisations, though it has been
severely weakened by intense US bombings.
AFP
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