|
Oslo court extends mullah custody
A Norwegian court has ordered the founder of an Islamic militant group to remain in custody for another four weeks. Mullah Krekar, head of the Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam, was charged last December with plotting the murder of his political rivals in northern Iraq. "The accused, with reasonable grounds, can still be suspected of illegal acts," a court statement said. Iâd say so. US officials say Ansar al-Islam may be behind Sundayâs suicide bombings in northern Iraq, which killed 56 people. The US also suspects the group has links to the al-Qaeda network. Theyâre a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Iraqi Kurdish mullah has repeatedly claimed he is no longer leader of Ansar al-Islam, and denies terror links. Except when being interviewed on the al-Jaz website. Norwegian prosecutors had sought to keep him in detention while they investigated what they said was new evidence against him, relating to a plot to murder rivals in Iraq during 2000-2001. Norwayâs elite economic crime unit, Oekokrim, presented its evidence on Friday in a closed-door session of the court. Economic crime unit = following the money. The nature of the new allegations is not known. Posted by: Steve 2004-02-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=25466 |