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| Europe |
| Mullah 'not sorry for cameraman's death' |
| 2007-11-12 |
| THE former leader of the terrorist group responsible for the suicide bombing that killed an Australian cameraman in Iraq in 2003 is unapologetic about his death. Paul Moran, a freelance cameraman, was in the Kurdish region covering the opening days of the Iraq war for the ABC when a blast killed him and at least five Kurdish soldiers. Dozens more, including ABC journalist Eric Campbell, were wounded. The suicide bomber belonged to Ansar al Islam, a Sunni Muslim group listed as affiliated with al-Qaeda. Najmaddin Faraj Ahmad, the Kurdish Iraqi better known as Mullah Krekar, had by that time allegedly relinquished control of Ansar and fled to Norway as a refugee. Krekar told ABC TV's Foreign Correspondent the suicide bomber's target was the Kurdish soldiers and not the film crew. But he showed little remorse that Mr Moran was among the dead. "How (would the bomber) know that this man is Australian - and is photographer only - and know he is innocent?" Krekar told Foreign Correspondent in Norway. "(The bomber) came to kill this line, which is the military line, he cannot choose to stop, oh your friends ... who are with the other soldiers. "I think it is, like you say, Muslims not say this, wrong time ... wrong work in the wrong time," he said with a smile. Krekar said he had never been quizzed by Australian officials over his involvement in Moran's death. This is despite the Australian Government formally listing Ansar as a terrorist organisation a week after the suicide bombing and listing Mullah Krekar as its leader. "If there was something against me ... Australian people, (Prime Minister) John Howard can send some people or some papers, some letters to court in Norway," he said. "... no one ask me about this, which mean that I have not any contact with this." Asked if he had any message for Moran's widow and family, Mullah Krekar said: "I say to all of the western women, don't send your sons to kill us." When reminded Moran was a cameraman and had not killed anyone, he replied: "Yes ... he was also with our enemy." Krekar said jihad allowed Muslims to kill their enemies and anyone who helped them. "It is allowed for me in Islam to kill him (the enemy), to kill his translator, to kill the people which give him food and water, give him medicine, all of them is in the line of war," he said. Krekar has lost a Norwegian Supreme Court appeal against deportation but is unlikely to be sent back to Iraq because of Norway's strict policy against deporting individuals to countries that engage in torture or have the death penalty. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 I could see considerable justice in the discreet administration to this cur of a particularly virulent strain of syphilis. He would be less smug once his nose had rotted off and the worms had chewed on his brain. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-12 19:21 |
| #5 yep. The mullah emits greenhouse gas with every breath. Perhaps the Norwegians can work that angle. For the children, of course. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-11-12 17:11 |
| #4 The fact that he is still breathing is a waste of perfectly good air. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-11-12 16:58 |
| #3 Ansar al-Islam calls on followers to kill Australian troops and their civilian support staff in Iraq |
| Posted by: Oztralian 2007-11-12 16:50 |
| #2 In principle I cannot disagree with the Mullah - it was a pretty normal case of collateral damage. However, Krekar is an admitted enemy, and should be treated as such - imprisoned or killed. Norway will learn that or suffer an inevitable fate. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-11-12 15:33 |
| #1 Maybe Norway ought to rethink it's policy, just to see this tough guy wet his pants when they hand him the plane ticket... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-11-12 15:31 |