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| Terror Networks |
| Iran dumps Mullah Krekar, busted in Amsterdam... |
| 2002-09-13 |
| The leader of a Iraq-based Kurdish Islamic group suspected of having links with the al-Qaeda network has been detained in the Netherlands after being expelled from Iran. That's kind like saying Father McGuire's suspected of having links to the Pope... Mullah Krekar heads the militant group Ansar al-Islam, which controls a strip of Kurdish-controlled territory near the Iranian border known as Iraq's Tora Bora. He was arrested in Iran and expelled on Thursday, and is now being held in a cell at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. "Looky here, Mullah Krekar: we support terrorism world-wide, but you ain't a terrorist, you're a nut. So we're dumping your butt, and the rest of you with it..." It is unclear which charges, if any, he could face. How about being a terrorist? HE'S THE HEAD OF A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, YOU MEATHEADS!... (Sorry. Lost if for a minute, there...) Until recently, Mullah Krekar was a refugee in Norway. "Oh, yezzz... If I were to go back to my country, I would be persecuted for my beliefs." "And what are your beliefs?" "I believe in killing people. Lotsa people." But Norwegian authorities revoked his refugee status last month because he had travelled back to Iraq and stayed there for long periods. "This removes any basis for asylum," said Norway's Directorate of Immigration. When you travel at will back and forth, to and from the place you're claiming refuge from, that doesn't make Norway a refuge, it makes it a hideout. Ansar al-Islam [Supporters of Islam], based near the town of Halabja, started its life last September as Jund al-Islam [Soldiers of Islam]. The group is believed to be behind a number of explosions and assassination attempts against senior Kurdish officials. Sources in the Kurdish region say Iran provides the group with logistical support and facilitates its members' movements and access to the outside world. But the Iranian authorities deny this. "Nope. Not us. Maybe it's them Samoans?" Mullah Krekar's links with Afghanistan date back to the war against Soviet occupation in the 1980s. He studied Islamic law in Pakistan under Palestinian scholar Abdullah Azzam, the mentor of Osama bin Laden. In an interview that took place in June 2001, Mullah Krekar described Osama Bin Laden as the "jewel in the crown of the Muslim nation". Since its establishment, Ansar al-Islam has instituted a Taleban-style rule in the areas under its control. They're into chopping people's heads off, too... There are also reports that his group harbours some 150 "Afghan Arabs", who fled Afghanistan after the US-led attack last year. Ansar al-Islam forces have been involved in clashes with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main parties controlling Iraq's Kurdish region. They also rob graves... Mullah Krekar, 47, was granted asylum in Norway in 1991 and brought his family to join him at a later stage. His sons, Muggsy and Butch, are very popular. Fit right in from Day One... Reports say that he has not been in Norway since the 11 September attacks last year. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |