Norway's most famous refugee, Mullah Krekar, tops a new list of terror suspects compiled by the US. A Norwegian researcher says the US is trying to pressure Norway into confining Krekar until he can be deported back to Iraq.
Norwegian court recently affirmed a government decision to revoke Krekar's refugee status and deport him on the grounds Krekar poses a risk to national security.
Norway feels it can't carry out a deportation, however, because Krekar faces torture or the death penalty in Iraq. The former head of the Islamic guerrilla group Ansar al-Islam therefore remains free in Norway, and supported by Norwegian taxpayers.
US officials have long been frustrated by the situation, and put Krekar at the top of a Treasury Department list released Thursday of five men suspected of supporting or financing terrorist acts. Placement on the list allows US authorities to freeze any assets the suspect may have in the US and prevents any US citizens or businesses from conducting any financial transactions with the suspect.
The Treasury Department claimed that a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by Krekar sent money to terrorist organizations as late as spring 2005, and that the NGO actively recruited Europeans to terrorist groups.
Krekar himself scoffed at his placement on the list, claiming the US authorities had no proof of any such terrorist financing. Krekar said he didn't know any of the other four men on the list.
Federal prosecutor Tor-Aksel Busch said he hadn’t been told about the US Treasury Department's list, and therefore had no comment.
Unhappy Americans
Anders Romarheim, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt, NUPI), said he thinks the US is trying to pressure Norway by placing Krekar on the list.
"The Americans are dissatisfied that Mullah Krekar goes free in Norway," Romarheim told news bureau NTB. "This is all about putting pressure on Norway."
He said a recent article in the Washington Post also indicates how impatient the US authorities are. Krekar was used in the article as an example, he claimed, of how the US is fighting militant Islamists who go free in Europe even though the Americans view them as a security risk.
Romarheim noted that Krekar was the alleged target of a CIA plot to kidnap him in 2003 and send him to Egypt or Jordan for questioning. Krekar's defense lawyer Brynjar Meling asked for police protection for Krekar at the time.
