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| Europe |
| Mullah Krekar admits |
| 2002-09-25 |
| Mala [Mullah] Krekar, the leader of a Taliban-like Iraqi Kurdish group, has admitted to links with Osama bin Laden, according to an Iraqi Kurdish newspaper report Wednesday. Kurdistani Nuwe reported that in an interview recorded last November, Krekar, whose real name is Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, admitted he had met the head of al Qaida network during visits to Afghanistan. The paper, affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan that controls the eastern part of Iraqi Kurdistan, quoted Ahmad as saying, "I have visited many countries and met Islamic thinkers like Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man Ayman al Zawahiri who are true, faithful Muslims." That's actually pretty thin. I once met an archbishop, but that never made me a Catholic... Krekar said members of his Ansar al-Islam, or Supporters of Islam, were proud of the jihad they made in Afghanistan, referring to resistance there to the Russian occupation that ended in 1989. That brings him a little closer to Binny... Krekar attracted international attention when he headed back to Iraqi Kurdistan from a visit to his family in Norway. Although he had an entry visa from the Iranian Embassy in Oslo, he was not allowed to land at Tehran airport. He then sought to return to Norway but was refused entry there, too. That was mighty nice of the Medes and the Persians. Nice of the Norwegians, too... Krekar ended up in the Netherlands where he is being held in a high-security prison. Jordan has asked for him to be extradited to face drug trafficking charges in Amman and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft reportedly has discussed Ahmad with his Dutch counterpart, Piet Hein Donner. The words "stench and pestilence" were used... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |