Police released the founder of suspected Iraqi terror group Ansar al-Islam late Tuesday as Norwegian media reported that rival Kurds had forced some witnesses to testify against him. On Tuesday, Mullah Krekar, smiling and carrying his belongings in a white plastic bag, walked out of jail. "Jail is not good, but the people were good. And I was busy with books," he said before being whisked away.
| "I worked out several excellent plans to kill them all, except for their women, who will be enslaved..." |
"There has been new information in the past few days that results in us not finding grounds to hold him longer," Einar Hoegetveit, the head of the Norwegian economic crime police, said in a telephone interview. The economic crime police started the investigation into Krekar based on possible financing of terrorism. Hoegetveit would not say what the information was, whether any or all charges against the Kurdish leader would be dropped, or if the investigation was continuing. "This just happened this evening," he said. "Whatever happens now will take a few days to decide." Defense lawyer Arvid Sjoedin told the Norwegian news agency NTB that he understood Norwegian police had re-questioned Kurdish witnesses when not supervised by the rival Kurds of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The witnesses claimed to have been tortured into making claims against Krekar, he said. Another defense attorney, Brynar Meling, said police had released Krekar without a court order. Chief prosecutor Erling Grimstad declined to comment Tuesday night. |