Norwegian authorities have begun forcibly deporting around 400 refugees from northern Iraq whose applications for asylum were rejected. Mullah Krekar, however, continues to remain in Norway until Iraq guarantees he won't be executed upon return. The Norwegian authorities, however, won't deport any persons who face a death penalty in their homeland. The authorities also want guarantees that Krekar will be treated in accordance with the European convention on human rights. Negotiations between Norway and Iraq are being handled through the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, but a spokesman told newspaper Aftenposten on Wednesday that there's nothing new regarding Krekar's deportation.Krekar, the former head of guerrilla group Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, has claimed all along that his life is in danger back in Iraq, even though he traveled back and forth several times on his own before the Norwegians charged him with asylum violations. Around 400 other Iraqis who have lost their bid for asylum in Norway now face forced deportation. Three Iraqis were sent back to Erbil in northern Iraq last week, reported Aftenposten. A few others have returned voluntarily. The cases of another few hundred Iraqi Kurds are expected to be decided this fall, after they were granted residence permission for a year last autumn by the former leadership of Norway's immigration agency UDI. Among them was Krekar's mother-in-law. The residence permission was granted in defiance of government directives, and led to a political controversy that resulted in a major shake-up at UDI and reprimands of UDI officials.