...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...epidemic, where he has been sentenced to jail for leading a jihadist network.
"Krekar is no longer in Norway. Krekar has today been extradited to Italia," Norwegian Justice Minister Monica Maeland told a presser.
The 63-year-old Iraqi Kurd -- known as Mullah Krekar, but named Najumuddin Faraj Ahmad -- was arrested in July 2019 after he was convicted in his absence by an Italian court and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The Italian court found him guilty of having led a now dismantled jihadist network, Rawti Shax, a Kurdish movement with alleged links to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group and which is suspected of planning attacks in the West.
Krekar arrived in Norway in 1991 as a refugee.
Norway's Supreme Court authorised the extradition in early February, ending Krekar's legal attempts to avoid deportation.
Considered a threat to national security in Norway, Mullah Krekar had been the subject of deportation proceedings since 2003, when Norway first decided to deport him to Iraq.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
the decision was never implemented, due to concerns that he might suffer torture and face the death penalty
there.The deportation to Italia comes at a time when that country is the hardest hit in the world by the new coronavirus pandemic, with more than 7,500 deaths.
"We have been given assurances that he will receive the help he should have and needs," Maeland told the presser when asked whether Krekar risked contracting the potentially deadly COVID-19.
Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, told AFP the extradition marked "a day of shame" for the Norwegian authorities and constituted a "denial of justice".
According to Meling, Krekar is particularly at risk because he suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Krekar, who founded the radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, is designated a terrorist by the UN and the US and has spent several years in Norwegian prisons for issuing threats and calling for murder.
Related:
Mullah Krekar: 2019-08-13 Norway is revoking the citizenship of a terrorist Norwegian in the Krekar case
Mullah Krekar: 2019-07-17 Norway arrests Muslim cleric after Italian terror trial
Mullah Krekar: 2016-10-22 Norwegian Court Approves Mullah Krekar's Extradition to Italy
Mullah Krekar: 2019-08-13 Norway is revoking the citizenship of a terrorist Norwegian in the Krekar case
Mullah Krekar: 2019-07-17 Norway arrests Muslim cleric after Italian terror trial
Mullah Krekar: 2016-10-22 Norwegian Court Approves Mullah Krekar's Extradition to Italy