A man in his 20s has turned himself in to police in Gothenburg, Sweden, in connection with last year’s alleged assassination attempt against Mullah Krekar, who came to Norway as a refugee and since has been deemed a threat to national security.
Shots were fired against Krekar’s former flat in Oslo in January of 2009. Police were about to give up on finding the gunman, but Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that new technical evidence from the crime scene led them to the man now under arrest in Gothenburg.
Police declined to release many details but say they can connect the suspect now under arrest to the shooting at Krekar’s flat in Oslo’s Tøyen district. He has been placed in remand custody for three weeks and Norwegian officials have initiated an extradition request.
Mullah Krekar’s son-in-law was wounded in the shooting on the night of January 24, 2010. Krekar, who once led the guerrilla group Ansar al-Islam, was uninjured. He and his family now live at a secret address, pending his deportation back to Iraq. Norwegian authorities banished Krekar from Norway as long ago as 2003, after he’d repeatedly violated terms of his asylum and was linked to terrorist activity, but won’t send him to Iraq unless they receive a guarantee he won’t be executed there.
Views and News staff
