OSLO - Mullah Krekar, the founder of radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, will be expelled from Norway to his native Iraq as soon as the political climate there stabilizes, the Norwegian government said on Thursday, rejecting his appeal of an existing deportation order.
Norwegian authorities decided in February 2003 to expel Krekar, whose real name is Fateh Najmeddin Faraj, due to national security concerns, but his deportation was suspended until the situation in Iraq improves and pending his appeal.
On rejecting the appeal, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna Solberg, who is also in charge of immigrant issues, said on Thursday that Krekar would be deported as soon as the political situation in Iraq stabilizes.
"Mullah Krekar poses a threat to national security, which makes this deportation necessary," she told reporters, adding that he would be expelled after Iraq adopts a new constitution and when a functioning, "legitimate" government has replaced the current provisional administration in the war-torn country.
Such conditions are not likely to exist until the end of the year at the earliest, according to a timetable issued by Iraqi authorities.
In addition to national security concerns, the Norwegian government has justified revoking Krekar's refugee status, which he received in 1991, because he had several times returned to Iraq.
Ansar al-Islam, which Krekar founded in 2001 and allegedly resigned from a year later, figures on the United States list of terrorist organizations.
US authorities also suspect him of involvement in the August 2003 suicide bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad, and of links with a suspect in the Madrid March 11 bombings last year.
05/12/2005 18:41 GMT