Kurdish media is reporting that the Muslim Brotherhood in Kurdistan is prepared to welcome back Mullah Krekar, a well known Al-Qaeda supporter currently residing Norway, should he be deported from that country. According to the report:
As the Norwegian government says that it is awaiting an opportunity to deport fundamentalist leader Mullah Krekar to Iraq, an Islamic party legally working in Iraqi Kurdistan said it will welcome back Krekar as a member. “Teacher Krekar was one of the leaders of the [Kurdistan] Islamic Movement for years,” said Shwan Qaladzayee, a member of the political bureau of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIM), which has 2 members of the Kurdistan Parliament. “He can have the same post he used to hold. At any time he can return if he agrees with the way the movement is currently working,” added Mr. Qaladzayee. After he left the KIM, Norway-based Krekar established his own party in the mountainous regions of Hawraman in Sulaimani of Iraqi Kurdistan in 2001. He and his fundamentalist party are considered an active supporter of al-Qaeda by the United Nations. Furthermore, the Norwegian government deemed him as a threat to national security in 2007, according to the Norwegian website The Foreigner. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said that he wants Krekar to be deported “at the earliest opportunity.” But since capital punishment is allowed by the Iraqi Law, the Norwegian government has feared that Krekar’s death could damage its reputation as a European country. “Mullah Krekar has really done no crime against humanity. He has never violated human rights; that is why I do not think there would be any problem facing him in Kurdistan,” said Mr. Qaladzayee. Iraq’s Deputy Minister of Interior, Gen. Hussein Ali Kemal, said that Mullah Krekar is not wanted by the Iraqi government. “The Supreme Court of the Kurdistan Region or the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG] should demand [the deportation of]Mullah Krekar,” said Gen. Kemal. “Once the KRG demand this, we will send its demand to the Norwegian government based on the Iraqi Law.” However, here locally in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mullah Krekar is wanted. Jalal Karim, Deputy Minister of Interior of Kurdistan, said that “The Security Force [known as Assaish]has appeals filed against Mullah Krekar; therefore, he will be arrested and taken to the court as he steps into the Airport.” The headquarters’ of Mulla Krekar’s party in Kurdistan were all bombed by the United States’ missiles at the outbreak of the 2003 war on Iraq. He then fled to Iran and from Iran to Norway where he is based now.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has identified the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kurdistan. A previous post from August 2009 reported that the KIU had won nine parliamentary seats in the Kurdistan National Assembly July 25 elections while the political coalition that the KIU led in the elections, the Reform & Services List gained approximately 12.8% of the electorate vote. However, a later post reported that the KIU was not going to be participating in the Kurdish government.
The BBC has a short profile on the KIU:
Also known as Yekgirtu, the Kurdish Islamic Union is the largest Islamic organisation in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was formally established in 1994. The group’s leaders fought the 1992 legislative elections in Kurdish-controlled Iraq, winning third place behind the KDP and PUK. The party is currently led by Secretary-General Sheikh Salah al-Din Muhammad Baha al-Din. The party is supported mainly by donations from Saudi Islamic organisations. Active in charity work in the region, the party has been building mosques, clinics and schools in rural areas, where it has a strong following.
For the KIU website, go here.