Jordan has charged Krekar and 14 other people, most of them currently residing in Iran, with planning terrorist attacks against US and Israeli targets, in close cooperation with al-Qaeda.

[Prosecutor Col. Mahmoud Obeidat] alleges that Iraqi Najm al-Din Faraj Ahmad, better known as Mullah Krekar, the leader of Ansar al-Islam, and Jordanian militant Ahmed al-Khalayleh, or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a reputed top al-Qaida figure, are both leading organizers and members of the 15-member cell.

Al-Zarqawi, also convicted in the millennium terror plot with al-Riyati, is being tried in absentia over the 2002 killing of Laurence Foley, a 60-year-old U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.

Obeidat alleged in the indictment sheet that al-Qaida and Ansar al-Islam had agreed to conduct terrorist attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests in Jordan, plus attack Western tourists and top Jordanian security officials.

Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, comments that this proves the former Jordanian attempt to extradite Krekar on drug charges to be a scam, a "game controlled by the American government". Anticipating the Norwegian police, which dropped its charges of terrorism against Krekar a while ago, Meling now wants this part of the investigation to be reopened, to get the accusations of terrorism "out of the way". He denies there's any legal way for Norway to extradite Krekar, and says that if the charges can be proved, the prosecution can and should take place in Norway. This is probably correct, and I fear we won't be rid of Krekar for some time yet. I still believe the right thing to do is to kick him out for the one offense we can prove with certainty, that he has violated the terms of his residency permit by visiting the country he had supposedly fled, Iraq, send him back and let their courts deal with him. Iraq will undoubtedly form special courts to handle the crimes of the Saddam era - and what better way to deal with the (ex?)leader of Ansar al-Islam?

Btw, a side-track: One of last year's bestsellers in Norway was The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad, who wrote about the inner life of an Afghan family she lived with in the spring of 2002. I haven't read it, but it wasn't all that flattering, with accusations of abuse and honor killings of female family members. An English edition will be published later this year, and a copy of this was given to the family father, the bookseller, who was shocked by the content - not only accusations of abuse but anecdotes of family members' sexual life. (Everything in the boook was shared with Seierstad in English with the knowledge that she was writing a book - she wasn't listening at doors - but seeing it in print is perhaps a bit different from talking about it.) The bookseller feared that parts of the book would put the lives of family members in danger if read by neighbours and relatives. Seierstad had already made changes in the English edition with this in mind, but the bookseller intends to go to court in all countries where the book will be published, and sue for damages. His concern, most likely, is primarily with his own honor, and his family's to the extent that it reflects on his own, but, interestingly, many media commentators have been sympathetic to his accusation that Seierstad abused the trust of her host. This may be partly due to the build-up-tear-down ritual of instant celebrityhood, and partly a multiculturalist reflex - but I haven't read the book, and could be wrong. (The controversy has, of course, only increased interest in the book.)

Now, here's the interesting part: Guess who the bookseller from Kabul has hired as his Norwegian lawyer? Yes: Brynjar Meling. This alone predisposes me against his case. Meling is known in Norway for, afaik, one thing only: His beyond-dutiful defense of Mullah Krekar. One can argue that Meling's role as Krekar's very active and eager media spokesman is a natural extention of his duties as a defense lawyer, because some trials are played out as much in the media as in the courts, and this is one of them. I don't agree. A defense lawyer's duty is to defend and speak for his client in court, to make sure that none of his rights are violated. This includes speaking on behalf of his client to the media. But Brynjar Meling has gone beyond that duty and has become more of a politician's spin doctor than a buffer between an accused and the media. Krekar's political cause is evil, and that means that anything Meling does beyond his duty is evil too. Of course, if I was an evil bin Laden sympathizer stuck in Norway, I would hire noone else to speak for me. I suppose Meling has found a niche in the shady side of multiculturalism, and is happy with it - what confuses me is why he's getting away with it.

>Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, comments that this proves the former Jordanian attempt to extradite Krekar on drug charges to be a scam, a "game controlled by the American government".

Meling plays that America-card quite often. He knows that for some in Norway, the only thing worse than having Krekar in Norway would be having to hand him over to the Americans. As a favor to Norway, I think the U.S. will not ask this Norwegian government to do that. But the day of reckoning will come, as you say Bjørn, when an Iraqi-sponsored war crimes tribunal may want to see Krekar returned to Iraq.

Sort of OT:

Rantburg's got a link up of Iraqi/AQ/others' ties.

This could be the knot we're looking for.

For those of you not familiar w/rantburg, it could be a little rough.

Stephen Pollard has a new blog and an article in the Telegraph. Anyone else get the message here:

...A Hamas member explained to an interviewer last month that: "The Jews have destroyed your Christianity just like they are trying to destroy our Islam. You should read the words of the Prophet. Join us. We do not just want to liberate Palestine. We want all countries to live under the Caliphate. The Islamic army once reached the walls of Vienna. It will happen again."...

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water :: andrésgentry: Something to keep in mind, September 21, 2003 05:58 AM

Butterflies and Wheels comments on something which has exercised me since I first arrived in China: There are times when, do what we will, we are confronted with goals, values, moral preferences, that are in flat contradiction. We have to