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Bahceli: Barzani's Statement Is Unacceptable How Kurdistan's first suicide bomber changed his mind Interrogations link Al Qaeda to Iraq Two hundred Iraqi Kurdish immigrants land in southern Italy Turkey, Iraqi Kurdish Tensions High Jalal Talabani Interview with Asharq Al-Awsat Iraqi Kurd Fighters Seen More Organized Iranian troops deployed on Iraqi border: Kurds Saddam's son says Iran not al-Qaeda behind Kurdistan Islamist group KDP Slams Berlin Embassy Seizure as "Terrorism" Barham Salih: The Radical group Ansar al-Islam Plans Attacks Talabani Wants US Date for Post-Saddam Poll U.S. Monitors Kurdish Extremists raq orders banks to be opened in Kurdistan Saddam will not stop me being a Kurd
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Islamist Kurds upset by Iranian switch LONDON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A revolutionary Islamist force in Iraqi Kurdistan has been thrown into consternation by a switch in Iranian policy that resulted in the arrest in the Netherlands of its military leader, Kurdish sources said Sunday. The leader is known as Mala Krekar. Mala is the Kurdish form of mullah, a Muslim religious title, and Krekar means Laborer. Krekar's real name is Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, and he is the military leader of Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) that has seized a number of villages in Iraqi Kurdistan on the border with Iran. Ansar is seeking to overthrow the secular Kurdish authorities and replace them with a Taliban-style regime. Ahmad was refused entrance to Iran when he arrived at Tehran airport last week and then by Norway before being arrested when he arrived at Schipol airport in the Netherlands on Sept. 13. Kurdish sources told United Press International that Ahmad would have originally left Iraqi Kurdistan for Europe by way of Iran. Iranian authorities, the sources said, have facilitated travel for Ansar officials to and from their enclave. Given this past Iranian practice, the Kurds say, Tehran's refusal to admit Ahmad signaled a change in policy towards Ansar. Its members are now afraid to leave their enclave for fear of also ending up under arrest. Ahmad and Ansar are believed by U.S. officials to have ties to al Qaida and are virulently anti-American. Attorney General John Ashcroft reportedly discussed Ahmad last week with his Dutch counterpart, Piet Hein Donner. Jordan has also asked the Netherlands for Ahmad's extradition to face charges of drug trafficking. According to officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which controls the eastern part of Iraqi Kurdistan where Ansar is ensconced, there are about 120 Arabs, who arrived from Afghanistan, in the 500-strong Ansar force. Ansar first appeared in Iraqi Kurdistan a week or so before the Sept.11 attacks on New York and Washington. Soon after their arrival, Ansar members killed over 40 PUK militiamen they had taken prisoner, slaying them with swords in front of villagers. In February 1991, these sources said, Ansar, then known as Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), murdered Fransu Hariri, the most prominent Christian Chaldean political figure in Iraq. Earlier this year the Jund/Ansar attempted but failed to assassinate Barham Salih, prime minister of the PUK area. According to other Kurdish sources, speaking to UPI on condition of anonymity, Ansar has tightened security to halt defections by its members, including Arab Afghan fighters, that began when it was learned Ahmad was under arrest. There is a growing fear among the Islamist fighters that the United States will target their bases as part of possible military operations against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds say. Ahmad sought to go to Norway because his family is there. He first arrived in Norway in 1991 and received refugee status, which was revoked last month. Since his arrest,
Ahmad has been held in a high-security prison. Last Thursday, the Dutch extended
his detention for another three weeks.
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