URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/04/02/a-pivotal-week-for-norways-resident-jihadist/
Here’s the story. Back in June 2010, Krekar – who at the time was facing possible expulsion to Iraq, where he insisted he was in danger of execution –issued the following warning: “My death will cost Norwegian society. If, for example, Erna Solberg tossing me out of the country leads to my death, she will suffer the same fate.” Solberg is head of the Norwegian Conservative Party.
So it was that on Monday of last week, to the surprise of many, an Oslo court actually took action against Krekar – not only for his threat against Solberg, but also for similar threats against other, less high-profile individuals. Sentenced to five years in prison, he was released pending appeal. His lawyer, Brynjar Meling, admitted that the court’s decision took him and his client aback. And understandably so – after all, Krekar has been a clear and present danger in Norway for years and yet has been allowed to reside in Oslo, living proof of the fecklessness of European governments in the face of the enemy within. Why start taking this peril seriously now?
In court last Monday, Krekar insisted, in his defense, that his singling out of Solberg was mere happenstance. “Solberg was just a name that popped into my head,” he said. “It’s as if I’m talking about German philosophy and mention Schopenhauer or Hegel – it’s just a name. She was just a symbol for me.” In other words, he isn’t particularly set on killing Solberg – there’s a whole bunch of other Norwegian officials whom he could just as happily kill instead. (Great defense: if I’m willing to blow just anyone to bits, you must acquit!)
Krekar went on to say something that came off (such is his wont) as yet another threat: “Muslims must provide security to the country that has given them security. As long as I received security and safety here, Norwegians were able to enjoy the same thing.” And now that Norwegians were threatening to lock him up? The mullah’s point is clear: if Norway makes war on him, he’ll make war on Norway.
Following his court appearance, Krekar headed for the studios of Norway’s TV2 to be interviewed by Al-Jazeera. When a TV2 reporter asked for a comment on the way out, Krekar got a tad violent (video here). Two, um, journalists from Al-Jazeera restrained him, whereupon one of them asked TV2′s cameraman to hand over the video of Krekar’s outburst. His request was, admirably, denied. One of the two Al-Jazeera boys then complained that TV2 had been wrong to videotape Krekar: it was, he said, a simple matter of “respect.” Among other things, this encounter tidily demonstrated – old news, of course – that for many Muslims, “respect” between themselves and infidels is a one-way street.