Jul 16, 2019

Norway has arrested controversial Iraqi Kurdish fundamentalist preacher Mullah Krekar after he was convicted in Italy of "terrorist" conspiracy, the PST intelligence service said Tuesday.

A refugee in Norway since 1991, 63-year-old Krekar -- whose real name is Najumuddin Ahmad Faraj -- is accused by Italy of leading the Rawti Shax, a network with alleged links to the Islamic State group and which is suspected o

f planning attacks in the West.

In his absence, a court in Bolzano in northern Italy sentenced him Monday to 12 years' imprisonment on a charge of "terrorist conspiracy". It also sentenced five co-accused.

"The PST, with the assistance of Oslo police, arrested Mullah Krekar on Monday evening under an international search warrant and an Italian arrest warrant," the agency said on Twitter.