A court in Norway on Monday jailed Iraq-born Islamic cleric Mullah Krekar for five years for making death threats against Norwegian officials and others.
Krekar, who arrived in Norway as a refugee in 1991, was found guilty of making death threats against former Norwegian Minister Erna Solberg as well as three Kurds immigrants living in Norway.
The Kurdish Islamic cleric has consistently denied any wrongdoings in both cases, and indicated in court on Monday that he planned to appeal.
The 55-year-old cleric, whose real name is Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad, was accused of threatening the three Norwegian Kurds after they burned pages of the Holy Koran or insulted it in another way.
He was also accused of making a death threat against Solberg after she found the cleric to be a threat to national security while in office and signed an order to expel him from the country in 2003.
Krekar, however, was not expelled from Norway despite Solberg's orders due to the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. He has been living with his family in suburban eastern Oslo after being granted asylum in 1991.
While in Norway, Krekar had founded the radical Islamic group Ansar al-Islam in 2001. The group, based mainly in northern Iraq, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations as well as the United States.
Further, the U.N. added Krekar in 2006 to a list of persons believed to have links with the al-Qaeda. Krekar has denied having any links to the al-Qaeda, and insists that he stepped down as leader of Ansar al-Islam in 2002.
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