TV2: ‘Krekar wanted to burn Parliament’

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Norwegian television channel TV2 has reported that Mullah Krekar, the Muslim cleric now facing new terror charges, wanted to set fire to the Norwegian flag, the Norwegian constitution and the Parliament building. TV2 cited police documents that led to charges filed against Krekar in Italy after a European investigation.

Krekar was charged by Italian prosecutors earlier this month with leading a terrorist organization that allegedly planned attacks both in Norway and elsewhere in Europe. As part of their investigation, Norway’s police intelligence unit PST was asked to listen in on meetings Krekar had at the Kongsvinger prison, where he already was serving a jail term for making threats.

TV2 reported it had access to 1,200 pages of documents from the investigation, including transcripts of Krekar’s conversations. The documents indicate that Krekar told his contacts he would give a signal for his followers to burn a Norwegian flag in a public demonstration. Krekar also allegedly claimed, in one of the conversations that was tapped, that he wished he was able to burn down a Norwegian embassy as well.

The burning of a flag was to be just the first step towards also “burning the Norwegian constitution. And as a third step we will come to the Parliament and set it on fire.”

Krekar’s defense attorney, Brynjar Meling, said he was not aware of either the surveillance Krekar allegedly was under or what came out of it. Meling said he thus could not comment on the contents of the police documents. staff