Court: Norway Islamist can be extradited to Italy

Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, filed an immediate appeal against the decision.

“The District Court has been wrong before and will be wrong again. This decision will be appealed to the Court of Appeals,” he told VG.

Meling has accused PST of passively accepting the Italian allegations that the Krekar and a 42-year-old Iraqi who resides in Drammen are involved in the inteational terrorist organization Rawti Shax, an offshoot of the jihadist group Ansar al-Islam.

PST's police attoey Signe Kathrine Aalling said in court that although the security service did not have possession of all the Italian investigation material, they believe that the material meets the conditions for extraditing the two men

Krekar was arrested in November of last year, along with a number of men in several countries in Europe, in a coordinated action ordered by the Italian police. Italian authorities claim that Krekar, who came to Norway in 1991, is the leader of Rawti Shax and have requested his extradition on charges that he is behind terrorist plots.

Both Meling and 42-year-old defender Solveig Høgtun have been highly critical of the PST for refusing to hand over more of the evidence they posses. Both lawyer argue that any legal proceedings against the two men should be held in Norway.

Oslo District Court Judge Jaicke Johaesen challenged PST in court over why the case could not be prosecuted in Norway, saying that extradition agreements typically apply to the country where the criminal offence took place.

PST attoey Aalling responded by saying that it is not clear whether the offence had been committed in Norway or Italy, as long as the alleged terror cell took shape in Italy but was coordinated in Norway.

The 59-year-old Krekar, a former guerilla leader from northe Iraq, has been in the Norwegian court system 60 times since relocating to the country.