that Krekar was arrested in Oslo. His arrest was requested by Italian authorities as they suspected that he has led Rawti Shax, an offshoot on Ansar al-Islam. A court in Bolzano, Italy sentenced him to 12 years in prison in absentia. Italy has requested his extradition with the intent of deporting him to Iraqi Kurdistan. Krekar has denied the charges against him, calling the case "fake". Italy He is being held at a prison in Milan (as of 2021). Rawthi Shax terrorist cell trial In 2019, Krekar was found to be the leader of the jihadi terrorist cell Rawthi Shax and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The guilty verdict and the sentence were upheld in a trial in Bolzano. Extradition to Italy On 26 March 2020, it was announced that Mullah Krekar had been extradited from Norway to Italy, where he will be sentenced to jail for leading a jihadist network. His lawyer Brynjar Meling was deeply upset about this turn of events, citing his client's poor health (which include both diabetes and high blood pressure), the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and the subpar condition of the Rebibbia prison, which had recently seen both a mutiny and several deaths owing to the COVID-virus. He [was previously] held in the Badu 'e Carros prison in Nuoro, Sardinia. Krekar's views In November 2009, controversy erupted when Krekar in an interview with the Arab television channel al-Hiwar said he wanted to establish a new Islamic Caliphate in Iraq, claiming that for Jihadists there is no legitimate state, with the exception of the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. For the Islamic "super-state" he wanted Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida-top Ayman al-Zawahiri or Hizb-e Islami-founder Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as leader, and other radical Islamists as leader, citing for instance Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or Ayman Al-Zawahiri as the foreign minister. As a result, the Progress Party continued their call for the imprisonment of Krekar, and the Labour Party stated for the first time they would form a new task force which would examine if people officially labeled as "danger to national security" could be imprisoned. Azzam Tamimi who had done the interview with Krekar, also said that he felt Krekar had been treated badly by secular Kurds in Norway. Mullah Krekar is one of the major figures for Kurdish Islamists. He said he would support Kurdish independence "wholeheartedly" even though he has lost faith in Kurdish parties,