By Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS): The Norway Police have been looking for one of its most wanted criminals, Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Interior Minister of Taliban regime and chief of the UN designated terror organisation Haqqani Network.

Strangely, Anas Haqqani has arrived in Oslo, the capital of Norway as a part of the Taliban delegation on the invitation of the Norway government to participate in a peace process under the false name of Anas Zardan. He arrived with the delegation on January 23, on a plane sent by the Norway government.

The Norwegian-Afghan media expert Zahir Athari reported Anas Haqqani's presence in Oslo to the Norway Police.

"We have reported him to the police for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He and the network have been behind the deadliest attacks on the civilian population in Afghanistan since 2001," Zahir Athari told the Norwegian news channel SYT Nyheter.

When asked about the presence of Anas Haqqani in the meeting, the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told the media that he did not know in advance that Haqqani would be part of the delegation. He was criticised for sending the Norway plane to Kabul to facilitate the visit of the Taliban delegation.

"I saw the names in the media when they came to Norway," said Stoere but he clarified that there are more than five members of the Taliban delegation are wanted and have been facing sanctions of the UN and the US but for the sake of the Afghan people the world has to engage with them since they are in power in Afghanistan.

Interestingly, 14 year ago on January 14, 2008, Norwegian Prime Minister Stoerer, then the foreign minister, was staying in the same Serena hotel at Kabul which was attacked by the Taliban militants led by Anas Haqqani. In this attack 7 foreigners were killed including a Norwegian journalist. Anas Haqqani was arrested in 2014 by the then Afghan government and was sentenced to death after a trial. He was released in 2019, during the US-Taliban Doha talks. His elder brother Sirajuddin Haqqani got Anas Haqqani and others released as one of the pre-conditions for the talks.

After the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan last year in August, Anas Haqqani was seen in every meeting of the Taliban regime. He represents his brother Sirajuddin Haqqani who avoids coming out in public because he is still the most wanted man for the US with a bounty of $10 million.

The Afghan civil rights activists and human rights lawyers have lodged a complaint to the National Criminal Investigation Service of Norway against Anas Haqqani.

"I can confirm that we have received a report. The case will be processed there. We can not comment on what will happen next with the case," says the public prosecutor Marit Formo of Norway.