Norway's dilemma over extremist Mullah Krekar it cannot deport

In 1991, Mullah Krekar arrived in Norway as a refugee. An Iraqi Kurd born under the name Najmeddine Faraj Ahmad, he has acknowledged he is the co-founder of Ansar al-Islam, a notorious Sunni Islamist group that targeted US troops during the Iraq insurgency and has been linked to both al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

While he says he no longer has any links to the group, the 58-year-old Krekar faced multiple criminal charges in Norway, earning himself the label of a "danger to national security" from the Supreme Court of Norway and a place on a United Nations list of terrorists. Yet Norway can't deport Krekar. The country has had an expulsion order against him since 2003, but it has been unable to send him to Iraq due to Norway's humanitarian concerns that he may face torture or execution there.

Last month, Norway released Krekar from prison, where he had served almost three years for death threats against Prime Minister Erna Solberg and three Kurds. Now the country faces a dilemma: what to do with an extremist non-citizen who cannot be deported?

Norway's solution, at least for the time being, is to keep him in the country, yet banish him far, far away. On Monday, a court in Oslo said Krekar cannot stay in the Norwegian capital and instead must live in Kyrksaeteroera, a village with a few thousand inhabitants that is a nine-hour drive away.

Under the court's order, the married father of four would live at a refugee centre and check in with police several times a week. "With some misgivings, the court considers that the basic national interest, at least until December 31, 2015, must take precedence over Faraj's right to a family life, freedom to move freely throughout the country and to choose his own place of residence," the court's decision read.

Norway's hope is that Krekar will leave the country at some point. There are suggestions he will be deported to Italy to face charges there. Germany and Switzerland have also been explored as possibilities. For now, however, Krekar is appealing against the decision to send him to Kyrksaeteroera - and is staying at a secret location in Oslo.