Kurds living in Norway believe Iranian agents were behind the killing during the weekend of Taher Hamidi, a former Kurdish guerilla commander, Aftenposten newspaper reported on Wednesday.
"This was my first thought when I heard that he had been killed," Mohammad Kharzi, a former Kurdish guerrilla who once fought with Hamidi, told Aftenposten, Norway's leading broad-sheet. "The Iranians have earlier shown that they do not hesitate in killing Kurds who have been fighting for the guerilla and live in European cities," Kharzi said.
Hamidi allegedly fought for the anti-Teheran Kurdistan Worker's Party PKK in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. He was stabbed in his taxi in the western city of Stavanger, about 400 kilometers west of Oslo late Sunday.
The fact that local currency worth several hundred euros (dollars) was found untouched in the taxi has strengthened the theory amongst Kurdish refugees in Norway that professionals were actually behind the killing. Police authorities in Norway have been reluctant to comment on the murder while it is still being investigated and say they have very little evidence to work from.
Hamidi was actively involved in the Iranian Kurd freedom movement in Norway and was recently preparing an event to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the newspaper added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
