Comedian Outrages High-Profile Mullah

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By DOUG MELLGREN

Associated Press Writer

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OSLO, Norway (AP) - The founder of suspected terror group Ansar al-Islam, normally cool under pressure, lost his temper when a female Muslim comedian jokingly lifted him off the ground before an audience.

Mullah Krekar, the former leader of a fundamentalist Islamic group of Kurds in northern Iraq, was participating in a debate over his new biography Tuesday evening. Krekar, a refugee in Norway since 1991, has become the country's highest profile Muslim after his repeated arrests, court cases, television appearances and now his book ``My Own Words.''

Comedian and women's rights activist Shabana Rehman - a well-known Muslim here as well - was in the audience for the debate and talked Krekar into allowing her to perform what she called a little test to see if he was a fundamentalist.

Pakistan-born Rehman walked onto the stage, grabbed the Mullah around the hips, and lifted him up. ``A man who can be carried by a woman can't be a fundamentalist,'' Rehman said to howls of laughter.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4038291,00.html