Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale | |
---|---|
Born | 19 October 1978 |
Nationality | Norwegian |
Other names | Muslim Abu Abdurrahman, Abu Abdurrahman the Norwegian |
Anders Cameroon Østensvig Dale (born 19 October 1978), [1] also known as Muslim Abu Abdurrahman and Abu Abdurrahman the Norwegian, [2] is a Norwegian Yemen-based terrorist associated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). As of Q3 2023, he is allegedly in prison [3] (or detention) in Yemen. [4] The foreign ministry (Norway) is refusing (as of 2023) to help him get to Norway. [3]
Previously, after being wanted internationally since 2012, Dale was in 2014 listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of State, [5] and blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council. [6]
Born to Norwegian parents, Dale grew up in Nesodden. [7] He was a member of the Green Party, and appeared as a low-level candidate on the party's election lists in Oslo for the 2007 municipal elections. [8] He was reportedly a member of the left-wing radical Blitz movement in his youth, [9] [10] and described himself as an anarchist and Marxist. [11]
Dale converted to Islam in 2008, [10] and began attending the Rabita Mosque. [12] The same year, he was interviewed in an NRK radio program as a Norwegian Muslim convert who criticised "media propaganda" portraying Muslims as being violent. [13] His family contacted the police after he took part in the 2008–09 Oslo riots. [9] [10]
Dale first travelled to Yemen to join Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in 2008, and returned to Norway several times until December 2011. [2] During his time in Yemen he is thought to have received bomb-making training by Ibrahim al-Asiri, [14] specifically to make bomb-belts, improvised explosives and explosives used in car bombs. [2] He broke off contacts with his pregnant wife, a Moroccan he married in 2010 [10] following the last trip, and was reported missing by his family in April 2012. [7]
Dale became wanted by the intelligence services of several countries in 2012, suspected of having planned a terrorist attack against the London 2012 Summer Olympics. [10]
In July 2014, Dale was listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States Department of State. [2] [15] He was also charged under Norway's anti-terror laws by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), after having been under investigation for several years. [7] It was reported later the same month that Dale was the reason for increased security measures being introduced on direct flights to the United States. [1] [14] In September 2014, he was blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council as one of eleven wanted terrorists requested to be blacklisted by the United States. [6] [16] [17]
One of the perpetrators of the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting, Saïd Kouachi, is considered likely to have met Dale as he trained with AQAP in Yemen in 2011. [18]
Dale is arrested in Yemen since 2022, and has asked for help from Norwegian Foreign department to travel back to Norway. [19]