Norwegian Delegation Meets With Houthis to Discuss the Extradition of Martine Vik Magnussen's Killer

Informed sources told Sheba Intelligence that a delegation from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with members of the Houthi group in Muscat to hear their reply to Oslo's request to extradite the killer of Norwegian citizen Martine Vik Magnussen, who was killed in Britain in March 2008 by Farouk Shaher Abdulhaq, the son of a Yemeni billionaire who fled to Yemen within hours of Vik Magnussen's murder.

The Norwegian delegation took advantage of the developments in the situation in the region to discuss Magnussen's murder with the Houthis. Abdulhaq is believed to be living in areas under the Houthi control in North Yemen.

The sources indicated that the meeting touched on the Gaza war, the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, Oslo's vision for peace in the region, encouraging dialogue and rejecting violence.

According to a document obtained by Sheba Intelligence, the Houthis refused to receive a delegation from the Norwegian Parliament that submitted a request last year in March 2023 to visit Sanaa.

Public opinion and the Norwegian press have put pressure on the Norwegian government on the anniversary of Magnussen's murder. That pressure led official Norwegian institutions to intensify their communication with Yemeni parties to get Abdulhaq extradited to Britain.

In March 2023, a BBC investigation was able to reach Abdulhaq and obtained his confession of involvement in the rape and murder of Magnussen, 23, who was found dead in the basement of his apartment in  London in March 2008.

The Interpol also issued details about Farouk Abdulhaq, describing him as a murderer and rapist.

Sheba Intelligence obtained a report confirming that the Yemeni government expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Norwegian government in reopening the file and trying the accused in Yemen, as there is no bilateral agreement to extradite criminals between Britain and Yemen.

However, according to reports, the Houthi group refused to receive Norwegian Member of Parliament Himanshu Gulati, in Sanaa.

Gulati met with the Yemeni Minister of Interior, Major General Ibrahim Haidan, in May 2023 to obtain permission to visit Yemen with a parliamentary team.

Sheba Intelligence obtained a letter from the British Embassy in Oslo on June 23, 2019, confirming that the British Embassy in Yemen had requested the Yemeni government to extradite Abdulhaq.