Foxtrot gangster 'shot eight times by rival for helping Kurdish boss flee to Iran'

A friend of internationally wanted criminal Rawa Majid was shot on the orders of a rival, after helping the gangster escape from Turkey to Iran, a Norwegian court has heard.

The 37-year-old victim was shot eight times but survived after being lured to the town of Moss, about 60km south of the capital Oslo.

Majid was raised in Sweden by Iraqi-Kurdish parents. He controls the Foxtrot crime gang and was this year placed under sanctions by the US and the UK for carrying out attacks for Iran on Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe.

A former associate of Majid, 39, is on trial after being accused of carrying out the shooting, which he denies. Neither of the men's names have been revealed during the court proceedings.

The trial heard the man charged over the shooting previously worked with the victim to help Majid escape Turkey, after a price of up to €4 million ($4.7 million) was placed on his head by his rival, Ismail Abdo.

Prosecutors allege the gunman switched sides and went from helping Majid, nicknamed the Kurdish Fox, to shooting the gangster's friend on the orders of Abdo.

Rawa Majid fled Turkey to Iraq, before travelling to Iran. Photo: Norwegian Police

He fell out with his one-time friend and associate Abdo, who runs the Rumba gang and is known as Strawberry, resulting in a bitter personal feud and battle for the drugs trade. Shootings and bombings between the sides, often carried out by children recruited by the gangs, have shattered Sweden’s image as a peaceful country. Abdo’s mother is among those who have been killed.

Majid fled Sweden and settled in Turkey, where he was able to acquire citizenship through buying property, allowing him to avoid extradition to face drug trafficking charges.

The bullets police say were used in the shooting. Photo: Norwegian Police

A Swedish prosecutor previously confirmed to The National that the gangster has now also left Turkey.

The trial in Norway was played a recording of the police’s interrogation of the alleged gunman, during which he revealed how he and the victim helped Majid to escape, the country’s national broadcaster NRK reported.

At that point there was a price on Majid’s head, so he wanted to leave Turkey, the court heard. He initially looked to bribe police officers who were to smuggle him across the border into Iraq's Kurdistan region.

“But halfway through he called me and said he didn't trust the police any more, so he wanted to leave them,” the accused told Norwegian inve