Mullah Krekar on NBC’s “The wanted”

Mullah Krekar: Photo: NRK.no

NEW YORK (AP) — More than any news program in recent memory, NBC’s “The Wanted” comes with a reputation preceding it. And it isn’t good.

The series about chasing alleged terrorists and war criminals was the subject of stories questioning its reporting five months before its debut, set for July 20 at 10 p.m. EDT. Unflattering references were made to “To Catch a Predator,” NBC’s derided yet successful sting operation for potential sex offenders.

Its producers are anxious for people to judge the work for itself.

“The people who’ve called it, ‘To Catch a War Criminal,’ they’ve never seen the show,” said journalist Adam Ciralsky, who co-produces the series with documentary filmmaker Charlie Ebersol and appears on screen, too.

Ciralsky works with Roger Carstens, a counterterrorism expert; former Navy SEAL Scott Tyler; and former U.S. intelligence official David Crane on the show. Each week’s hour focuses on someone who is living freely despite being accused of crimes by governments or tribunals elsewhere in the world.

The first episode tracks Mullah Krekar, who is living in Norway and is leader of the Ansar Al Islam, an Iraqi-formed terrorist group believed to be behind attacks on U.S. and allied troops in Iraq. The next week focuses on Mamoun Darkzanli, who lives in Germany but has been accused by a Spanish court of providing financial and logistic support to al-Qaida.

Click here to read the entire story by David Bauder