A man arrested in Arctic Sweden and suspected of preparing “terrorist” crimes was planning to attack unknown targets in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, a prosecutor said Friday.
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“The decision to raise the threat level is partly based on the fact that our Service has received specific information which we must act upon as part of our counter-terrorism remit”.
SAPO, said late Wednesday it hasn’t established any direct link between the suspect and the recent attacks in Paris by Islamic State, which killed at least 129 people.
Synagogues throughout Sweden have shut down temporarily in response to the country raising its official terror threat assessment level. Level four indicates a high threat with players who have the intent and means to carry out an attack. Police are expected to release more information, including a picture of the suspect, at a later date. “Individuals may be inspired by these attacks”, Sweden’s security police (SAPO) said in a statement on Wednesday. She declined to give the location of the arrest beyond saying it was “somewhere in Sweden”.
Norway’s police intelligence unit PST has not raised its terror threat level but has confirmed an increase in “preparedness”, with more coordinated investigations and preventative measures taken in cooperation with local police.
“I did not have much contact with him, he looked glum and never said hello”, he told Aftonbladet. Over the last few years, Sweden has participated in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation missions in Afghanistan and is training Kurdish forces in Iraq, moves that have changed its traditional image of neutrality.
Sweden has not seen an Islamist terror attack since 2010, when a man blew himself up on a shopping street in Stockholm, injuring two people.
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“But it does not work like that”.
