Swedish authorities have detained five people suspected of preparing a “terrorist act” in the country in retaliation for the destruction of a Quran by a far-right element, Swedish secret services announced on Tuesday.
The plan would have “international links to violent Islamic extremism,” said the national intelligence agency Säpo, quoted by the French agency AFP. “An attack is not considered imminent,” he added.
The arrests took place in three cities on Monday, in an action by the National Police Forces in which several homes were searched.
“The current case is one of many the secret services are working on following protests against Sweden over the famous burning of a Koran in January”added Sapo.
Danish-Swedish far-right Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
The move sparked protests in several Muslim countries and led to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s interruption of negotiations with Sweden and Finland for the two countries to join NATO.
Both countries’ entry into the organization, prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was approved in June last year after Turkey lifted its veto in exchange for certain conditions.
Finland’s accession process was completed last week, following ratification by the Turkish parliament. Entry started as a joint entry with Sweden, but tied with Budapest and Ankara.
Turkey wanted Scandinavian countries to lift embargoes on arms purchases by Ankara and to crack down on organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by the Erdogan government, the European Union and NATO itself.
As for Sweden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that he had no doubts that Sweden will become the 32nd member state, but that there are still issues to be resolved with Ankara.
Stockholm believes in formalizing NATO membership at the summit in July this year in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Source: DN
