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May 3, 2006

Sweden: Muslim Terror Plot Against Evangelical Church

Today, Sweden's The Local reports that three men have been charged with plotting a terror attack against the Livets Ord or Word of Life evangelical church in Uppsala. The Local's report is hampered by Sweden's PC legislation on press reporting, and therefore does not fully name the three individuals concerned.

They are a 22-year old Iranian named Mehdi, and his associates, a 19-year old of Bosnian origin from Trelleborg in Skane called Milan, and 25-year old Johan, the son of Swedish professionals from Kramfors, in the north of Sweden.

What marks this case is that it is the first prosecution for terrorist offences which were planned to happen on Swedish soil, and it is only the second case to be mounted under Sweden's terror laws.

Mehdi met the other two co-accused via an Islamist website, Terrorist Media. He had also formed his own Internet forum, Mujahedon.net. The evidence against the three has been gleaned mostly from their internet conversations and interrogation.

Tomas Lindstrand, the chief prosecutor said: "These men and their intentions must be taken seriously, but it is hard to say how serious their crimes are according to terrorism laws."

Last year, an attack was made in Kista, a suburb of Stockholm, against an Iraqi polling station. Mehdi is charged with carrying out this attack, which he admits, and also the planned attack on the church. The information on his computer made references to the attack on the Livets Ord church. This church is the largest of its kind in Sweden, with the patronage of pop stars and other influential people. According to Lindstram: "The motive for the plan is rooted in the fact that Livets Ord is pro-Israeli."

The church supports Israel, and encourages Russian Jews to emigrate there.

Mehdi has said that he and two other accomplices were paid 10,000 kronar by an election official to carry out the Kista attack. The other two men have since been released, but Mehdi is still in police custody. According to the news source Dagens Nyheter, Mehdi has twice been convicted before on charges of importing a "doping preparation" into Sweden. He was sentenced last year to four years in jail.

The Bosnian, Milan, is accused of "instigating terrorism", meaning he is thought to have encouraged others to commit acts of terror. He calls himself a faithful Muslim, but has denied to Dagens Nyheter that he is involved with militancy or terrorism.

Prosecutor Tomas Lindstram has shown pictures of two of the accused studying the website of Livets Ord. In one film, Milan is shown to "warn the European people", which has been interpreted by prosecutors as demonstrating his support for jihad.

Johan, the other accused man, developed an interest in Islam and subsequently stayed for three days with Mehdi in the suburb of Varby, Stockholm. He has said to Dagans Nyheter that he has not become a Muslim convert.

He is charged with assisting in an attempted terrorist crime and conspiracy to commit terrorist offences. Under interrogation, he has said it is unlikely that he would have gone ahead with any attacks. He also said to investigators that he and the other two had talked of ways to set fire to the Livets Ord headquarters. They discussed drenching it in petrol, which would then be ignited with fireworks. Alternatively, they planned to smash a window and to throw a petrol bomb into the building.

The three men all gave conflicting accounts to investigators, and tried to blame each other. Tomas Lindstram said: "Given that the men are claiming innocence, we don't really know if they genuinely intended to carry out the plans."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 3, 2006 2:47 PM

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