The terrorist group Al-Qaeda has urged its supporters to carry out terror attacks in Sweden and Denmark in revenge for a series of Quran burnings in the two Nordic countries. “People of Islam in Sweden, Denmark and all of Europe, the duty of revenge is placed upon you,” announced the As-Sahab Media Foundation, which functions as Al-Qaeda’s media centre.
As we previously reported, Denmark and Sweden have been heavily criticised by Muslim countries for allowing anti-Islamic activists to burn the holy book of Islam, the Quran, in public. Most recently, a copy of the Quran was destroyed in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, on Monday, August 14th, as two men kicked the book and burned several of its pages in front of the Royal Palace.
Citing free speech laws, Denmark and Sweden have so far resisted pleas to ban public Quran burnings, but have not ruled out intervening if national security is deemed to be under threat. “The recent Quran burnings have, as the security police have said, affected the current security situation,” Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said.
Both countries tightened their borders after Sweden’s domestic security service put the country at a heightened terror threat. The Swedish police’s counter-terrorism chief, Magnus Sjöberg, also warned that Sweden could be a target for Islamist terrorists. “We have communications and communiqués from several terrorist groups that currently mention Sweden together with Denmark and the Netherlands,” he said.
Experts disagree on whether the new threat made by Al-Qaeda should be taken seriously or not. Tore Refslund Hamming, a senior fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at the UK’s King’s College, described Al-Qaeda’s announcement as “the most direct call from militant Islamists to carry out a terror attack against Denmark since the Mohammed crisis”. Violent protests erupted in some Muslim countries and a diplomatic crisis ensued after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005 published twelve editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.
Jacob Kaarsbo, a senior analyst at Copenhagen’s think tank Europa believes Al-Qaeda’s threat can be considered a declaration of war against Denmark. However, Swedish terrorism researcher Hans Brun, also based at King’s College says “this is really not anything new, but just another call to people around the world to exact revenge, and it’s directed at lone actors.” He does not believe that Al-Qaeda was itself planning an attack.
Whatever the case, American, Australian, and British tourists have all been advised to be wary when visiting Sweden. The British government has warned that “terrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden”. Meanwhile, Henrik Landerholm, Sweden’s National Security Adviser, said that Swedes abroad and businesses linked to Sweden “should observe increased vigilance and caution”.
