Report Indicates About 200 Known Islamic Extremists In Sweden; Stockholm Bomber Was Not On That list

From Jihad Watch:

Report: "About 200 Islamic extremists" in Sweden


"The radicalisation happens in Sweden." And while "the agency stressed the 200 or so extremists were 'not a threat to the fundamental structures of society, Sweden's democratic system or central government'," the fact that such "radicalization" can and does occur within the country points to an equally urgent matter and a broader web of "extremists" across European borders. Indeed, the failed bombing in Stockholm demonstrated how easily jihadists can slip into whichever country they care to attack in spite of being based elsewhere in Europe.



For that matter, where strength and tactical capabilities for overt jihad are lacking, there are the many means of stealth jihad, and slow demographic conquest enabled by a welfare state insufficiently shielded from outright abuse. Then there are the Muslim-dominated "no-go" zones of Malmo where police and ambulances are afraid to enter.



In other words, the presence of 200 identified "extremists" is not the end of Sweden's troubles. Not by a longshot. "About 200 Islamic extremists in Sweden: intel," from Agence France-Presse, December 15 (thanks to JCB):



STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish intelligence agency Saepo said Wednesday there were around 200 violence-promoting Islamic extremists in Sweden, days after the country's first ever suicide bombing missed wreaking havoc among Christmas shoppers.

Some "80 percent of the 200 can be linked to each other," Malena Rembe, the chief analyst at Saepo's Counter-Terrorism Unit told reporters, adding they were not part of one big network.

"The radicalisation happens in Sweden," but "the concrete threat is mainly directed at people in other countries," Rembe said, explaining that most of the violence-promoting extremists were men between the ages of 15 and 30.

The man suspected to have carried out this weekend's bombing was not among the 200 extremists the agency knows about, she said.

"Most of these networks focus on action and propaganda against foreign troops in Muslim countries and against governments they see as corrupt and not representing what networks consider to be the only true interpretation of Islam," Saepo said.

It explained in its 126-page report, which was commissioned by the government before the weekend's suicide attack, that the extremists focus on areas such as Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The agency stressed the 200 or so extremists were "not a threat to the fundamental structures of society, Sweden's democratic system or central government."...Posted by Marisol on December 15, 2010 4:06 PM
 
 
And this, related, also from Jihad Watch:
 
Stockholm jihadist was not on list of 200 known "extremists"


There may be 200 that they know of now, but it was number 201 of the Tiny Minority of Extremists that very nearly succeeded in committing mass murder. More on this story. "Suicide bomber in Sweden not on security list," by Louise Nordstrom for the Associated Press, December 15 (thanks to JCB):



STOCKHOLM - The suicide bomber who blew himself up on a busy pedestrian street in Sweden was not on a list of 200 radical Islamists that the country's security service had compiled, officials said Wednesday.

In a report detailing the extent of extremist Islamist networks in Sweden, ordered months before Saturday's near-massacre in downtown Stockholm, the SAPO agency downplayed the risk of terror attacks in the Nordic country.

Activity among radicalized Muslims in Sweden is primarily directed toward supporting militants in other countries, including Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, it said.

"After Saturday's attempted attack, we can see that it also presents a serious threat against people in Sweden," Malena Rembe, chief analyst at SAPO's counterterrorism unit, added at a news conference.

Taimour Abdulwahab, an Iraqi-born Swede, killed himself and injured two people Saturday when a bomb he was wearing exploded on a pedestrian street in downtown Stockholm.

An audio file sent shortly before the blast from his cell phone referred to Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan and an image by a Swedish artist that depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog, enraging many Muslims.

Abdulwahab spent much of the past decade in Britain and appears to have been radicalized there. Rembe said he was not among the roughly 200 people that SAPO said they had identified as active in radical Islamist networks in Sweden....Posted by Marisol on December 15, 2010 4:45 PM