Terror suspects in Sweden 'tied to Shebab Islamists'

Four terror suspects arrested in Sweden at the weekend have ties to the Somali Islamist movement Shebab and were plotting an attack using bombs and firearms, a newspaper reported Monday. Neither Sweden's intelligence agency nor the police have confirmed the report, and have released few details about the arrests. "Police suspect the men were about to carry out a terrorist attack with firearms and bombs," Gothenburg regional daily GT said in its online edition. "Police sources have told GT the suspects are linked to the terror network Shebab," the paper said, without disclosing its sources. An elite counter-terrorism unit and police arrested four people in Gothenburg, Sweden's second city, and evacuated hundreds of people from a building in the city hosting an art fair "after concluding that there was a threat that could endanger lives or health or cause serious damage," officials said Sunday. Police then searched the building thoroughly, breaking open seven lockers, the paper said. It is not known why the venue was seen as a target, and art fair organisers have not been given an explanation, GT said. The paper speculated that a Swedish artist who has received death threats from Shebab for depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a dog had planned to attend the event but did not in the end. Lars Vilks has faced numerous death threats and a suspected assassination plot since his drawing of the Muslim prophet with the body of a dog was first published by a Swedish regional newspaper in 2007, illustrating an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.