http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Terror+fight+sparks+anguish+in+immigrant+su
burbs
+in+Nordic+region/1135222053950
Terror fight sparks anguish in immigrant suburbs in Nordic region
Finland only Nordic country with no ongoing terrorism investigations
By Kalle Koponen
"We have started to be afraid. I like Denmark, but nowadays I feel
that people on the street stare at me", says one Palestinian-born woman in
Odense, Denmark. Her feelings are shared by many Muslims in the Nordic
Countries. The international fight against terrorism came into her
neighbourhood store when a man working at the cash register was arrested
along with eight others. Seven of the men are still being held. They are
under investigation in a case which the Danish Minister of Justice has
described as the most serious in the country's history.
A couple of weeks later four people were arrested on suspicion of
planning a bomb attack against the embassies of the United States and
Israel. In Sweden, meanwhile, three young men were given a prison sentence
this past summer over a planned arson attack against a prayer room of a
Christian congregation in Uppsala.
The shadow of terrorism has fallen over the Nordic region as well. Security
services are hard at work, and ordinary Muslims are having a difficult time.
"I have five sons and I always tell them that they must not even talk about
anything like that, lest officials get the wrong impression", said one
fearful Palestinian woman in Odense.
The situation is the most difficult in Denmark, but similar feelings
prevail in the other countries.
"Sometimes I feel personal fear that if something happens while I am
on the move, there might be suspicions that I am one of the terrorists",
says Somali-born journalist Sukri Omar
<http://www.hs.fi/haku/?haku=Sukri+Omar> , who lives in Helsinki.
In Norway the atmosphere is fairly calm, in spite of recent arrests.
"The atmosphere is good. I do not believe that the arrests are linked with
religious terrorism; I think that just ordinary crime is involved", says
Imran Shahid <http://www.hs.fi/haku/?haku=Imran+Shahid> in Oslo. Shahid
serves as secretary-general of the largest mosque and Islamic cultural
centre in the Nordic region.
Officials in all the Nordic Countries have been granted added powers since
the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001.
In Sweden, two court cases led to convictions under the new law on
terrorism that came into effect in 2003. In the first one, two men were
given prison sentences of four and five years for raising funds for a group
which was responsible for a bomb attack in Kirkuk, in Iraq, which claimed
the lives of more than 100 people.
In the most recent case , security services of the United States, Britain,
and Israel looked for who might be behind a video threatening holy war in
Europe over the occupation of Iraq. The video was traced back to a
19-year-old Bosnian boy who lives with his parents in Trelleborg in the
south of Sweden. The Swedish security police SÄPO listened to his phone
calls, read his e-mails and messages he sent to Internet chat rooms, and
learned about a plan he had hatched with two other young men to burn
facilities belonging to a Christian sect in Uppsala.
DNA tests taken from a pair of gloves showed that at least one of
them, a 22-year-old Iranian boy, had previously taken part in an attempt to
burn a polling station set up for Iraqi citizens in Kista near Stockholm.
His partner, a 25-year-old Swede, sent a message to Swedish media
outlets signed by "the al-Qaeda high commander in Sweden". The members of
the group were given prison sentences last June, varying from eight months
to three years.
The appeals process is still underway. The defence is calling the
incident the result of youthful indiscretion prompted by hours of playing
war games on the Internet.
In Norway, four men are being held on suspicion of planning a bomb attack.
The men are also suspected of having fired about ten shots into the wall of
an Oslo synagogue.
The main suspect is a 29-year-old Pakistani-born man. The Norwegian
security service PST has kept him under surveillance for months with the
help of microphones placed in his car. The surveillance began in the summer
after German police detained the man for a short period of time. Instruction
booklets and large sums of money were found in his car.
The man was known by the police for committing a number of juvenile
crimes, and as a member of the Young Guns gang.
"Social services officials have known him to be a troublemaker ever
since he was young. This could be a case of a psychological imbalance of
some kind", says Norwegian terrorism expert Thore Bjørgo
<http://www.hs.fi/haku/?haku=Thore+Bjrgo> , a professor at Norway's Police
Academy. Professor Bjørgo is part of a group of experts at the European
Union slated to give recommendations to the Commission early next year.
"This case is exceptional in that only the main perpetrator seems to
have had some kind of Islamist motivation, and that developed at quite a
late stage", Bjørgo says.
In Finland, the Security Police (SUPO) is monitoring the situation, using
wiretaps and other methods, but no criminal investigations have been
necessary. "The obvious difference with other Nordic Countries is the small
size of the Muslim population", says Toby Archer
<http://www.hs.fi/haku/?haku=Toby+Archer> , a researcher at the Finnish
Institute of International Affairs.
"And the Finnish Muslim community mainly comprises Somalis, who are
not extensively involved in international jihadism", Archer says. Another
reason in his view is that the Muslim minority is fairly new, mainly
comprising first-generation immigrants.
"It seems that those who perpetrate actual acts of terror in Europe
are mostly either born here, or have lived here for a long time", Archer
notes. Most of the people with a Muslim background who were born in Finland
are still children.
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