Sweden terror threat stands despite bin Laden death
The death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Sunday has not affected Sweden's security situation regarding terrorist threats, according to the Swedish Security Service.
"We continue to follow developments together with our international partners. We currently have the same assessment as yesterday. No changes in respect of the threat situation," said Michael Gunnarsson at Säpo.
Security experts worldwide are busy debating the impact of the death of Osama bin Laden on the global terror threat, with several warning of likely revenge attacks.
In a poll conducted by the Metro newspaper in cooperation with YouGov the day following the announcement of bin Laden's death, 49 percent of Swedes expected there to be additional terror attacks in Sweden.
In addition, 74 percent of Swedes polled said they expected al-Qaeda sympathisers to seek revenge for his death by carrying out additional terror attacks around the world.
As late as February 2011, an English-language online publication with links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network called indirectly for new acts of terrorism in Sweden, while paying tribute to the suicide bomber who attacked in Stockholm in December.
Taimour Abdulwahab, a 29-year-old whose family fled from Iraq to Sweden in 1991, blew up himself and his car in a deserted side-street off of Stockholm's busiest pedestrian thoroughfare on December 11th, injuring two people.
The attack was Sweden's first suicide bombing and came as the Security Service was completing a report which concluded that violent Islamic extremism posed a threat to Sweden that shouldn't be underestimated.
US president Barack Obama announced the news late Sunday night Washington time that Osama bin Ladin, almost ten years after he masterminded the 9/11 attacks on New York City, had been killed in a US led operation.
In an address to the nation, Obama said Bin Ladin was killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, a highland town north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Sunday.
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"We continue to follow developments together with our international partners. We currently have the same assessment as yesterday. No changes in respect of the threat situation," said Michael Gunnarsson at Säpo.
Security experts worldwide are busy debating the impact of the death of Osama bin Laden on the global terror threat, with several warning of likely revenge attacks.
In a poll conducted by the Metro newspaper in cooperation with YouGov the day following the announcement of bin Laden's death, 49 percent of Swedes expected there to be additional terror attacks in Sweden.
In addition, 74 percent of Swedes polled said they expected al-Qaeda sympathisers to seek revenge for his death by carrying out additional terror attacks around the world.
As late as February 2011, an English-language online publication with links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network called indirectly for new acts of terrorism in Sweden, while paying tribute to the suicide bomber who attacked in Stockholm in December.
Taimour Abdulwahab, a 29-year-old whose family fled from Iraq to Sweden in 1991, blew up himself and his car in a deserted side-street off of Stockholm's busiest pedestrian thoroughfare on December 11th, injuring two people.
The attack was Sweden's first suicide bombing and came as the Security Service was completing a report which concluded that violent Islamic extremism posed a threat to Sweden that shouldn't be underestimated.
US president Barack Obama announced the news late Sunday night Washington time that Osama bin Ladin, almost ten years after he masterminded the 9/11 attacks on New York City, had been killed in a US led operation.
In an address to the nation, Obama said Bin Ladin was killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, a highland town north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Sunday.
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