Six arrested in Norway, Sweden in terrorism raids
Posted: 28 February 2008 2310 hrs

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STOCKHOLM : Norwegian and Swedish police said they arrested six people on Thursday in Oslo and Stockholm suspected of financing and planning attacks in a coordinated action.

"It was a coordinated action in Norway and Sweden," Jakob Larsson, a spokesman for the Swedish police's security service Saepo, told AFP.

In Stockholm, "three Swedish citizens, all men" were arrested on suspicion of financing and planning attacks, Larsson said, providing no further details on their identities.

In Oslo, three people were arrested "suspected of ... financing acts of terrorism abroad," the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) said in a statement.

According to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet's online edition, the three arrested in Oslo were all of African origin.

Security services in both Scandinavian countries have previously said that Sweden and Norway are believed to be bases for support groups for extremist groups, providing financing, logistical support or recruiting.

In a report on the threat level in Norway published last month, PST said there were support networks for Islamic terrorism present in the Scandinavian country.

"The support activities in Norway primarily involve money transfers to individuals or groups abroad who are believed to be linked to radical Islamist organisations," PST said.

"Various forms of support for foreign terrorist organisations remain the primary type of activity (linked to terrorism) in Norway," it added.

A spokeswoman for PST, Siv Alfen, declined to say on Thursday whether the trio arrested in Oslo were linked to Islamist organisations.

She said the three would probably appear before a judge to be remanded in custody on Friday or Saturday.

NATO member Norway has troops deployed in Afghanistan, and has on several occasions been named as a target by Al-Qaeda.

Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, also has 350 soldiers stationed in northern Afghanistan. - AFP/de