Tolerant Sweden shocked at terror attack

Sweden was reeling today after two explosions targeted the tolerant and open nation that had not seen a terrorist attack in more than 30 years.

Two people were wounded in central Stockholm on Saturday in what appeared to be the first suicide bombing in Sweden’s history.

A car exploded in the middle of the Christmas shopping frenzy, shooting flames and causing several smaller blasts as people ran screaming from the scene.

The blast that killed the suspected bomber, named in some reports as an Iraqi-born Swede who was a student in the UK, came moments later a few streets away from the car explosion on a busy street.

Experts said the bomber probably did not succeed in detonating all the explosives and could have caused much greater damage.

Police have not confirmed that the attack was motivated by Islamist views, but an audio file sent to Swedish news agency TT shortly before the blast referred to jihad, Sweden’s military presence in Afghanistan and a cartoon by a Swedish artist that depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a dog, enraging many Muslims.

“Now the Islamic state has been created. We now exist here in Europe and in Sweden. We are a reality,” the voice said in the file. “I don’t want to say more about this. Our actions will speak for themselves.”

Meanwhile police in the UK were searching a property in Bedfordshire after reports said the bomber lived in Luton and studied at the University of Bedfordshire.

Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the attack was “unacceptable” but urged Swedes not to jump to “premature conclusions” that “create tension which paints pictures that are then difficult to change”.

“Sweden is an open society ... which has stated a wish that people should be able to have different backgrounds, believe in different in gods ... and live side by side in our open society,” Mr Reinfeldt said.

Swedes, with a tradition of welcoming immigrants and a culture of transparency, began questioning their self-image of being a secure nation after the 1986 murder of prime minister Olof Palme.

In 2003, the fatal stabbing of foreign minister Anna Lindh in a department store was a wake-up call for many, but there have been no major terrorist strikes.

“We had a terrorist attack in the 1970s from the Rote Armee Fraktion of Germany, but if this is a suicide bomber it is the first time in Sweden,” security police spokesman Anders Thornberg said.

“It’s very serious and it’s very tragic that these things have come to Sweden too.”

Yesterday the district where the explosions occurred was eerily quiet and empty for a mid-December weekend.

“We’re used to seeing things like this on the news. This was a lot closer to home but it still doesn’t feel very tangible,” said Eric Osterman, a 26-year-old student.

German tourist Melanie Ziethmann, 34, said she heard the explosion on Saturday but did not realise what it was until a friend in Germany contacted her to make sure she was safe.

“We were surprised that this happened in Sweden,” she said. “It was quite shocking. I thought it was very safe here.”

In October Sweden raised its terror threat alert level from low to elevated because of what police called “a shift in activities” among Swedish-based groups that could be plotting attacks.

Days later, police made several arrests over an alleged bomb plot in the country’s second-largest city, Gothenburg. The suspects were later released and police said the city was no longer deemed to be under threat.

Magnus Norell, a terrorism expert at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, said it was just a matter of time before Sweden was hit by a terror attack.

“Sweden isn’t an isolated island, even if we might think that sometimes,” he said. “We have only been lucky so far.”

Mr Norell said Sweden had the same problem with worsening radicalisation among Islamic groups as other countries, with young men travelling to training camps in countries such as Somalia and Pakistan.

“The whole idea is that this is a global war for them and that the target exists everywhere, all over the world,” he said.

Yesterday around 100 people assembled in chilly central Stockholm for a peaceful demonstration organised by Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice.

Samaa Sarsour, 26, one of the main organisers of the rally, urged the crowd to punch the air and kick out their feet in a display of defiance against the hijacking of religion by extremists.