Saturday, December 11, 2010

We are all...Swedes.



From the New York Times: STOCKHOLM — One man was killed and two other people were injured when two explosions hit the heart of Stockholm’s city-center shopping district on Saturday evening, the police in the Swedish capital said. The country’s foreign minister called the blasts a terrorist attack, and an e-mail to news organizations minutes before the blasts seemed to link them to anger over anti-Islamic cartoons and the war in Afghanistan.


From the Los Angeles Times: A car parked at a crowded intersection in central Stockholm exploded about 4:50 p.m., followed by another blast a short distance away, Swedish news media reports said. At the scene of the second explosion, a witness reported finding a young man on the sidewalk with wounds to his midsection and a Palestinian kaffiyeh-style scarf tied around his face. The man, who has not been identified, later died. Minutes before the explosions, a Swedish news agency received an e-mail that contained a call to arms to Muslim fighters and a threat to take revenge for Sweden's involvement in the war in Afghanistan and for caricatures of the prophet Muhammad by a Swedish artist. The e-mail came attached with audio files in Swedish and Arabic. "Now your children, daughters and sisters will die just like our brothers, sisters and children are dying," the e-mail said. "Our actions will speak for themselves." The e-mail lashed out at Swedes for their "war against Islam," for "denigrating the prophet" and for their "stupid support of the pig Vilks," a reference to the artist Lars Vilks, whose drawings of Muhammad as a dog sparked controversy in 2007.

A police forensic officer photographs the scene in Stockholm. (photo: Sky News)

Sky News reported: A short message commenting on the terror attacks was posted on Vilks' website late on December 11. Last March, an American who called herself "JihadJane" was charged with plotting to kill Vilks and using the Internet to enlist co-conspirators. In May, arsonists tried to set fire to Vilks' house.


Let's stop forgetting...

Late add: From my radio colleague John Batchelor on the who the bombers are...


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