Sweden on ‘high’ alert as terror suspect sought

From the Swedish edition of The Local

Sweden’s terror threat level was raised to ‘high’ for the first time in history, as the head of security service Säpo revealed at a press conference that police were hunting a suspected terrorist.The threat level has been raised to “high”, the fourth most serious out of five possible categories.
 
According to Säpo’s definition, this means that “the probability that players have the intent and ability to carry out attacks is high”.
 
Säpo’s Director General Anders Thornberg called a press conference on Wednesday evening, telling reporters that one person was suspected of planning terror activities in Sweden and had been arrested in absentia.Thornberg declined to give any further information about the suspect, including his nationality or age. “Violent Islamism is still the biggest threat against Sweden.”

Thornberg added that the evidence gathered about a potential threat to Sweden was not directly linked to the terror attacks in Paris on Friday. However he said: “There is a risk the past week’s events could inspire individuals to carry out similar actions.”
 
Mats Sandberg, head of Sweden’s national police force, told reporters: “Isis views Sweden as a legitimate target of violent Islamism. We’re not a prioritized target, but a legitimate one.”  According to Sandberg, there are a “number of people” in Sweden that are considered to have the ability and the intention to carry out terror attacks in the Nordic nation