BERLIN: German police detained on Tuesday two Afghan citizens accused of planning to attack police near the Swedish parliament in response to the burning of copies of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, federal prosecutors said.
The suspects, identified only as Afghan citizens Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N., were detained in the eastern city of Gera, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The men were only identified by their first names and initial, according to German privacy laws.
The prosecutors said the Daesh group’s affiliate in Afghanistan tasked the suspects in mid-2023 with carrying out an attack in Europe in response to Qur’an burnings in Sweden and other countries.
The pair made preparations for an attack on police and other people near the parliament in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, “in close coordination” with Daesh members, including doing online research of the location and tried unsuccessfully to procure weapons, the statement said. The attack never materialized.
Anti-Islam activists have carried out a string of public desecrations of the Qur’an in Sweden, sparking outrage among Muslims around the world and threats from Islamic extremists. In October, a gunman killed two Swedish soccer fans before a match in Brussels.
Swedish authorities had raised the terror alert to its second-highest level in August. They were concerned of a similar escalation as the fury Denmark faced from Muslim countries in 2006, following the publication of newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
Danish consulates and embassies were burned and the cartoonists faced death threats from radical Islamists. Danish officials’ attempts to explain how such caricatures were protected under freedom of speech were widely dismissed in the Muslim world.
Prosecutors said Ibrahim M. G. joined the Daesh affiliate in August 2023. Together with Ramin N., he had raised 2,000 euros ($2,170 ) in donations for the Daesh group to help a member jailed in northern Syria.
The Afghans are suspected of crimes including providing support to a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit a crime, and infringements against trade laws.
German police detain 2 Afghans for plotting an attack near Swedish parliament over Qur’an burnings
https://arab.news/4rjv4
German police detain 2 Afghans for plotting an attack near Swedish parliament over Qur’an burnings
- The suspects, identified only as Afghan citizens Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N., were detained in the eastern city of Gera
- Prosecutors said the Daesh group’s affiliate in Afghanistan tasked the suspects in mid-2023 with carrying out an attack in Europe in response to Qur’an burnings in Sweden
Kyiv ready for talks ‘next week’ with US over Russia proposals: Zelensky
- “Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” said Zelensky.
- “It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place“
KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his negotiators were waiting to hear from the United States on further meetings about ending the war with Russia.
Zelensky’s remarks in his evening address appeared to suggest that a second round of talks scheduled to start in Abu Dhabi on Sunday between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials on ending the fighting had been postponed.
“Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” said Zelensky.
“It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
Zelensky was speaking as US envoy Steve Witkoff said he had had “productive and constructive” talks with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday.
Teams from Ukraine and Russia met Friday and Saturday last week in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations on a plan being pushed by President Donald Trump to end the war.
They had agreed to resume talks there on Sunday.
On Thursday however, Zelensky suggested that the date and venue could change given the current tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement, according to Kyiv.
