Germany arrests two over suspected Islamist plot on Swedish parliament

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Police secure the area in the German town of Wuerzburg, Germany, June 25, 2021, during a "major operation" in which police arrested a suspect after local media had earlier reported multiple stabbings. REUTERS/Heiko Becker

(Reuters) - Germany has arrested two suspected Islamic State (IS) members for allegedly planning an attack on the Swedish parliament in retaliation for Koran burnings in the Scandinavian country, the federal prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

Two Afghan nationals identified as Ibrahim MG and Ramin N were detained in the eastern German city of Gera on suspicion of plotting the attack, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Sweden was rocked by a series of Koran burnings last year. The burnings, which are protected by Sweden's far-reaching freedom of speech laws, sparked outrage across much of the Muslim community and led to violent clashes, including the storming and vandalization of Sweden's embassy in Baghdad.

According to German prosecutors, the two suspects had planned to kill police officers and other people using firearms in the area of the parliament in Stockholm.

Ibrahim MG and Ramin N researched the location online and repeatedly tried to obtain weapons, albeit unsuccessfully, the prosecutor's office said.

The suspects joined IS Khorasan Province, a branch of the militant Islamist group, in 2023 and had collected donations of around 2,000 euros ($2,170.00) for the organization. The funds were intended to help IS members imprisoned in northern Syria, the statement added.

The suspects will be brought on Tuesday and Wednesday before a German court, which will decide whether to keep them in pre-trial detention.

The Swedish Security Service said it could not comment on the German case, adding that it was in constant contact with its counterparts in Europe.

($1 = 0.9217 euros)



(Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Johan Ahlander; Editing by Rachel More and Paul Simao)