An analyst from a Danish think tank considers al-Qaeda’s threat a “declaration of war” against Denmark. A Swedish researcher considers that the threat does not significantly affect Sweden’s security
Last weekend, the terrorist organization al-Qaeda published a threat against Sweden and Denmark on its official propaganda channel, according to Danish and Swedish media.
In its message, al-Qaeda calls Denmark and Sweden “two small, despicable countries” and demands that Muslims avenge the burning of the Koran in these countries, says a Dane Berlingske magazine.
The Danish intelligence service PET has confirmed the authenticity of the threat to the Dane for TV2.
The threat announced by Al-Qaeda is so serious that it can be considered a “declaration of war” against Denmark, according to TV2’s leading analyst Jacob Kaarsbo. He works at the Copenhagen think tank Europa.
According to Kaarsbo, the threat is rare and cannot be considered ordinary.
Swedish terrorism researcher Hans Brun King’s College London, on the other hand, evaluates Dagens Nyheterin in the story published by the news agency TT, that there is nothing new in al-Qaeda’s threat. According to him, the purpose of the message is to call for revenge and it is aimed at individual actors.
– This can be considered an invitation to take action. If they had organized something themselves, they would not have announced it in advance in this way. We must remember that al-Qaeda has weakened considerably, Brun told SVT.
According to Bruni, the threat illustrates the seriousness of the situation, but does not significantly affect Sweden’s security situation. Brun estimates that the threat could be to the safety of Swedish and Danish diplomats in the Middle East, for example.