Three out of five men arrested last Saturday for plotting a terror attack on the headquarters of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten are Swedish citizens with roots in the Middle East.
One, the 29-year-old Lebanon-born Munir Awad, had been arrested twice before on suspicion of terror activities. The other two suspects are Iraqi and Tunisian citizens.
Jyllands-Posten reported last week that David Headley, who helped plan the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had been in contact with a businessman in Stockholm over the plot.
The five accused are being held for planning a massacre similar to those carried out in Mumbai. According to the Danish intelligence agency PET, the plan was "to kill as many people as possible". In 2005, Jyllands-Posten published the now infamous Mohammad cartoons that triggered violent protests around the world.
In 2007, Awad publicly thanked the Swedish intelligence agency Säpo for arranging his release from Somalia after he was detained there. In 2009, he was arrested in Pakistan. When the Swedish media reported on his arrests, Awad filed a complaint with the press ombudsman, claiming his reputation had been tarnished.