STOCKHOLM
\nSweden\u2019s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level Thursday to four on a scale of five after angry reactions in the Muslim world to Qur\u2019an burnings in Sweden made the country a \u201cprioritized target.\u201d
\nThe level was increased from \u201celevated,\u201d where it had been since 2016, to \u201chigh,\u201d the head of the Swedish Security Police Charlotte von Essen told reporters.
\n\u201cThe reason for this decision is the deteriorated situation with regard to attack threats to Sweden, and the assessment that the threat will remain for a long time,\u201d she said. Von Essen stressed that the decision to raise the threat level was not based on a \u201csingle incident,\u201d but rather a \u201ccollective assessment.\u201d
\nSweden has, like neighboring Denmark, has in recent months seen a spate of public desecrations of the Qur\u2019an, including burnings, which have sparked widespread outrage and condemnation in Muslim countries.
\nIraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.
\nThe Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation has also voiced \u201cdisappointment\u201d with Sweden and Denmark for not taking action following the spate of burnings.
\nLast week, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Swedish embassy in Beirut though it did not explode, and at the weekend Al-Qaeda called for attacks against the Scandinavian country.
\nThe protests led Sweden to beef up border controls since August 1.
\nSeveral Western countries have recently updated their travel adviseries for Sweden.
\nThe United States on July 26 urged its nationals to \u201cexercise increased caution in Sweden due to terrorism.\u201d
\nAnd on Sunday, Britain\u2019s Foreign Office said \u201cterrorists are very likely to try and carry out attacks in Sweden,\u201d and added \u201cauthorities in Sweden have successfully disrupted a number of planned attacks and made a number of arrests.\u201d
\nSwedish authorities have however refused to comment on whether any attacks had been foiled or arrests made.
\nThe country has condemned the desecrations of the Qur\u2019an but upheld its laws regarding freedom of speech and assembly.
\nThe government has vowed to explore legal means of stopping protests involving the burning of holy texts in certain circumstances, though a majority appear to be opposed to a such a change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STOCKHOLM Sweden\u2019s intelligence agency heightened its terror alert level Thursday to four on a scale of five after angry reactions in the Muslim world to Qur\u2019an burnings in Sweden made the country a \u201cprioritized target.\u201d The level was increased from \u201celevated,\u201d where it had been since 2016, to \u201chigh,\u201d the head of the Swedish Security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-349991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n