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TERRORISM

Turkish ‘terror’ suspect arrested at Arlanda

Border police at Arlanda airport arrested a Turkish man wanted by Belgian police on suspicion of "terror crimes" on Friday and is holding him pending a decision on whether to extradite him, Swedish security police said on Sunday.

“He was arrested at Arlanda [Stockholm’s international airport] on Friday by the border police. A European warrant had been issued for his arrest a long time ago by Belgium police,” Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen, Säpo) spokesman Patrik Peter told AFP.

The man, a Turkish citizen whose name was not given, is reportedly 30 years old and “was remanded in custody yesterday [Saturday]. He is suspected of terror crimes,” Peter said, without providing further details.

“This is a Belgian investigation,” he explained.

The man was arrested on terrorism, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges, prosecutor Ronnie Jacobsson told newspaper Aftonbladet on Saturday.

Säpo planned to speak with the suspect on Monday to determine if he opposed extradition and Peter said he expected the process to be launched quickly, although a court would have to rule whether the man could be sent to Belgium.

According to Peter, the man’s plane arrived from Syria. He added he does not know whether the man has connections to Sweden or if he has tickets for further travel.

“He has been wanted for a long time and was outside the Schengen area. He came into the Schengen area yesterday [Friday] via Arlanda. This set off an alert and the man was arrested,” said Peter.

Lawyer Anders Björk would not comment on how his client responded to the allegations.

“I will not comment on that,” said Björk.

A district court will decide whether to hand the man over to Belgium, generally within 30 days after the arrest.

“We will hold a hearing with him on Monday, but it is not a hearing to investigate the crimes. It is more about finding out whether he objects to being extradited,” said Peter.

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TERRORISM

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

Police in Milan said on Thursday they had arrested a 37-year-old Algerian man in the subway, later discovering he was wanted for alleged ties to Islamic State.

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

When stopped by police officers for a routine check, the man became “particularly aggressive”, said police in Milan, who added the arrest took place “in recent days”.

He was “repeatedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while attempting to grab from his backpack an object that turned out to be a knife with a blade more than 12cm (nearly five inches) long,” they said in a statement.

The man was later found to be wanted by authorities in Algeria, suspected since 2015 of belonging to “Islamic State militias and employed in the Syrian-Iraqi theatre of war,” police said.

Police said the suspect was unknown to Italian authorities.

The man is currently in Milan’s San Vittore prison and awaiting extradition, they added.

Jihadist group IS proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, launching a reign of terror that continues with hit-and-run attacks and ambushes.

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