Domestic intelligence service PST has long known that a Norwegian citizen travelled to Yemen to train with Al-Qaeda, according to a report in newspaper VG. However, since Norwegian law does not make it illegal to participate in terrorist training camps, PST can do little more than monitor the situation, the paper said.

Justice Minister Grete Faremo earlier declined to say whether the country’s security services were keeping tabs on the suspected terrorist.  

“I can’t comment on individual cases but I can say that this is generally an area to which PST devotes a lot of attention,” the minister told TV 2.

On Monday, The Associated Press reported that a Norwegian convert to Islam was awaiting instructions to carry out a terrorist attack against a Western target.

Sources from three European intelligence agencies confirmed that the man, reported to be in his 30s and with no immigrant background, was “operational” and ready to strike.