Sweden detains man on suspicion of plotting “terrorist crime”

Police have detained a man in central Sweden on suspicion of conspiracy to commit "a terrorist crime", the country's Prosecution Authority said on Thursday.

Swedish Radio saidthe man was from Uzbekistan and the daily Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources,said police were checking possible links between the suspect and RakhmatAkilov, an Uzbek Islamist militant convicted of killing five people with astolen truck in Stockholm in 2017.

In a statement, theProsecution Authority said the man was stopped on Wednesday while driving inthe city of Ostersund and detained due to probable cause of conspiracy tocommit murder.

Based on findingsfrom a search of his car, however, the case was turned over to the security policeand re-designated as conspiracy to commit "a terrorist crime".

Akilov, now serving life in prison, said during his trial that he wanted revenge on Sweden for its support in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

A Security Policespokesman declined to comment on the suspect's nationality with theinvestigation at a preliminary stage, but said there was no reason to suspectany attacks were imminent. "Had there been any threat or reason toincrease vigilance, we would have said so," the spokesman said.

"We arecontinuing with our preliminary investigation. We are conducting furtherquestioning and reviewing the findings made in connection with thearrest," he added.