The report, headed by investigator Doris Högne Rydheim and presented on Friday to Democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson,
concluded that there was an increase in the risk of violence from
Islamic extremists against Swedish society and individuals in Sweden.
Sweden was found to be a "desirable target", with the prime target
area being persons who were considered to have offended or insulted
Islam.
The report was based on an analysis
of Sweden's extremist arena, which was divided into three sections in
the report - the autonomous movement on the far left, the white power
movement on the far right, and Islamic extremists with religious
overtones.
While the autonomous left was
found to remain a threat to a democratic society and the white-power
right to pose a threat to individuals, it was the Islamists who were
singled out as a growing societal problem when compared to the last
report four years ago.
The findings backed
up the recent conclusions of Sweden's secret police service Säpo, which
considers Swedes travelling abroad, especially to Syria, to take part in
military training the greatest potential threat. The Säpo report found
that at least 75 people have travelled from Sweden to Syria with these
intentions.
The threat was considered to be even stronger this year, as September will play host to the national elections.
Högne Rydheim stressed that her findings did not mean there was any
sudden change in the behaviour of Islamic extremists active in Sweden.
Rather the report was an update from the study in 2010. Since then,
Sweden became the target of a botched suicide bombing in Stockholm in
late 2010, and a plot to murder artist Lars Vilks.
TT/The Local/og
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