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Apparent suicide attack in Stockholm (UPDATE)

Other News Materials 12 December 2010 06:16 (UTC +04:00)

An apparent suicide attacker blew himself up in central Stockholm Saturday, local media reported, while police said they were investigating a threatening email sent just prior to the blast.

The email was sent to news agency TT minutes prior to the attack. The message said it was time for the Swedes to die "like our brothers and sisters" and made reference to the country's involvement in Afghanistan and caricatures of the prophet Mohammed published in Sweden, dpa reported.

The Swedish security police had also received an email prior to the attack, Michael Gunnarsson, duty officer at the security police, told the German Press Agency dpa early Sunday.

Gunnarsson declined to comment on the content of the email but said it was being analyzed. The security police were also assisting the Stockholm police that were in charge of the investigation, he said.

According to the addresses on the email, it had also been sent to TT. The email was seen only after the blasts, he said.

The incidents have not affected the national terror alert level.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt dubbed the incident an attempted terrorist attack.

"Most worrying attempt at terrorist attack in crowded part of central Stockholm," he wrote on Twitter. "Failed - but could have been truly catastrophic."

Unconfirmed reports said police found multiple explosive charges on the man, who was killed in the explosion. The Aftonbladet newspaper said the man apparently had the explosives in a backpack, but police would not confirm the reports.

Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren told dpa police were still investigating the body, and kept a cordon around it.

Lindgren said the body had not been identified. Since the body had not been identified, it was not possible to make any connection to the car explosion or the threatening email, he said.

The car had been transported away from the scene for further investigation, he added.

Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter quoted a passerby who attempted to give first aid to the injured man. The passerby who had medical training said the man had sustained severe injuries to the abdomen, "as if something exploded at his stomach."

Nearby shop windows were not damaged, he added.

The car explosion occurred at the intersection of Drottninggatan and Olof Palmes Gata streets, and then a second blast went off in the nearby Bryggargatan, where the man's body was discovered.

Two others were injured in the blasts, Lindgren said, adding they had been questioned but declining to offer details.

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