A Muslim demonstrator who sparked controversy over the weekend, for warning that a major terrorist attack could occur in Norway, was arrested in Larvik on Wednesday after making threats, but later released by police.
Officials at state intelligence agency PST confirmed Thursday that they’re keeping an eye on Mohyeldeen Mohammad, however. He said in an interview with newspaper Klassekampen that he supported a recent fatal stoning of a gay Muslim man because he believes homosexuals deserve to be killed. That prompted the Norwegian gay rights organization LLH to report him to police, calling such a statement “extreme and unacceptable.”
On Wednesday Mohyeldeen Mohammad faced another police report, after he allegedly told journalists from newspaper Dagbladet that they were in danger of being shot. The Dagbladet journalists had attempted to interview Mohammad at his parents’ home in Larvik when the death threats were made.
Mohammad turned himself in to police on Wednesday and his lawyer told reporters that he had felt threatened himself.
Other Muslims have dismissed Mohyeldeen Mohammad as “an utterly marginal voice” and his radical views have mostly sparked disgust by both Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Norway.
Newspaper Dagbladet has, however, been the target of massive protests after it published caricatures of the prophet Mohammed deemed offensive to Muslims. Conflicts also have risen among Muslims themselves in Oslo, not least because of a local “morality police” believed to exist in some neighborhoods.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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