Failed firebomb attack on Iraq election centre in Sweden
A petrol bomb was thrown into an Iraqi election office in Stockholm early on Thursday, but did not catch fire and caused no injuries, officials said.
"It was a Molotov cocktail, but it did not catch fire and no one was hurt. Voting is continuing as usual today," Dara Ahmad, secretary to the Iraqi ambassador in Sweden, told AFP.
"We had information that something might happen, so we had security. Now we have increased the security," he added.
The attack came just hours before people across Iraq turned out to choose the first four-year term parliament since the downfall of former dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Swedish police spokeswoman Diana Sundin said guards in the Stockholm facility had heard an explosion at around 12:30am.
"They saw a man running away and found bottles with liquid inside. They didn't begin to burn. They have been taken in for analysis," she told AFP, adding that a jacket and gloves found at the scene were also being analyzed.
"We hope they'll help us identify the man who did this," she said.
The Iraqi embassy in Stockholm expects some 32,000 Iraqis from Sweden, Norway and Finland to vote at two election offices in the Swedish capital by the end of the day.
"By yesterday, more than 20,000 people had already voted," Ahmad said.
AFP
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"It was a Molotov cocktail, but it did not catch fire and no one was hurt. Voting is continuing as usual today," Dara Ahmad, secretary to the Iraqi ambassador in Sweden, told AFP.
"We had information that something might happen, so we had security. Now we have increased the security," he added.
The attack came just hours before people across Iraq turned out to choose the first four-year term parliament since the downfall of former dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Swedish police spokeswoman Diana Sundin said guards in the Stockholm facility had heard an explosion at around 12:30am.
"They saw a man running away and found bottles with liquid inside. They didn't begin to burn. They have been taken in for analysis," she told AFP, adding that a jacket and gloves found at the scene were also being analyzed.
"We hope they'll help us identify the man who did this," she said.
The Iraqi embassy in Stockholm expects some 32,000 Iraqis from Sweden, Norway and Finland to vote at two election offices in the Swedish capital by the end of the day.
"By yesterday, more than 20,000 people had already voted," Ahmad said.
AFP
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