PRESS RELEASE

On the 2nd of June 2008, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) decided to adjust its assessment of the terror threat against Denmark. The decision to adjust the assessment was made after the bombing of the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

At the latest update of its assessment of the terror threat against Denmark in April 2008, PET pointed out that there were signs of an intensified threat from militant extremists abroad against Denmark and to Danes and Danish interests abroad.

On the basis of the Monday bombings in Islamabad, PET now further increases its level of threat in respect of Danes and Danish interests abroad. It is the assessment of PET that there is a considerable and recognised terror threat in certain areas abroad. This applies particularly to areas where al-Qaida related groups are active; including specifically countries in North Africa, the Middle East and in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“The bombings on Monday do not imply further increase of the level of threat in Denmark. We still assess that there is a general threat of terror. However, the bombings at the Danish Embassy in Islamabad show that there is a considerable and recognised terror threat to Danes and Danish interests in certain areas abroad.”, says Director General of PET, Jakob Scharf.

The Director General continues: “At the same time, it is important to emphasize that extremists may be inspired by the attack in Pakistan and may attempt to carry out attacks against Danes and Danish interests abroad”.

PET has initiated an investigation to uncover the further details of the attack and in this connection staff will be sent to Pakistan. The investigation will be carried out in close co-operation with the Danish Defence Intelligence Service and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, PET is in close contact with the Pakistani security authorities and a number of international partners.

It is the preliminary assessment of PET that so far everything points towards a terror related attack caused by a car bomb explosion. We consider it highly probable that the Danish Embassy was the target of the attack although the embassy is situated close to a number of other foreign representations, including the Dutch and Indian embassies. Likewise, it is the assessment of PET that there is every probability that al-Qaida or an al-Qaida related group is responsible for the attack. However, it should be noted that a number of other militant Islamist groups and network in Pakistan also may have had the intention and the capacity to carry out attacks against Danish targets in Pakistan.

The general terror threat against Denmark has currently given rise to the implementation of a number of security measures. The Monday attack gives no rise to PET recommending that further security measures be implemented in Denmark.

Background

The Center for Terror Analysis (CTA) of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service currently issues assessments on the terror threat against Denmark which are forwarded to several ministries. This analysis is not made available to the public as it is primarily prepared on the basis of classified information.

The publicly available assessment of the terror threat against Denmark, available on PET’s website, is thus a summary of a more extensive underlying analysis which is one of the results of the wide-ranging analyses carried out by the CTA. The analyses range from specific threat assessments relating to specific persons and events to analyses of societal trends as well as assessments of terror related phenomena. The threat assessment is updated currently or in case of sudden and major changes in the threat image.

The purpose of publishing an assessment of the terror threat against Denmark is to provide citizens with a more extensive and better understanding of the threat from terrorism. Furthermore, the purpose is also to meet the increasing interest of the public for this area and at the same time to avoid the formation of myths and misunderstandings. Therefore it has been decided to publish a summary of the current terror threat and a longer report describing the elements in further detail. The assessment, however, includes no specific recommendations for the citizens. In case the treat assessments should give rise to specific recommendations, they will be given directly to the authorities responsible, e.g. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Emergency Management Agency and the police districts.