Police: no reason to fear Al-Qaeda threat in the Faroes

Earlier this week, Al-Qaeda issued a call for violence against Denmark and Sweden.

The two countries are being heavily criticised by Muslim-majority countries for permitting anti-Islamic activists to publicly burn Islam's holy book.

“People of Islam in Sweden, Denmark and all of Europe, the duty of revenge is placed upon you,” Al-Qaeda’s media centre announced on Monday night.

Danish intelligence service PET considers this as a declaration of war.

No threat to the Faroes

However, although the Faroes are part of Denmark, there is no need to fear terror attacks in the Faroes, according to assistant commissioner Steen Nørskov.

“We are following the recommendations of the PET, and we are monitoring the situation closely,” he says.

“The current recommendations say that there is no danger of terrorism in the Faroe Islands.”

However, Nørskov declined to answer when asked whether the Faroes were mentioned in Al-Qaeda’s terror threat.

"I would advise the Faroese public to be vigilant but not unduly worried. As always, if you notice anything out of the ordinary, contact the police."

Information is scarce

Faroese foreign minister Høgni Hoydal said yesterday that Faroese authorities have not yet been informed of the full contents of Al-Qaeda’s threat letter.

The Danish foreign ministry has implemented special security measures to protect Danish diplomats abroad.

Hoydal said that Faroese authorities have so far not implemented any special security measures to protect Faroese diplomats.

“We are not regarding this as an issue related to the Faroe Islands and our international activities.”

Security measures implemented

The PET has declined KvF’s request for an interview, referring to an official statement on its website.

In short, the statement says that there is now an increased threat of terrorism against Denmark and Danish interests abroad and that the threat is being taken very seriously. The necessary security measures are being implemented in cooperation with other authorities.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.