Investigators Probe Stockholm Suicide Bomber

The investigation into the weekend bomb blasts in Sweden has expanded to Great Britain. Police have been searching a house in southern England, hunting for information about the man suspected of carrying out the attack in Stockholm.

DON GONYEA, Host:

Greetings, Philip.

PHILIP REEVES: Good morning.

GONYEA: So why are the police carrying out this search in Britain?

REEVES: Well, the man thought's to have been a 29-year-old Swede of Iraqi origin who studied in England. A man called Taimour Abdulwahab. Reports, which aren't officially confirmed, say that the man studied sports therapy at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton and that he continued living in the town until recently, and still has a wife and two young daughters there.

GONYEA: And broadly speaking, what is the focus of this investigation?

REEVES: So the focus is on whether an Islamist organization, including possibly al- Qaida, played some sort of role in this. If so, did this man leave, in Luton, any evidence that might led police to arrest and find other members of the group who might be planning to strike again.

GONYEA: Again, you're in Stockholm, what impact are you noticing as far as the effect of these attacks on Sweden, on the people there?

REEVES: So there are some here who say this was an event that was inevitable in the long run. Yet, Swedes tend to see their country, you know, as a prosperous, stable, tolerant, peaceful place - a place that produces diplomats that mediate the problems of other countries. And there's a feeling among the people I've spoken to, that this sort of thing shouldn't and doesn't happen here.

GONYEA: And is there any sense of how these attacks might affect attitudes within Sweden to that country's immigrant population?

REEVES: The Islamic association in Sweden here acted pretty quickly after these attacks to try to head off this, by issuing a statement condemning the attacks as a threat to peace within Sweden.

GONYEA: All right, Philip. Thank you.

REEVES: You're welcome.

GONYEA: This is NPR News.

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