The Swedish Migration Board has granted approval for the deportation of radical Imam Abo Raad after a request from the Swedish security service Säpo who had previously arrested several Islamic leaders.

Imam Abo Raad, who lived in Gävle, is one of two Imams scheduled for deportation following the decision by the Migration Board along with another man. All three were arrested as part of the Act on Special Aliens Control which grants Swedish police and security services the ability to request for the deportation of those deemed a security threat, Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.

A spokesperson for the Gävle mosque commented on the decision to expel their imam saying, “it is very regrettable that Sweden takes such a serious decision to expel him,” and added that Raad may face persecution in his native Iraq or even face a prison term.

Abo Raad’s lawyer Alparslan Tügel announced shortly after the decision was made public that he would be filing an appeal saying, “The first reaction is of course that this is not the output we had hoped for. But we look forward with confidence to the next instance.”

Tügel reiterated that the imam could face danger in Iraq and that the situation for him would make the deportation impossible to actually carry out.

Sweden: Islamic Terrorism Still Number One Threat https://t.co/EYoKfVXzrc — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 24, 2019

A spokesman for Säpo commented on the possibility of not being able to deport radical Islamists saying that they would be forced to closely monitor the individuals who were unable to be deported.

Sweden has seen a large growth in the number of radical Islamic extremists in recent years, with a report released by National Center for Terror Threat Assessment (NCT) earlier this year noting that radical Islamic extremism was the number one threat to Swedish state security despite victories against the Islamic State terror group.

Sweden has also seen a number of Islamic State returnees in recent months, with some reports alleging that the returning members may be attempting to recruit and radicalise in the southern city of Malmö.