This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

A 30-year-old man has been detained in Glasgow in connection with last year's Stockholm suicide bombing.

The foreign national was arrested under the Terrorism Act shortly after 6am in the Whiteinch area of Glasgow after a month-long investigation by British and Swedish authorities.

It is alleged the man, who was taken to a high-security police station in Govan in the city, was involved in aiding terrorists in Sweden.

In the Stockholm attack last December, a suicide bomber, Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, who had studied at the University of Luton, now the University of Bedfordshire, killed himself and injured two people.

The arrested man is believed to have visited Luton, where Al-Abdaly had lived with his wife and three children, but had not lived in the town.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire police said: "It is believed that the person detained may have visited Luton on previous occasions, but is not a resident of the town.

"Bedfordshire police are assisting the inquiry at the request of Strathclyde police and are interviewing some individuals who live in the town. No arrests have been carried out in Luton."

Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson, from Strathclyde police, said the arrest was part of an ongoing intelligence-led operation.

"It's very early in the investigation," he said. "We want to reassure the public we've no evidence whatsoever that there is a threat to Scotland."

He added there was "absolutely no evidence" of a terrorist cell in Scotland.

Nicolson said a number of other agencies were involved in the investigation both in and outside the UK. He added that properties in Glasgow – but "not in one focused area" of the city – had been searched and the investigation and examination of these will "take some time".

It is understood the matter will be dealt with in Scotland if charges are brought against the man.

The Swedish security service, Säkerhetspolisen, said the arrest was made following collaboration between Scotland and Sweden.

A statement released by the service said there was "good co-operation between prosecutors and the police authorities".

It confirmed the suspect arrested in Glasgow may be connected to the attack in Stockholm, but refused to add further details.

The service said investigations by Strathclyde police "show that there could be a connection between the person now arrested and the terrorist attack in central Stockholm on 11 December 2010, something the continuing investigation in Scotland will clarify".

Agnetha Hilding Qvarnström, a Swedish prosecutor involved in the Stockholm bombing inquiry, said this was the first arrest since the bombing.

The only other suspect, al-Abdaly, died during the attack, she said. Hilding Qvarnström would not be drawn on whether the man arrested in Glasgow could be extradited by the Swedish authorities.

"We will see what will happen with the investigation in Scotland to start with," she said. "It's too early to say anything at the moment."

Strathclyde police said the arrest was not linked to an explosion in woods near Gartocharn, West Dunbartonshire, last year.

Anti-terrorism police and bomb disposal units were called to the remote forest near Loch Lomond on 17 November. "