STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Two of the Swedish citizens arrested in a foiled terror plot against a Danish newspaper previously were arrested in Pakistan, security officials said.
Munir Awad, a 29-year-old Swedish citizen of Lebanese decent arrested near Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday, was arrested in 2007 by Ethiopian forces in Somalia, The Local reported.
Awad was in custody in Ethiopia for several months on suspicion of having joined with Islamic forces fighting in Somalia before being released.
Awad was arrested again in August 2009, this time in Pakistan, as part of a group of foreigners thought by Pakistani police to be travelling to meet Zahir Noor, a suspected Taliban leader.
He was released in October 2009.
A second man, 37-year-old Sahbi Zalouti, arrested in Stockholm Wednesday in connection with the Danish terror plot, has reportedly been under surveillance by the Swedish security service for some time.
Zalouti was arrested in Pakistan last year and spent 10 days in a Pakistani prison for entering the country illegally.
The Swedish security service alleges Zalouti was involved in the planning of the foiled Copenhagen attack but decided to remain in Stockholm for unknown reasons.
