News from Sweden, Denmark and Syria

SWEDEN – Military says credible reports of foreign submarine in its waters

Sweden released on Sunday a grainy photo of a mysterious vessel in Stockholm’s archipelago, as the military hunted for a foreign submarine or divers in the country’s biggest such mobilization since the Cold War.

This amateur photo made available on Oct. 19, 2014 by the Swedish Defense Ministry shows an object (top C) in the sea near Stockholm. Sweden released the grainy photo of a mysterious vessel in Stockholm’s archipelago, as the military hunted for a foreign submarine or divers in the country’s biggest such mobilization since the Cold War.

The search in the Baltic Sea less than 30 miles from Stockholm began on Friday and reawakened memories of the final years of the Cold War when Sweden repeatedly sought out suspected Soviet submarines along its coast with depth charges.

The military showed one picture of what appeared to be a craft surrounded by white ripples. The witness who took the photograph said the vessel then submerged — one of three sightings that the military said were credible* reports. [*credible: reasonable to trust or believe]

The Swedish armed forces have consistently labeled their hunt one of investigating “foreign underwater activity” but elaborated on what that might entail on Sunday.

“It could be a submarine, or a smaller submarine,” Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad told a news conference. “It could be divers using some form of moped-like underwater vehicle and it could be divers that don’t have any business on our territory.”

Grenstad said the sightings had taken place in “an area that is of interest to a foreign power,” but added he was not in a position to link the observed activity to any particular nation.

“This does not belong to us. It is a foreign vessel and we have no indications that there would be any civilians involved in underwater activity,” he said.

The incident comes amid rising tension with Russia among the Nordic and Baltic states — most of them European Union members — over Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis. Finland last week accused the Russian navy of interfering with a Finnish environmental research vessel in international waters.

Reported sightings of one man dressed in black wading through waters led to speculation [guesses] of Russian special forces in the archipelago, normally a popular holiday destination consisting of thousands of small islands.

Countries in the Baltic Sea region have become increasingly wary of Russia’s military ambitions since Moscow annexed [took over] Ukraine’s Crimea region in March following the overthrow of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president by protesters.

Last month, Sweden said two Russian warplanes entered its air space, calling the intrusion a “serious violation.”

Should the present search find proof of foreign military activity in Swedish coastal waters it will represent the first real test of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s center-left minority government less than three weeks after it took office. …

DENMARK – Copenhagen’s piles of bicycles

Copenhagen is one of the best places in the world to be a cyclist but there is a downside – thousands of parked bicycles. Sometimes it gets out of control.

The number of city dwellers who commute by bicycle is above 50%, and a recent survey suggests that even when you add in people who start their commute outside the city 41% arrive at their place of work or study [by bike].

There are more bicycles in Copenhagen than people, five times as many bicycles as cars, and [about] 250 miles of cycle lanes – not shared with cars or pedestrians – for a city of about 600,000 people.

Cycle parking is a shambles here. Outside the main train stations, piles of bicycles clustered around the racks look like they’ve been thrown down by someone on the run from the law.

Elsewhere, bikes are often parked randomly on the pavement, taking up pedestrian space and blocking entrances to shops and restaurants. For many non-cyclists, it’s a constant source of irritation.

Bikes parked at a transit station in Copenhagen

Niels Jarler, a non-cyclist in his 30s, says he often has to walk on the road to get to his flat [apartment] in central Copenhagen at weekends, the pavement is so cluttered.

“It’s really infuriating. I think cyclists in Copenhagen have always parked wherever they wanted, but it’s become more of a problem now that the population is growing rapidly,” he says. “Urban planners haven’t really thought properly about cycle parking at a local level.”

Although theft is a risk – almost 18,000 bicycles were stolen in the city last year – owners rarely chain their bikes to anything. Often they are just stacked one against another.

“I ride an inconspicuous old bike, and I’ve never had it stolen so far,” says student Anton Pilmark. “I’m banking on safety in numbers.”

While this may mean there is a low probability that your bike is the one that gets taken, untangling [it] from the dense web often requires vast amounts of patience.

Outside Copenhagen’s central train station, where people often leave their bike for the weekend, plenty of cyclists are fed up.”There just isn’t enough space,” says Kirsten Hoeholt, a ceramic artist. “It’s not just here that it’s a problem, it’s all over town. We need better parking facilities.”

One of Copenhagen’s problems is that it has been growing rapidly. About 12,000 people are moving to the city each year, while only 7,000 new cycle parking spaces have been created over the last eight years.

“Many of these newcomers are cyclists, and the city authorities just can’t keep up,” says former deputy mayor Klaus Bondam, who leads the Danish Cyclists’ Federation.

SYRIA – Guerrilla groups hunt down Islamic State in Syria

Small groups of Syrians are hunting down Islamic State [ISIS] fighters in one of their main strongholds in eastern Syria in a new guerrilla campaign that has emerged as a response to the Islamists’ growing brutality.

The main aim is to generate fear in Islamic State’s ranks, said the head of “White Shroud” – a group that says it has killed more than 100 Islamic State [ISIS] fighters in attacks in Deir al-Zor province in recent months.

A White Shroud guerrilla fighter crouches down inside of a war-torn house in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zor. More guerrilla groups are starting to attack Islamic State fighters in retaliation for the group’s brutality.

The name reflects that aim: White Shroud is a reference to the death shroud it says awaits Islamic State fighters responsible for crimes against the Syrian people, said the group’s leader, Abu Aboud, in an interview via Skype.

As the United States advances plans to train and equip the moderate opposition to President Bashar al-Assad as part of its strategy to tackle Islamic State [ISIS], the appearance of such groups shows how ISIS has generated new enemies on the ground.

Abu Aboud, who declined to give his real name for security reasons, was a commander in an anti-Assad insurgent group crushed by the better armed and financed Islamic State as it seized almost full control of Deir al-Zor earlier this year.

The small band he now leads is in no position to deal a major blow to Islamic State. But it does pose an extra challenge as the United States and its allies target ISIS in air strikes in both Syria and Iraq.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war, has recorded a rising number of attacks by gunmen on Islamic State targets in Deir al-Zor province. Together with Raqqa province further north, Deir al-Zor forms the bedrock of Islamic State’s influence in Syria.

White Shroud shows no mercy to Islamic State: when it manages to abduct one of its members, it is only to “liquidate” him later on, said Abu Aboud.

It operates in and around the town of Al Bukamal at the Iraqi border – an area of crucial importance to Islamic State [ISIS] as the link between the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq. White Shroud currently numbers 300 members, said Abu Aboud.

“Eighty percent of the members of White Shroud did not take part in combat before (Islamic State) came. We trained them and they joined White Shroud because of the great oppression they felt after Islamic State took control,” said Abu Aboud.

“Secrecy is the most important element of White Shroud’s work,” said Abu Aboud. The group comprises four-man “cells” that work independently of each other, Abu Aboud said.

One of White Shroud’s biggest operations was an attack on an Islamic State position in Al Bukamal in which around 11 Islamic State fighters were killed, according to the Observatory and Abu Aboud.

The U.S.-led air strikes are not making White Shroud’s job easier, said Abu Aboud. Where Islamic State fighters once used to gather in large numbers, they now move in small groups, often at night, using motor bikes.

White Shroud’s spokesman said the group is using weapons that formerly belonged to anti-Assad rebel groups. The spokesman, who gave his name as Abu Ali Albukamali, said that despite its modest resources, White Shroud had achieved its goal: “The aim of this group – spreading fear among Islamic State members – has been realized. Today, you never meet them walking alone. They mostly move in groups, afraid of abduction.”

(The news briefs above are from wire reports and staff reports posted at the Reuters on Oct. 19, BBC News and Reuters on Oct. 13.)