Two people have been killed and five injured in twin shootings in the Danish capital, with one attack targeting a cultural centre hosting a debate on Islam and free speech and the other a synagogue. Latest here
Latest
16.59 The body of the suspected terrorist:
AP
16.52 French President Francois Hollande has just visited the Danish
embassy in Paris, and said that the "same targets" were hit in the
weekend attacks in Copenhagen as during the January assault in Paris that
claimed 17 lives.
It was the same targets that were chosen by the terrorists.
It is important that we stand together in such a serious situation and
guard the values on which Denmark is founded.
15.54 Danish media are saying that four people have been arrested at the internet cafe - including a Pakistani and an Arab.
15.53 Crowds have gathered outside the Copenhagen synagogue, many in tears,
15.40 Danish police have raided internet cafes in Copenhagen.
TV2, which reported from the scene, showed footage of armed officers in dark uniforms outside the internet cafe and said at least two people had been taken away by police.
14.48 The Danish Film Institute says the 55-year-old man killed in a shooting at a free speech event in Copenhagen was documentary filmmaker Finn Noergaard.
The institute's chief Henrik Bo Nielsen says he was shocked and angry to find out Noergaard was gunned down while attending a discussion on art and free speech.
Noergaard directed and produced documentaries for Danish television, including the 2004 "Boomerang boy" about an Australian boy's dreams to become a world boomerang champion and the 2008 "Le Le" about Vietnamese immigrants in Denmark.
He was guarding a celebration at a Jewish community building near the synagogue when he was shot dead.
Denmark's chief rabbi said he was an "irreplaceable" security guard protecting the city's Jewish community.
Rabbi Jair Melchior said:
He was a person who was always willing to help. An amazing, amazing guy.
Uzan's family is active in Copenhagen's Jewish community, Mr Melchior said, and Uzan attended Jewish school and joined the community's security efforts from a young age. The guard was a talented basketball player, received a degree in politics, lived in Israel for a while and learned to speak Hebrew fluently.
Uzan wanted younger community members to replace him in the security detail, Mr Melchior said, but the community pressed him to remain at his post.
There are an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Jews in Denmark, including about 2,000 active members of the Jewish community, which operates its own security patrol that coordinates with police to protect Jewish institutions.
14.29 Saudi Arabia has condemned the Danish shooting, and also the killing of three Muslims in North Carolina last week.
State news agency SPA quoted an official source as saying in a statement:
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia followed with strong sorrow the ugly terrorist
and criminal incidents that occurred lately in the Danish capital Copenhagen
and in the US state of North Carolina that resulted in the death and
injuring of innocents.
Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is a main partner for the United States in its campaign against Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq. The world top oil exporter sees itself as a defender of Muslims around the world.
14.21 Justin Huggler reports from Berlin:
Police are searching for suspicous objects in the German city of Brunswick
(Braunschweig), after a carnival parade was cancelled at just over an hour's
notice over fears of an Islamist terror attack. Police cars are driving the
route of the cancelled parade, making loudspeaker announcements for people
to go home.
At a press conference, the local police cheif Michael Pientka said police had so far tested two objects, but both turned out to be harmless.
"There was no anonymous tip, no bomb threat. The information came from some one who is already known to us," he said. "The langauge used was a 'destructive event'." He said he could not identify any individuals or groups behind the threat at this stage of the investigation, but confirmed the threat came from "the Islamist scene".
14.01 Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with Denmark's chief rabbi after seizing on Saturday's deadly shootings in Copenhagen to call on European Jews to emigrate en mass to Israel.
Rabbi Jair Melchior said he was "disappointed" by the comments of Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who made a fresh plea for Jewish emigration while extending condolences to Denmark over the twin attacks.
"Jews have been murdered again on European soil only because they were Jews and this wave of terrorist attacks – including murderous anti-Semitic attacks – is expected to continue," Mr Netanyahu told the Israeli cabinet, as it met to approve a £30 million scheme to absorb Jewish immigrants from France, Belgium and Ukraine.
"Jews deserve protection in every country but we say to Jews: Israel is your home. We are preparing and calling for the absorption of mass immigration from Europe. I would like to tell all European Jews and all Jews wherever they are: 'Israel is the home of every Jew.' ... Israel is waiting for you with open arms."
In response, Rabbi Melchior said:
Terror is not a reason to move to Israel.
Mr Netanyahu issued a similar plea last month following the Paris attacks.
13.30 Elsewhere in Europe, police in the German city of Braunschweig have cancelled a popular Carnival street parade because of fears of an imminent Islamist terror attack.
Police spokesman Thomas Geese said police received credible information that there was a "concrete threat of an attack with an Islamist background" on Sunday's parade and therefore called on all visitors to stay at home.
"Together with city officials and organizers we evaluated the information and then, at very short notice, decided to cancel the street parade," Mr Geese told The Associated Press.
Mr Geese said the parade was canceled less than 90 minutes before its scheduled start.
Many people arriving at the train station from out of town were already
dressed up and very disappointed - but we didn't want to take any risks.
13.07 David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has released a statement on the Copenhagen attacks:
The shootings in Copenhagen are an appalling attack on free speech and
religious freedom. Two innocent people have been murdered simply for their
beliefs and my thoughts are with their loved ones and all those injured at
this tragic time.
Denmark and Britain are both successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith democracies and we must never allow those values to be damaged by acts of violence like this.
We offer our full support for the Danish Government and Danish people as they deal with these terrible incidents.
AFP
12.50 Video of Danish prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, visits synagogue in Copenhagen after shootings:
12.39 David Chazan and Julian Isherwood report from Copenhagen:
Danish investigators say they know the identity of the suspected terrorist
shot dead this morning. "We are aware of the identity of the person but
due to the circumstances of the ongoing investigation, we can’t release his
name," the head of the security and intelligence service, Jens Madsen,
told journalists. "The security and intelligence service knew of him.
He was on the radar but he was not known to have travelled to conflict areas
like Iraq or Syria or others."
One of the leading investigators, police chief inspector Jorgen Skov, said: "He was from Copenhagen and that’s all we can say. He could have been inspired by what happened in Paris but it’s too early to say.”
Danish police have searched several flats in the mainly immigrant district of Mjolnerparken. No arrests were made. They left one of the flats carrying plastic bags.
The French ambassador, François Zimeray, who was attending the free speech conference at the cafe on Saturday when it was attacked, said: "I think he wanted to repeat what happened in Paris. If the Danish police had not been there, we would all have been killed."
The two gunmen who attacked the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris last month, killing 12 people, were also known to the intelligence services, as was their accomplice, who shot dead a policewoman in the street and four hostages at a kosher supermarket.
AFP12.28 Caroline Wozniacki, the former world number one from Denmark, has admitted she been fearing for her friends and family after learning of this weekend's deadly terrorist attacks in Copenhagen.
Wozniacki is trying to focus on preparations for her attempt to win back the Dubai Open title this week but admitted that her mind has wandered on to the horrors of the shootings.
The third-seeded Dane lives 165 miles away in Odense, but her brother Patrik is in the Danish capital and her thoughts immediately turned to him and to his safety. She said:
I spoke to my brother and he's safe, but I think it's horrible what's
happening (in Copenhagen) and in the world in general. And when shootings
like that happen close to where you grow up it's scary.
Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt places flowers in front
of the synagogue in Krystalgade in Copenhagen (REUTERS)
12.21 The Telegraph's Justin Huggler reports from Berlin:
Police in the German city of Brunswick (Braunschweig) cancelled a carnival
parade at short notice today, citing a "concrete threat" of an
attack with an "Islamist background".
The parade was cancelled just an hour and 20 minutes before it was due to start, at 12,20pm local time. Police gave no futher details but asked people not to visit the parade route.
Carnival parades are a major event at this time of year in much of Germany, and Burnswick's is the largest in the north of the country. Up to 250,000 people are expected in Brunswick for Shrove Tuesday.
12.18 Danish police have said the Copenhagen attacks may have been inspired by the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris,
11.22 Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has urged Europe's Jews to move to Israel after the Copenhagen attacks, but he was challenged by the Danish chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, who said: "Terror is not a reason to move to Israel."
Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (R) and Justice Minister
Mette Frederiksen address a news conference in Copenhagen (REUTERS)
11.01 The Telegraph's David Chazan reports from Copenhagen:
Danish police are fairly sure the gunman they killed this morning was the
assailant who attacked the arts cafe and the synagogue, killing two people
in total.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt said it was "a very sad morning" after "a cynical act of terror against Denmark". In a statement, she said: "I am happy and relieved that police have disarmed the alleged perpetrator behind the two shootings. I will continue to encourage everyone to follow police instructions and be vigilant."
Forensic police officers inspect the street outside a culture centre (AFP)
10.49 A European Jewish organization is demanding round-the-clock protection at Jewish institutions following the Copenhagen attacks.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, general director of the European Jewish Association, accused European Union leaders of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitic attacks and "rampant anti-Semitism.".
AP
10.43 Here is a profile of Lars Vilks, the cartoonist who depicted Prophet Mohammed as a dog and who was thought to be the target of the Copenhagen cafe shooting:
Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who emerged unscathed from a deadly attack in a
Copenhagen on Saturday, has survived several death threats since gaining
international notoriety for a cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a
dog.
Vilks was speaking at a debate on Islam and freedom of expression when a gunman fired a volley of shots into the Krudttonden cultural centre, leaving a 55-year-old man dead and three police officers wounded.
The 68-year-old artist has also survived a foiled assassination plot and other attacks since his drawing of the Muslim spiritual leader was published in a local Swedish paper in 2007 with an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.
Copenhagen shooting during debate on Islam: live: Heavily armed police
officers watch a woman laying flowers outside the main Synagogue in
Copenhagen (AFP)
10.37 David Chazan reports from Copenhagen:
In a rather cruel irony, the name of the arts cafe attacked yesterday,
Krudttoenden, means "powder keg" in Danish. Copenhagen this
morning is quiet, but joggers and pedestrians are out and there is a sense
that the city is determined to resume normal life. However, Denmark remains
on maximum terror alert. Security has been tightened on the bridge outside
Copenhagen to Sweden, which is used daily by tens of thousands of commuters.
Extra police patrols are also being carried out on the border with Germany.
Denmark has been on high alert since the Paris attacks last month. Police protection of both the arts cafe where the free speech conference was held and the synagogue attacked hours later enabled the security forces to act swiftly and prevent more deaths.
A memorial ceremony is to be held tomorrow (Monday) at the cafe, with most Danish politicians expected to attend. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who has arrived in Copenhagen, is to visit the cafe this lunchtime.
Police cordon and crime scene investigation in Copenhagen after the
terror attacks (REX)
10.17 The Telegraph's David Chazan reports from Copenhagen:
Some details emerging from a press conference by the Danish prime
minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt. She said the suspected gunmen was seen on
CCTV abandoning the Volkswagen Polo car he used for his getaway from the
first shooting at the cafe, and taking a taxi which dropped him at his home.
Police identified the driver from the vehicle's number plate, and went to an address in the mainly immigrant Norrebro district after questioning him.
By the time police arrived, the suspected gunman had left. He is then believed to have carried out the synagogue shooting, fleeing the scene on foot. Police remained at the building and tried to apprehend him later, shooting him dead when he opened fire on them.
Forensic experts work at the site where a man was killed by police,
close to Norrebro Station, in Copenhagen (REUTERS)
10.02 Listen to the moment a gunman opens fire on a Cafe in Copenhagen during a debate on free speech:
09.24 The Board of Deputies of British Jews has released a statement:
Once again Jews at prayer, this time at a Copenhagen synagogue on the
Sabbath, have come under attack in Europe... The Board of Deputies of
British Jews condemns these attacks in the strongest possible terms. Our
thoughts are with the families of all those who were killed and wounded in
these shocking attacks in Denmark. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish
community in Denmark and have contacted them to express our sympathy and our
support.
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