Norway: Muslims feel watched

Muslims in Norway feel they're being watched by the authorities as suspected terrorists.

"Many Muslims feel that the threshold for being watched have been lowered. Ordinary people watch what they say on the telephone or what they write in email," says Mohammad Usman Rana of the Muslim student society to NRK.They fear that the telephones are being tapped and that email is being read by the police.

The Norwegian Police Security Agency (PST) says they don't watch Muslims especially, but they confirm that there are groups in Norway who support terror aboard.

Jørn Holme, head of the PST denies that the police watches Muslims as a group.

"We don't keep watch on Muslims, Sikhs, vegetarians or people who wear jeans. We follow those of them we think can plan serious crime," says Holme. He does understand the fear in the Muslim community of being stamped.

"I know that many youth with a multicultural background feel stigmatized by the fear of terror we unfortunately have in Europe and it is important for me to listen to what they have to say," says Holme, who would like to demystify the work of the PST. He thinks it's important that all types of people work for the security service, saying that the PST should reflect the complexity of society. "We are also dependent on people who have a multicultural background," he says to NRK.

Source: Dagbladet (Norwegian)