The 28-year-old Somali who is charged with attempting to kill the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, and the man suspected of being the suicide bomber who killed some 24 people in Mogadishu several weeks ago were in Sweden together last year, according to the Swedish newspaper Expressen.

The Somali believed to have been the Mogadishu bomber is also thought to have lived in Denmark for some time.

The Expressen report, citing sources in the Somali community in Sweden, says the two men were in the country to collect money for Somalia’s al-Shabaab organisation.

“We are following this very closely and have extensive cooperation with the Danish Security and Intelligence Service,” Sweden’s Intelligence Service (SÄPO) spokesman Patrik Peter tells the newspaper.

While young Danish Somalis have dominated the news in the past couple of weeks, Sweden also has its own problems with young ethnic Somalis who appear to be drawn to terrorist activities.

“Throughout 2009 we have raised the issue of Swedes going to Somalia to training camps. Of these, several have been found dead after violent episodes. There are currently about 10 Swedes in Somalia,” Peter says.

SÄPO has previously warned that young Swedes in Somalia could take part in terrorist attacks ‘in the near future’.