Norway terror threat rising: intelligence agency

By Aasa Christine Stoltz

OSLO (Reuters) - The threat of terror attacks by Islamic radicals in Norway is rising in part due to the country's military presence in Afghanistan, the Norwegian intelligence agency said on Tuesday.

It said Islamic militants represented a "significant challenge" for Norway in the coming years and some evidence suggested local groups were becoming increasingly radical.

"Norway's contribution in Afghanistan is a key reason to why Norwegian interests are now viewed as a legitimate target by extreme Islamists," the Police Security Service (PST) agency said in a report evaluating the threat of terror attacks.

Norway has about 500 soldiers in Afghanistan and this week the defense minister said Norway could remain there, along with other NATO countries, possibly until 2015.

The police report said radical groups' activities in Norway were still mainly related to providing financial support to people or groups abroad.

"Increased radicalism in Norway makes the national terror picture more unpredictable," PST said, adding that experience gathered in other countries showed groups can quickly develop "operative intention and capacity".

Government officials said on Tuesday they were likely to close off to car traffic a street running past main ministries due to the threats detailed in the PST report.

Last month Norway felt the brunt of an attack in Kabul during a visit to Afghanistan by Norway's foreign minister. A suicide raid at a hotel in Kabul killed a Norwegian journalist in the entourage. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

In 2006, Norway was a target of protests from across the Muslim world during a wave of demonstrations against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad which appeared in Danish and Norwegian newspapers.

Norway has resisted calls from the United States and other allies to send more soldiers to southern Afghanistan, instead agreeing to increase development aid to the war-torn country by 50 percent to some $140 million in 2008.

(Editing by Mary Gabriel)