Danish agents were warned about gunman Omar El-Hussein

by Natalie de Vallieres and Biodun Iginla, BBC News

17 minutes ago

Denmark's domestic intelligence agency (PET) says it was warned by prison officials about the man who killed two people in a shootout in Copenhagen.

It says it received a report in September saying that the man now confirmed by police as Omar El-Hussein, 22, was at risk of being radicalised while serving time for a stabbing.
However, PET said there had been no indication he was planning an attack.
The gunman was shot dead by police after two attacks in the capital.
Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, thought to have been the main target of Saturday's initial shooting at a debate on free speech, has said Danish police failed to step up security after January's attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

But Danish intelligence officials insist they had no cause to suspect El-Hussein was plotting attacks after his release from jail.
Confirming his identity late on Tuesday, police said the gunman had unsuccessfully tried to gain access to several of the entrances of the cultural centre that was hosting the free speech debate.
They say that he encountered his first victim outside the centre and shot him with a weapon subsequently found on a football field at Mjoelnerparken, the housing estate where he was raised.
Two weapons used in the synagogue attack were both found on El-Hussein when he was shot dead.
Danish opposition politicians have called for an investigation into whether police and the intelligence services could have done more to prevent the attacks.
Intelligence chief Jens Madsen acknowledged that El-Hussein had been "on the radar" of his services. He said investigators were working on the theory that he could have been inspired by the shootings in Paris last month.
Lars Vilks told AFP news agency that police "did not step up security on Saturday. It was the same as we had previously", confirming that he had since gone into hiding.

The cartoonist stoked controversy in 2007 by drawing pictures of the Prophet Muhammad dressed as a dog and has been under police protection since 2010. 

• Of Palestinian descent, parents settled in Denmark before he was born
• As a youth took up kickboxing and smoked cannabis
• Appears to have been a criminal rather than a radical in his late teens
• Jailed for two years for a 2013 stabbing
• Aged 22 when shot dead by police in Copenhagen

Omar El-Hussein: homegrown radical

On Monday, tens of thousands gathered in towns and cities across Denmark to commemorate the victims of the attacks.
Two men were charged on Monday with providing and disposing of the weapon used in the attacks and helping the gunman to hide.
However, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the attacker did not appear to be part of a wider terror cell.
Omar El-Hussein was released from prison two weeks before the attacks after serving a sentence for grievous bodily harm.

Who were the victims?

Finn Noergaard, 55, was struck in the chest by a bullet at the free speech debate. The documentary film-maker had a keen interest in the problems faced by the offspring of migrant communities.
His friend Malene Trock told Berlinske daily he was "open-minded" and "cosmopolitan". Producer Torben Larsen is quoted by the AP news agency as saying Mr Noergaard was "a very generous and warm person".
Dan Uzan, 37, was shot dead while standing guard at a Copenhagen synagogue.
He had studied at the city's university and was a keen basketball player, active in a local team. Denmark's chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, said Mr Uzan was an "amazing guy - irreplaceable".

Netanyahu calls for "massive immigration" of European Jews to Israel

by Nasra Ismail and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Jerusalem

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday for the "massive immigration" of European Jews to Israel following a deadly shooting near Copenhagen's main synagogue, renewing a blunt message that has upset some of Israel's friends in Europe.

Netanyahu said that at a time of rising anti-Semitism in Europe, Israel is the only place where Jews can truly feel safe. His comments triggered an angry response from Copenhagen's chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, who said he was "disappointed" by the remarks.

"People from Denmark move to Israel because they love Israel, because of Zionism. But not because of terrorism," Melchior told the BBC. "If the way we deal with terror is to run somewhere else, we should all run to a deserted island."

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt expressed support for the Jewish community, telling reporters: "They belong in Denmark, they are a strong part of our community, and we will do everything we can to protect the Jewish community in our country."

Netanyahu issued his call during the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, which approved a previously scheduled $46 million plan to encourage Jewish immigration from France, Belgium and Ukraine - countries where large numbers of Jews have expressed interest in moving to Israel. France and Belgium have experienced deadly attacks on their Jewish communities in in recent years, most recently an attack in Paris last month that killed four Jews at a kosher market. Ukraine, meanwhile, is in the midst of a conflict between government troops and Russian-backed separatists.

"This wave of attacks is expected to continue," Netanyahu told his Cabinet. "Jews deserve security in every country, but we say to our Jewish brothers and sisters, Israel is your home."

His comments came amid a tight re-election campaign ahead of March 17 elections. Seeking a third consecutive term, Netanyahu has focused his campaign on Israel's security needs, repeatedly warning voters about the many threats from Islamic radicals throughout the region. There was no immediate reaction from his chief opponents.

Netanyahu spoke at a time of rising tensions with European countries over Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured territories claimed by the Palestinians. Some Israelis believe such criticism has helped fuel anti-Semitism.

European leaders, however, have insisted that their criticism has no bearing on the treatment of their own Jewish communities. Netanyahu rushed to France following the Jan. 7-9 killings at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, urging the country's Jews to move to Israel. French leaders signaled their unhappiness.

"France, without the Jews of France, is no longer France," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the BBC at the time. The government has since increased protection at synagogues, Jewish schools and other sensitive sites.

Hundreds of graves have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France, in what President Francois Hollande called an "odious and barbaric" anti-Semitic act against French values.

French Jews have been increasingly migrating to Israel, a pattern that dismayed the French government well before the attacks at the kosher supermarket and since has left top officials pleading for them to stay. In 2014, more than 7,000 French Jews left, more than double the number for 2013.

The exodus from France accelerated after the March 2012 attacks by Mohammed Merah, who stormed a Jewish school in Toulouse, killing three children and a rabbi.

Last month's attack in France was part of a wave of violence that killed a total of 17 people carried out by extremists who claimed allegiance to the al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups.

Jens Madsen, head of Denmark's intelligence agency PET, told BBC News reporters that investigators believed the gunman who killed two people in the weekend shootings in Copenhagen was inspired by Islamic radicalism.

A visibly moved Thorning-Schmidt laid flowers at the synagogue Sunday, accompanied by former Chief Rabbi Bent Lexner, Jewish community leader Dan Rosenberg Asmussen and Anders Gadegaard from the Copenhagen Protestant cathedral.

"My message is that all of Denmark feels with you," Thorning-Schmidt said. "This is not the Denmark we want. We want a Denmark where people freely can choose one's religion."

Denmark is known for saving most of its Jews during World War II. There are an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Jews in Denmark.

Melchior, the chief rabbi, identified the Jewish victim in Copenhagen as Dan Uzan, a security guard.

"He was a person who was always willing to help. An amazing, amazing guy," said Melchior, speaking from Israel before boarding a return flight to Copenhagen.

The community had previously asked police for enhanced security, and following last month's attack on the Paris kosher market, Danish police began reevaluating security, Melchior said.