3 Copenhagen Blasts Injure 22 : Vengeance for Lebanon, Islamic Jihad Declares

Bombs damaged Scandinavia’s oldest synagogue and the office of Northwest Orient Airlines here Monday, injuring 22 in an attack that Islamic Jihad said avenged an Israeli raid in southern Lebanon.

“In retaliation for the barbaric Zionist attack on Qabrikha, one of our cells operating in the Scandinavian countries bombed the Jewish synagogue and the U.S. Northwest Orient Airlines in Copenhagen,” an anonymous caller told a news agency in Beirut.

Qabrikha, a village in southern Lebanon, was attacked by Israeli forces Sunday. Three people were reported killed and five wounded in that attack.

“From now on, retaliation for American-Zionist aggression against our people will be immediate, surprising and lightning,” the caller said.

Copenhagen police said six foreigners were arrested in connection with the attacks but gave no details.

The explosions hit the airline office, near the downtown Vesterport railroad station, and the 150-year-old synagogue in Copenhagen’s old city.

A witness said one bomb was flung into the airline quarters, the only U.S. airline office in the Danish capital, leaving victims lying scattered on the floor and the walls pockmarked by debris. The explosion was heard throughout the downtown area.

The two other explosions occurred minutes later at the synagogue, blowing out windows and a door and damaging a nearby Jewish home for the elderly, which was later evacuated.

Police reported that four of the 22 people injured were in serious condition. The victims included at least two Americans. Most of the casualties occurred in the airline office blast, but five residents of the home for the aged suffered severe cuts from glass splinters.

Later in the day a fourth bomb was discovered in the city’s port area, but it was defused by explosive experts.

Police refused to comment on the Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War) claim of responsibility, but a homicide squad chief said that extra security measures are being taken to protect Jewish interests in Denmark, which has a 10,000-member Jewish community.

Opposes Western Influences

Islamic Jihad is believed to be a name used by groups of Shia Muslim fundamentalists. They have carried out a string of suicide bombings and kidnapings in Lebanon in a bid to clear the country of Western influences.

The caller in Beirut said that Islamic Jihad’s attacks will no longer be confined to Persian Gulf and Mideast states, “but will be aimed at every Zionist, American or reactionary establishment in various parts of the world.”

“Should certain countries think they are immune from our blows, let them know that sooner or later we will reach the heart of the White House, the Kremlin, the Elysee Palace, 10 Downing Street, Jerusalem and the headquarters of every Western or Arab ruler who is a stooge of imperialist countries,” the caller said.

Prime Minister Poul Schlueter, commenting on the blasts, said in a statement:

“It is with great sorrow that Denmark has become a target for international terrorism after many years of being spared the death and destruction inflicted on other European countries by terrorists.”

He promised every effort to bring the bombers to justice.

Copenhagen’s chief rabbi, Bent Melchior, denounced the bomb attacks on the synagogue as “an act of total madness.” The rabbi, interviewed by Denmark’s Ritzau national news agency, said he was unable to point to a possible perpetrator.