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Leaks to the Nord Stream pipeline off the coast of Sweden Rune Dyrholm/Armed Forces of Denmark/AP

Sweden says Baltic Sea pipeline leaks probe ‘strengthens sabotage suspicion’

The Swedish Security Service said ‘detonations’ caused extensive damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last week.

SWEDEN’S DOMESTIC SECURITY agency has said its preliminary investigation of leaks from two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “has strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage” as the cause.

The Swedish Security Service said the probe confirmed that “detonations” caused extensive damage to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last week.

Authorities had said when the leaks off Sweden and Denmark first surfaced that explosions were recorded in the area.

The agency did not give details about its investigation, but in a separate statement Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said: “Seizures have been made at the crime scene and these will now be investigated.”

Ljungqvist, who led the preliminary investigation, did not identify the seized evidence, but he said now that the initial inquiry has been completed, a blockade around the pipelines off Sweden will be lifted.

The governments of Denmark and Sweden previously said they suspected that several hundred pounds of explosives were involved in carrying out a deliberate act of sabotage. The leaks from Nord Stream 1 and 2 discharged large amounts of methane into the air.

Ljungqvist called it “a serious incident” and said “the case is very sensitive”. He declined to elaborate, saying there is “pre-trial confidentiality”.

embedded269026169 Pipe systems and shut-off devices at the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline in Lubmin, Germany Stefan Sauer / dpa/AP Stefan Sauer / dpa/AP / dpa/AP

Last week, undersea explosions ruptured Nord Stream 1 and its sister pipeline, Nord Stream 2, at two locations off Sweden and two off Denmark. The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of attacking the pipelines, which the United States and its allies vehemently denied.

Danish authorities said the two leaks they were monitoring in international waters stopped over the weekend. One of the leaks off Sweden also appeared to have ended.

Copenhagen police were leading Denmark’s inquiry in co-operation with energy authorities, the National Police and the Danish Police Intelligence Service.

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    Mute Begrudgy
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:09 PM

    Can they not just take €5 a week of his dole and forget about it.

    142
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    Mute finbarr ocormac
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:02 PM

    Any room on that walk for a few Irish Politicans. They conned us out of 35 billion for Anglo Irish bank

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    Mute Coddler O Toole
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:11 PM

    The Financial Sector Is the Greatest Parasite in Human History
    http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/03/financial-sector-greatest-parasite-human-history.html

    “There is one issue whose role I think is overlooked in the mainstream media: the role the financial sector plays in exacerbating income inequality. In fact, I believe the financial sector is one of the prime causes, and at its current point is perhaps the greatest parasite in human history. It is sucking wealth from the productive sectors of the economy at an unprecedented rate…… The job of the finance sector is simply to manage existing resources. It creates nothing. Therefore, the smaller the financial sector is the more real wealth there is for the rest of society to enjoy. The bigger the financial sector becomes the more money it siphons off from the productive sectors.”

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:21 PM

    “The role the financial sector plays in exacerbating income inequality” – people and their selfish aims exacerbate inequality, the financial sector just happens to be a useful tool at present. In times past, birthrights and titles were used, in Ireland education levels are used and this is perceived to be justified, religion/race/nationality have all previously been used.
    People are selfish, and in terms of wealth a great many people value relative wealth higher than real wealth. And even if the financial sector was massively altered or even disbanded, people would just find new ways to express and maintain their perceived superiority.

    17
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    Mute Coddler O Toole
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:53 PM

    People once maintained their perceived superiority through slavery in the cotton fields but this obscenity was eventually dismantled.
    The system which sees the 85 richest people in the world holding the same wealth as the poorest 3,500,000,000 also needs to be addressed and the financial sector is a major part of that problem.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/23/the-85-richest-people-in-the-world-have-as-much-wealth-as-the-3-5-billion-poorest/

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:56 PM

    At a guess, those 85 families were probably among the largest slave owners back in those days. Systems change, nobility remain.

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    Mute Coddler O Toole
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:07 PM

    France 1798?

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:16 PM

    What happened then? Some nobels finally put to death 9 years after the revolution :-P (only messing, easy mistake to make). But the French Revolution just succeeded in changing the nobility really, with Napoleon becoming emperor and his people being granted dynasties and principalities all over Europe. Seems self-interest & human selfishness could not be guillotined!

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    Mute John Gleeson
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:19 PM

    A tipping point is coming and the rich know it. The internet has allowed people access to information they never would have had before and this unsettles the upper classes as they rely on misinformation and propaganda to maintain their wealth and privilege and they rely on people not to question that information but the tables are turning slowly but surely and in the next few years i think it will finally spill over.People need to think for themselves.

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    Mute Coddler O Toole
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:41 PM

    The French Revolution was one of many steps towards moving western society towards eventual democracy. One of purposes of democracy to limit the power of the ‘nobility’ as you call them which is why those elites try to circumvent or subvert democracy at every opportunity.

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Mar 19th 2014, 3:51 PM

    They don’t try to circumvent and subvert democracy, they succeed with frightening regularity! What hope would a British political party stand if one of their pre-election promises was to break Murdoch’s hold on the media? Or an Australian party promising to come down hard on mining companies in relation to taxes and environmental responsibilities? Or in the US trying to take on Big Oil?
    I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying, but the financial system is but one tool used to keep the elite in their opulent lifestyles. And if something happens that it no longer serves this purpose for the elite, they will just use media, jobs, political pressure etc. to ensure they maintain their status. I don’t like it anymore than you, but it has been going on for generations and I have little hope my great grandchildren won’t be trying to find ways to make society more equal, life more fair, and the obscenely wealthy less influential!

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    Mute Reginald St Worthing
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:16 PM

    I disagree. People are not inherently selfish, it’s the complex socio-economic/political systems in which we live that promote selfishness as something desirable. And it enslaves us. Freedom is equal to your needs.

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    Mute Reginald St Worthing
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    Mar 19th 2014, 6:19 PM

    That said, I agree with the main thrust of what you’re saying.

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:14 PM

    “Kerviel says his superiors turned a blind eye as long as his transactions made money” – very little doubt that this is true, but more fool him for not realising the consequences of his actions. His superiors stood to make if his positions were profitable, and if this was achieved by exceeding limits then those superiors were turning personal profits while Kerviel was taking all the risk (which is why they were turning blind eyes rather than expressly informing him to disregard limits).
    It’s a dog eat dog world – I’m sure they loved him while he was making money, but if you’re breaking rules, and do so to take a 50bn long position on equity indices in a company with a market cap around 36bn, then you really should expect previously earned brownie points to be insufficient!
    In short, a naive fool, but unlikely the main culprit in this debacle.

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    Mute Dermot O Dwyer
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:10 PM

    1400Km walk from Paris to Rome,
    Did he ever think of putting out his Thumb?????

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Mar 19th 2014, 9:11 PM

    His thumb is probably still stuck in a pie…

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    Mute whynotme
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    Mar 19th 2014, 2:07 PM

    Societe are hedging their bets – and are saying that he’ll get between 6 and 10 yrs !

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    Mute Zel Ilano
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    Dec 5th 2015, 8:27 PM

    my assistant was looking for form name several days ago and located a great service with lots of sample forms . If you are searching for a form too , here’s a http://pdf.ac/49Mwsy

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