Bearded men's club mistaken for Islamic State militants

Swedish terror police swooped on an international gathering of beard aficionados after hearing reports they were Islamic State terrorists.

Anti-terrorism officers received unnerving reports of a group of bearded men in dark clothes raising a black flag above a remote castle.

But on further inspection police found they were dealing not with IS militants but around 30 members of the Swedish group of the "Bearded Villains".

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The organisation, which was founded in the US last year, brings bearded men all over the word together to fight all forms of prejudice and perform charity work.

One of the club's customs is to pass their flag from group to group, and the Swedish branch were celebrating their turn with a photo shoot at the ruined castle of Brahehus in the south of the country when the police arrived.

Andreas Fransson, a founder of Ratemybeard.se, admitted that the flag – crossed sabres on a black background – could be mistaken for that of Islamic State, but said the group was still shocked when anti-terror police turned up. "They told us they got a call from someone driving past on the highway, saying that there were Isis terrorists at the ruins," Fransson told The Independent.

It didn't take long for the officers to establish that the remote ruins were not the site of a terrorist training camp. "We had a laugh with the police and they left," Fransson said.

John Ekeblad, co-leader of the group, which claims to have groups in 80 countries, told Sweden's Metro newspaper that while they laughed about the "surreal" incident at the time, it highlighted the prejudices bearded men face.

"It's one of the foundations of our brotherhood, that you should not judge others before you know the facts. It's the same with beards – each and every day you hear someone say you are a terrorist."[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"content_original","fid":"85391","attributes":{"class":"media-image"}}]]