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Swedish police detain Liberia's Johnson -- prosecutor

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -- Swedish police have detained AIK's Liberian soccer international Dulee Johnson following allegations of rape, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

"With regard to the identity, that will come out in court but, yes, it is Dulee Johnson, but other than that I don't have a lot to say at the moment," Stockholm prosecutor Henrik Soderman told Reuters following local media reports a player had been detained before training on Tuesday.

Asked whether the allegation due to which Johnson had been detained was rape, Soderman said, "Yes."

The website of Aftonbladet newspaper (www.aftonbladet.se) quoted Johnson's lawyer Michael Linden as saying the player denied the charges.

"My client rejects the allegations that have been made against him," Linden said, adding that he expected the case to be dropped.

Swedish champions AIK said on Wednesday they had suspended midfielder Johnson.

"We will come back when there is something more to say in the matter," said a statement on the club website (www.aikfotboll.se).

Johnson, who has played in five World Cup qualifiers for Liberia, made his debut for AIK in 2006 and returned to the Stockholm club last year after a spell at Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

He has played 20 times this season, scoring two goals as AIK have struggled to repeat the form that took them to a league and cup double last year.