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September 11, 2003Swedish Foreign Minister Dies After Knife AttackBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 5:33 a.m. ET

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Popular Foreign Minister Anna Lindh died Thursday after being stabbed repeatedly while shopping in an exclusive department store, leaving Sweden's government numb and an upcoming euro referendum in doubt.

Prime Minister Goeran Persson said Lindh, 46, died early in the morning, after more than 10 hours of surgery. Choking on his words, he said the Scandinavian country's tradition of openness was damaged by the killing.

``The attack against her also hurt the society we've built up and in which we want to live,'' he said.

Police said they didn't believe the attack was politically motivated, but it stirred memories of the unsolved murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was killed while walking home from a downtown movie theater with his wife in 1986.

They were searching for a man wearing a camouflage jacket who fled the store after the attack on Wednesday. Police also were analyzing the store's security videotapes.

Lindh had spent most of the night in surgery at Karolinska Hospital. She was stabbed in the abdomen, chest and arm, suffering wounds to her liver and stomach.

The death shocked the nation of 8.9 million, which has long prided itself on the accessibility of its politicians. Like many officials, Lindh didn't use a bodyguard.

Lindh died just before 5:30 a.m., Persson told reporters.

The attack cast a pall over the country's upcoming referendum to decide whether to adopt Europe's common currency, and campaigning on the euro was postponed for at least a day. It wasn't known if Sunday's referendum vote would be delayed.

Jan Larssen, a government spokesman, said the ``issue had been raised'' but added it would be a ``very big, complicated project to move an election day.''

Lindh, who was No. 3 in the government and a leading supporter of the European Union's common currency, was often touted as a possible successor to Persson.

The European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee held a moment of silence in her memory.

``We will try to respect her commitment to European issues and let that be an example to us,'' said the committee chairwoman, Christa Randzio-Plath.

Condolences poured in from European governments.

Lawmakers in Germany's lower house of parliament fell silent as Parliament President Wolfgang Thierse interrupted a budget debate Thursday with news of Lindh's death.

``I can only express our revulsion at this deed,'' Thierse said. ``Our solidarity is with the people, the parliament and the government of Sweden.''

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described Lindh as a close friend and said her death was a ``terrible tragedy.''

``She had this extraordinary ability to balance the demands of one of the most active of Europe's foreign ministers in her role as one of Sweden's leading politicians and that of someone who was completely committed to her family,'' Straw said.

Lindh was head of the Foreign Ministry since 1998, serving as environmental minister before that. She was a member of the Riksdag, or parliament, from 1982-1985. She is married and has two children.

``For some people, this may bring back all the terrible memories of years back when Prime Minister Olof Palme was killed,'' said Green Party leader Per Eriksson. ``This may very well lead to Swedish politicians having to have bodyguards from now on.''

Only Persson and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf have personal security details, said Lars Danielsson, a senior government aide.

He said the government was reassessing security, but didn't say if ministers would be provided with bodyguards.

Politicians throughout Scandinavia are often seen walking along the street or riding subways without police protection. In neighboring Denmark, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller can be spotted grocery shopping on Saturdays without police protection.

Sweden and other Scandinavian countries have been relatively immune to political violence, unlike other parts of Europe. Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in March by allies of Slobodan Milosevic seeking to topple his pro-Western government. In the Netherlands, anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn was shot to death by an animal rights activist in May 2002.

Lindh was shopping at the upscale Nordiska Kompaniet department store, blocks away from the parliament building, when she was stabbed just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, shopper Hanna Sundberg told The Associated Press.

Sundberg said she saw a man chase Lindh up an escalator.

``She fell on the floor and the man was stabbing her in the stomach,'' she said. ``When he ran away, he threw the knife away.''

Sundberg ran to Lindh and the politician told her: ``God, he has stabbed me in the stomach!'' Then, Sundberg said she saw blood.

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Associated Press reporters Karl Ritter and Tommy Grandell contributed to this report.



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