Lindh murder: Balkan link?

2003-09-27 17:43

Stockholm - Police investigating the fatal knifing of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh are pursuing a possible Balkan connection, the daily Aftonbladet said on Saturday.

Mijailo Mijalovic, 24, who is helping police with their inquiries into the murder, was described in the report as a Serbian nationalist with a grudge against Lindh for having supporting the Nato bombing of Serbia during the 1996 Kosovo war.

Aftenbladet cited a friend of Mijalovic, whom it did not identify, as the source of its information.

"He was very much affected when Lindh said it was OK to bomb Serbia," the friend was quoted as saying.

Mijalovic, who was detained on Wednesday because of his likeness to a video image of the killer, has denied having had anything to do with the crime, according to his lawyer.

Nevertheless, this has not prevented Swedish newspapers, printing details of his purported criminal and medical records.

A Stockholm detective, Carina Goetblad, was quoted in the newspaper Dagens Nyeter as saying that police were not now looking for any other suspects.

A court on Friday ordered Mijalovic detained for two weeks for psychiatric tests. That gave the police until October 10 to bring a formal charge.

Earlier, police had proclaimed a "breakthrough" when they detained another suspect in the murder, but they released him after a week for lack of evidence. The man, Per Olof Svensson, says he is considering suing the media for lurid reporting of his week-long trial and the government for wrongful detention.

Lindh was stabbed while shopping alone in a Stockholm department store.

According to Aftonbladet, Mijalovic was born in Sweden but spent much of his childhood living with his grandparents in Serbia.

"He was a patriot - Serbia above all else," his unidentified friend was quoted as saying.

- AFP