Police identify Lindh murder suspect

Lindh's death shocked Sweden

Swedish police have issued an arrest warrant for a man they suspect of killing Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

"We have indicted a man in absentia. He is suspected of the murder," a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Police refused to say if the suspect is the man in a baseball cap seen on closed circuit television in the Stockholm department store where Ms Lindh was stabbed to death last week.

The police announcement of the warrant came as tributes were paid to Ms Lindh in parliament.

The speaker of parliament said her killing had sent an "ice-cold wind" through the country.

"The cold from that wind still has us in its grip. But despite the dark that has happened, her memory should be bright," Bjorn von Sydow said.

International leaders are expected to gather in Stockholm on Friday for a formal memorial service to Ms Lindh. A private funeral will be held later.

Arrest denied

Issuing the arrest warrant means the police have identified a suspect.

"We have a name," police spokesman Lars Groenskog told the Reuters news agency.

But he told the Associated Press that the arrest warrant did not mean that the suspect had committed the killing.

Police may have identified a man caught on CCTV cameras

Earlier on Tuesday, police denied reports - published on the website of Sweden's biggest-selling newspaper, Expressen - that they had made an arrest in the case.

Police have admitted that Ms Lindh's killer may no longer be in Sweden.

"There's no certainty that he's in the country, but there's no certainty that he's left," said Stockholm police commissioner Leif Jennekvist on Monday.

The killer, who stabbed Ms Lindh with a craft knife, has eluded capture despite a massive manhunt.

Police announced on Monday that DNA traces had been found on a baseball cap left behind as the killer fled. The DNA does not match any of the 10,000 samples held in Sweden.

More than 100 names have been offered to police since the CCTV pictures were published at the weekend.

Unsolved

Police are anxious to avoid a repeat of the failure to solve the 1986 murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme, which happened only a few blocks away from the scene of the Lindh murder.

In that case, the murder weapon was never found and a man convicted was freed on appeal.

Before the arrest warrant was issued, Mr Jennekvist denied that the Lindh murder hunt was stalling.

Silent tributes were paid to Anna Lindh

"We have good witness testimony, we have findings discovered along the escape route. We have secured DNA traces. It is a good investigative situation," he said.

The knife used to kill Ms Lindh is being scrutinised for forensic evidence. UK experts, who have more sophisticated techniques available, have been called in to help.

Interpol has also been contacted by Swedish officers. The DNA from the hat may also be compared with international records.

Ms Lindh was killed only days before Sweden's euro referendum, in which she had played a leading role for the Yes campaign.

The vote went ahead as scheduled, with voters rejecting membership of the currency by 56% to 42%.