Lindh: Friend and politician

By Emma Jame Kirby
BBc correspondent in Stockholm

Sweden is not exaggerating its outpouring of grief for murdered Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

The Swedish newspapers nicknamed her the "crown princess - the guiding light of Sweden's future" as she was widely tipped to become the next prime minister.

Many spoke of Lindh's honest and loving nature

Yet Swedish people are missing her on more than a simple political level - they are missing her as a friend.

The steady stream of black limousines approaching the City Hall for her memorial service today showed just how widely she was loved and respected.

At least 1,300 guests filled the hall, many of them foreign dignitaries who had travelled far to pay their respects.

'An Angel'

A huge photograph of Anna Lindh smiled down on the guests from a marble staircase as they entered the hall and the staircase itself was decked with powder blue delphinium flowers, her favourite colour.

She fought for Sweden in the world and the world in Sweden Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson Transcript of trial

The 90-minute service opened with a song titled "Angel in the Room" and was performed by the popular Swedish singer Eva Dahlgren.

The choice of song could not have been more appropriate for the tributes which were to follow as ministers and colleagues stood up to hail her as one of the dearest people they had known.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson spoke of his terrible hurt at losing the woman who was not only his foreign minister but who was his very great friend.

He recalled her as an energetic woman, knapsack on her back, with her jacket flapping open as she ran, mobile phone in one hand while the other gestured wildly in protest.

"And there was always that snappy comment and that big rolling laugh," he said.

"She fought for Sweden in the world and the world in Sweden."

'Good laugh'

Anna Lindh was a tireless campaigner for closer EU integration and had been trying to persuade Swedish voters to sign up to the euro in last week's referendum.

There were vast numbers of high profile sombre faces from across Europe in the congregation - EU President Romano Prodi sat with his head in his hands as Chris Patten EU commissioner for external affairs remembered how she "lifted the spirit" of all EU meetings the minute she entered the room.

Tributes flooded in

"She was pretty, brave, witty, professional, charming and very, very kind," he said. "To be with her was invariably good fun."

Two words were repeated time and time again at the service - the words "honest" and "loving" .

Sometimes, listening to the speeches, it was hard to remember that Anna Lindh had indeed been an important stateswoman and influential politician - the picture painted of her was so much of an ordinary, family woman who successfully juggled the balance of work and home demands and who liked a good laugh.

The day that she was murdered, she was out on a shopping spree with a girlfriend to find a new outfit to wear on a television show she was due to appear on the next day.

"But that's why we loved her," said one woman standing tearfully outside the Stockholm department store where Anna Lindh was stabbed.

"She was just one of us - it's so, so sad that she died and I am so, so sad."

Security review

There are still mountains of flowers piled outside the shop and every minute more people arrive with single red roses or bouquets to lay by the candlelit photograph of her which lies on the pavement.

Queues of people wait to pen personal and heartfelt messages in special books of condolences - many of them say simply "Anna - we loved you."

Already on the streets of Sweden there are clear signs that Anna Lindh's murder, committed in broad daylight in a very public place, will change Sweden's security procedures forever.

Anna was Sweden. We just dearly hope Sweden will go on being Anna Chris Patten

This morning, armed police patrolled Stockholm's streets and much of the city was sealed off by road barriers as the memorial service began.

Anna Lindh did not have a personal bodyguard - in the open society which Sweden prides itself to be, only the prime minister and king are guarded.

Such relaxed policies will now have to be reviewed.

Ironically, Anna Lindh, who was herself the very embodiment of Swedish openness, may now be the cause for a national tightening of security.

She will be buried at a private funeral service on Saturday but for now her cheerful and likeable face is still displayed very publicly in hotel lobbies, government buildings and churches.

Both Sweden and Europe know they have lost someone extremely special; in a world of increasing tensions and hostilities, it's rare that a politician should be so universally loved and respected.

"For us (in Europe)," said Chris Patten "Anna was Sweden. We just dearly hope Sweden will go on being Anna."