Police quiz suspected killer of Lindh

SWEDISH police interrogated and took DNA samples from the suspected killer of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh yesterday, following his capture in a Stockholm suburb, authorities said.

The suspect a Swedish man described by a television station as a 35-year-old drifter was detained on Tuesday night near a restaurant in Solna, police spokeswoman Stina Wessling said. He was not identified further.

"The man was informed of our suspicions of him being guilty of the murder and answered a few questions. He was also examined by medical examiners and forensic laboratory technicians," said Wessling.

She refused to say whether the man had confessed to or denied the accusations. She did not reveal any further details of the arrest, but media reports said the suspect was watching a soccer game on television in the restaurant. After the first half, he stepped out for some fresh air when two plainclothes policemen arrested him, the newspaper Aftonbladet reported.

Wessling said the suspect looks similar to the man in a picture circulated in a nationwide alert.

The suspect's DNA will be tested to see if it matches genetic material recovered from a baseball cap found near the scene. Police also recovered DNA from the knife used by the attacker, but the amount was too small for immediate use. Wessling said she did not know when the results would be available.

Lindh, who did not have bodyguards, was stabbed several times in the stomach, chest and arm in an upscale Stockholm department store, and died the next day after several hours of surgery. Her death cast a shadow over the referendum in which Swedes rejected the euro. Lindh was a leading proponent of adopting the common European currency.

Authorities have said, however, that the attack did not appear to be politically motivated.

Despite the breakthrough, Wessling stressed that the investigation continues and that there are at least five more people being sought.

"We are very happy that we got hold of this person so quickly, which make things easier for us. At the same time, one must remember that he is not pointed out as a killer. There are other persons who are still of immediate interest in the investigation," said Wessling said.

The Swedish news agency TT, citing a police source, said the suspect had previously been convicted of illegally owning a knife, as well as theft and vandalism. TT said the man, whom it didn't identify, spent eight months in jail for fraud.