Lindh had been touted as future PM

Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who died today, was touted by many in Sweden as future prime minister.

“Anna Lindh has left us. The family has lost a mother and wife. Social Democracy has lost one of its most skilful politicians,” a choked-up and emotional Prime Minister Goeran Persson said today

“The government has lost a competent politician and a good working colleague. Sweden has lost its face against the world.”

For Swedes, her death rekindled memories of the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was killed while walking home from a cinema with his wife. Like Lindh, he had no bodyguards. His killer has never been caught.

One of the Scandinavian country’s most popular politicians, Lindh, 46, was considered one of the ruling Social Democratic party’s top members. She was also one of the Swedish government’s leading figures in the campaign to convince the country’s nine million residents to adopt the euro.

Persson tapped her to lead the Foreign Ministry in 1998, and Lindh moved quickly to put her stamp on the position.

She was outspoken on several international issues, voicing her opposition to the recent war in Iraq and urging the Israelis and Palestinians to both stop their violence and start negotiating.

Lindh also garnered a reputation as a fierce and dedicated proponent of human rights.

Earlier this year, she chided President George Bush as a “lone ranger” for his decision to unilaterally invade Iraq with out UN approval.

But she also sometimes recognised the need for force, telling members of the Swedish Riksdag, or parliament, in January the threat of military action was needed to pressure Saddam Hussein to comply with UN resolutions to disarm.

“It is also to erode the UN’s power ... if one says, ’no, the UN can never use military action,’ because then we weaken the UN and in this case we make it more difficult for a peaceful solution,” she said.

Born in Enskede, a suburb of the capital, Stockholm, in 1957, Lindh was a trained lawyer with a reputation for preserving the environment.

As chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth from 1984-1990, she was known as the “blonde girl who protested against the environment sins” of big companies.

When the Social Democrats regained power in 1994, Lindh was named environmental minister. In 1998 she was appointed foreign minister and dubbed “Persson’s crown princess.”

She was married to Bo Holmberg, a local politician, and they had two children.