New foreign minister for Sweden

Prime Minister Goeran Persson today appointed a new foreign minister to replace Anna Lindh, who was stabbed to death last month while shopping with a friend in a Stockholm department store.

Persson announced the appointment of Laila Freivalds, a lawyer who previously had been justice minister for nine years, as Sweden’s new foreign minister.

He also said Deputy Prime Minister Margareta Winberg was leaving the government, and would not be immediately replaced.

“I want to change and rejuvenate the government,” Persson said.