Attack on Iraqi polling station in Sweden

Police issued an alert to Iraqi polling stations in Sweden today after an arson attempt in a Stockholm suburb where Iraqis were voting in parliamentary elections.

Bottles filled with petrol were thrown at a polling station in Kista just north of the capital early today but did not catch fire, police spokesman Fredrik Lindfors said.

There were no injuries, and police had no suspects.

“We have alerted other police districts. This kind of attack can occur anywhere in the country,” Lindfors said.

Voters in Iraq and abroad are electing the 275-member National Assembly, which will rule the country over the next four years. Some 7,655 candidates are representing more than 200 political parties.

Sweden, with a large immigrant population, has more than 70,000 Iraqis living in the country, 40,000 of whom are Iraqi citizens. They are voting in the capital, Stockholm, and in Gothenburg in south-western Sweden.