Stockholm, Sept 12: Swedish police are searching for a 32-year-old drifter with a criminal record in connection with the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, 'Daily Expression' reported today. The man is known to use knives as his weapon of choice, the report said.

"He is homeless and a drifter," the paper quoted a unnamed police source as saying.

Stockholm police spokesman Mats Nylen would neither confirm nor deny the report.

"I don't want to say anything yet. We are looking for a lone attacker," he told news agencies.

Lindh was stabbed in the arm, abdomen and chest by an unknown assailant while she was out shopping at a department store on Wednesday, and died the next day of massive internal bleeding.

Her assailant fled the store on foot, leaving behind the knife and a baseball cap.

'Expression' said police were able to link the 32-year-old man to a set of handprints lifted off an escalator handrail in the NK Department Store. Police also have information placing the man in central Stockholm hours before the attack, it said.

"There is a lot that indicates that the prints belong to the 32 year-old," the paper quoted a police source as saying.
Police have said that they are searching for a man of Swedish origin who they believe is still in the country. They have described him as having a haggard face and heavy build, about five feet eleven inches tall.


Bureau Report