SWEDEN: Flags flew at half-mast in the Swedish capital yesterday as world leaders gathered to pay their last respects to the late Swedish Foreign Minister, Ms Anna Lindh who was fatally stabbed last week.
Approximately 1,300 specially invited guests attended a moving memorial ceremony in Stockholm town hall.
The ceremony began with a song from one of Ms Lindh's favourite artists, Ms Eva Dahlgren. The Swedish Prime Minister, Mr Göran Persson, then gave a tribute to his friend and colleague. "Anna Lindh believed in human beings. She believed in people as the remarkable beings they are, with an almost unlimited capacity to grow and develop," he told the audience.
"Thanks Anna, for everything you gave us and everything you were," he said.
A large photograph of the smiling face of Ms Lindh lay perched on an easel in front of the crowd. The European Commissioner for External Relations, Mr Chris Patten, recalled her cheerful character.
"We do not judge a book or a poem or a symphony by its length but by how it touches each one of us.
"As music critics have said, the most beautiful symphonies are sometimes those that are unfinished, and so it is with Anna," he said. In March 1986, Ms Lindh stood on the same podium to honour the memory of the assassinated Swedish Prime Minister, Mr Olof Palme.
"A person may be murdered but their ideas may not. Your ideas live on with us. We will try to drive forward your struggles. Our thanks to you will be to spread your message further," she said.
Among the assembled audience were the Swedish Royal Family and Swedish cabinet as well as most Swedish MPs.
Some 80 international guests attended, including most of Europe's foreign ministers. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen represented the Irish Government. Other visiting dignitaries included the NATO Secretary General, Mr George Robertson, the former Palestinian Minister for Higher Education and Research, Dr Hanan Ashrawi, President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi and the EU High Representative, Mr Javier Solana.
Security for the event was tight. Parts of Stockholm were closed off and aircraft were forbidden from flying over the city centre during the event.
While the memorial service was taking place, the state prosecutor in Ms Lindh's murder case, Ms Agnetha Blidberg, requested that the man arrested on Monday night on suspicion of murdering Ms Lindh be detained in custody for another week. Stockholm District Court granted the extended detention though there is still only a "reasonable suspicion" that the man is the murderer.
Police have refused to speak about the DNA evidence received and whether or not this links the 35-year-old man to the crime.
The man's lawyer, Mr Gunnar Falk, said he wasn't impressed with the evidence shown to the court.
"My client has nothing to do with any of this," he told reporters.
"There's nothing that ties my client to this crime." Mr Falk refused to say if he would appeal the further detention of his client. He described his client's well-being as very poor.