2 Men Detained in Palme Case but Are Later Freed

Two Yugoslav men, one from Los Angeles and the other from West Germany, were detained here today for questioning in the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme, but Danish police later said the men were not involved in the killing and they were released.

In Stockholm, Swedish police released a picture of the prime suspect in the murder--a dark-haired, dark-eyed man wearing a shirt open at the collar.

The composite picture, the first such depiction, was distributed to police, border patrols, newspapers and television stations as the international hunt for the man who killed the Swedish leader entered its sixth day.

Detained at Ferry

The two Yugoslavs were detained this afternoon after crossing by ferry from Helsingborg, Sweden, to Helsingor, Denmark. The Swedish news agency TT said one man is 37 and the other 33. Their names were not disclosed.

The Yugoslavs, driving a red Porsche registered in West Germany, put up no resistance when police boarded the ferry to arrest them. Swedish border police had thought one of them resembled the electronically composed picture of the suspected assassin, officials said.

Kurt Bannerhof, a Danish detective inspector, said the men were unarmed but carried a check for 70,000 Swedish kronor, equivalent to about $9,800.

But after they were questioned aboard the vessel by Danish and Swedish police, authorities from both countries said they believed the men were not involved in Palme’s killing.

‘No Real Reason’

“When things had calmed down a bit we saw there was no real reason to stop them,” a Swedish spokesman said in Helsingborg.

“They are on principle not suspected of the killing any more,” Helsingborg Deputy Police Chief Roald Onsoe said shortly before their release.

Police believe at least one accomplice to the assassin was waiting in a getaway car Friday night when Palme was gunned down on a snowy downtown Stockholm street.

Sweden has invited all governments with which it has diplomatic ties to attend Palme’s funeral on March 15, except for those of South Africa, Chile, Paraguay, Afghanistan and Cambodia, Swedish radio said.