Possibility of Chilean Link to Palme Slaying Not Ruled Out
Swedish authorities are not ruling out the possibility that Chile’s military regime may be linked to the Feb. 28 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme, yet they are still inclined to believe that the killer had connections closer to home, police said Sunday.
Police refused direct comment on a report published in London’s Observer newspaper quoting an unidentified senior Swedish government source as saying that Stockholm is “actively investigating” a Chilean tie in the killing of Palme, a prominent Socialist who denounced the regime of Chilean President Augusto Pinochet.
“It would be strange if you did not look to international motives behind the killing of a well-known politician with a broad international commitment,” said Leif Hallberg, spokesman for the police task force in the Palme investigation.
“We have not dropped the thought of a foreign connection in the killing,” Hallberg said, “but right now we are more inclined to believe there is a Swedish background.” Hallberg added, “We tend to believe there are Swedish motives and that those guilty are in Sweden.” He would not elaborate.
Expressen, an afternoon newspaper with the largest circulation in Sweden, said the government in 1976 received an 18-page report saying that Palme was on a “hit list” of the Chilean military regime. It said Palme confirmed the report in January, 1979.
The paper indicated that the Chileans wanted to kill Palme because he was an outspoken opponent of Pinochet’s military regime.
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