Swedish Police Seize Kurds in Palme Probe

Swedish police hunting the killer of Prime Minister Olof Palme are reported to have raided homes and a cafe owned by Kurdish immigrants and arrested more Kurds as part of their investigations.

Police refused to confirm the raids, which came amid mounting demands for the resignation of Stockholm Police Chief Hans Holmer, 56, for the apparent failure of the nine-month investigation to solve the Palme murder. The manhunt is the largest in Sweden’s history and involves scores of officers.

Swedish radio said three Kurds were detained Saturday and interviewed by investigators, following Friday’s arrest of two Kurds.

The raids and arrests increased speculation that the extremist Kurdish Workers’ Party is a focus of the investigation into Palme’s murder last Feb. 28.

A cafe owned by a Kurd was raided by police and closely examined Saturday, the proprietor told Sweden’s national news agency TT.

Detailed Examination

He was quoted as saying the police spent hours in an examination before taking papers and membership records of a Kurdish cultural organization.

Another Kurd said his apartment had been broken into and papers and tapes removed.

The Kurdish party, campaigning for a homeland independent of Turkey, is believed to have 30 members in Sweden. It became involved in a dispute with the Palme government in 1984 after a party leader was refused asylum.

Holmer broke a six-month-long silence to say he was confident Palme’s murderer would be caught.

But frustrated politicians, prosecutors and the press are demanding he resign or be fired. Social Democratic Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson does not seem ready to fire him, even though some ministers criticized Holmer’s lack of results and dissent among police and prosecutors.

“The public has a right to demand the police and legal officers involved in the case all work to solve the murder, instead of . . . fighting each other,” said Carlsson, Palme’s successor.

“It cannot go on like this,” said Hans Petersson, an opposition member of Parliament and a member of the police board.