WORLD : Suspect in Palme Murder Charged

A 41-year-old Swede with a long criminal record was charged today with the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme and ordered to remain in police custody for further investigation.

Christer Pettersson, who was arrested Wednesday, pleaded innocent. Prosecutors argued that there are reasonable grounds to believe he was the lone assassin who gunned down Palme on a downtown Stockholm street nearly 3 years ago, and that he should be held while they build a case for trial. District Court Judge Mikael af Geijerstam found for the prosecution during the closed negotiations.