WORLD : Swedes Oust Soviet Consular Aide

Sweden said today that it has expelled a Soviet consular official for industrial espionage.

The Foreign Ministry said the man, who worked for the Soviet consular mission in the western port of Gothenburg, has left Sweden. It did not reveal his name or position.

“He engaged in activity incompatible with his duties and attempted to get information about Swedish and foreign technology,” a ministry official said. He said the man’s activity had not harmed Sweden but might have if it had been allowed to continue.

Swedish relations with the Soviet Union have been strained by recent Swedish allegations that its Moscow embassy was bugged as well as longstanding concerns that Soviet submarines routinely violate Swedish territorial waters.