Iraq Hangs Swedish Citizen as Spy for Israel; Stockholm Recalls Envoy

Sweden recalled its ambassador to Iraq on Thursday after Baghdad authorities announced that they had hanged a Swedish citizen for spying on behalf of Israel, Sweden’s foreign minister said.

Foreign Minister Sten Andersson said he had recalled Sweden’s ambassador for consultations because of the hanging of Jalil Mehdi Neamy, an Iraqi-born naturalized Swede with a Swedish wife and 12-year-old daughter.

In diplomatic terms, recalling an ambassador for consultations falls just short of breaking off diplomatic relations.

Anderson condemned Iraq’s refusal to hear Sweden’s repeated requests for clemency and said relations between the two countries had been seriously harmed.

Neamy was arrested Aug. 9, 1989. He was accused of being a spy for Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. A revolutionary court last April found Neamy guilty and sentenced him to hang.

Neamy’s case marked the second time in six months that Iraq has incurred the wrath of a European government because of an execution. In March, Iraq executed Farzad Barzoft, 31, an Iranian journalist traveling on British identity papers who Iraq said had photographed areas he was not authorized to visit. Britain denounced that execution, and relations between the two countries remain cool.