Police seek Iraqi 'temptress' over murder
Police in Sweden are asking Iraqis to identify a woman they believe lured an Iraqi dissident to a hotel room in Stockholm, where he was murdered and his body cut into 48 pieces. The suspected temptress may have been working on the orders of Saddam Hussein's regime, police believe.
The Swedish authorities are now racing against the clock to find the woman: the crime will be written off in two years, 25 years after ex-Iraqi agent Majid Hussein was killed.
A photograph of the woman, known only by her false name Jamila al-Shafej, was published on Tuesday in Iraqi media. Authorities in Sweden hope that somebody will recognize her.
"If there are witnesses in Iraq, we hope they will come forward," prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand told The Local.
Police believe that the woman was used as bait to lure Hussein into a room at the Hotel Arcadia in central Stockholm on 9th January 1985. Two men were waiting for him in the room. They killed him, chopped his body into 48 pieces and put them in two suitcases. The body parts were found two months later.
Stockholm District Court put out an arrest warrant for the woman on charges of being accessory to murder, but she was never caught.
Lindstrand says it is not known whether she is now alive of dead.
"All tracks have disappeared. The last we know is that she left Stockholm for Casablanca in Morocco on 10th January 1985. Other than that we don't know anything about her apart from the fact that she used this false name."
The original investigation ground to a halt; there was no hope of securing help from Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say the most likely theory is that the murderers were working on behalf of the Iraqi dictator.
"Since 2003 the country has opened up a bit, although it is still hard to get information," said Lindstrand.
As well as the appeal in Iraq, it is hoped that Swedes and Iraqis in Sweden might be able to help.
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The Swedish authorities are now racing against the clock to find the woman: the crime will be written off in two years, 25 years after ex-Iraqi agent Majid Hussein was killed.
A photograph of the woman, known only by her false name Jamila al-Shafej, was published on Tuesday in Iraqi media. Authorities in Sweden hope that somebody will recognize her.
"If there are witnesses in Iraq, we hope they will come forward," prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand told The Local.
Police believe that the woman was used as bait to lure Hussein into a room at the Hotel Arcadia in central Stockholm on 9th January 1985. Two men were waiting for him in the room. They killed him, chopped his body into 48 pieces and put them in two suitcases. The body parts were found two months later.
Stockholm District Court put out an arrest warrant for the woman on charges of being accessory to murder, but she was never caught.
Lindstrand says it is not known whether she is now alive of dead.
"All tracks have disappeared. The last we know is that she left Stockholm for Casablanca in Morocco on 10th January 1985. Other than that we don't know anything about her apart from the fact that she used this false name."
The original investigation ground to a halt; there was no hope of securing help from Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say the most likely theory is that the murderers were working on behalf of the Iraqi dictator.
"Since 2003 the country has opened up a bit, although it is still hard to get information," said Lindstrand.
As well as the appeal in Iraq, it is hoped that Swedes and Iraqis in Sweden might be able to help.
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