Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Foxtrot gang leader Rawa Majid rumoured to have been arrested in Iran, teen held after missing 15-year-old found dead, and several party leaders call on government to suspend aid to Palestine. Here's the latest news.
Unconfirmed reports: Foxtrot gang leader Majid held in Iran
Rawa Majid, leader of the Foxtrot gang, has been arrested in Iran, reports public broadcaster SVT, referring to several unnamed sources.
“We have that piece of intelligence, but it has not been confirmed enough, so I can’t say more than that,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish news agency TT.
Neither police nor the foreign ministry were able to confirm the rumours to SVT, who reported that the arrest was said to have happened in some kind of traffic stop on Friday and that Majid was possibly held due to fake ID documents.
A conflict between Majid and his former right-hand man Ismail Abdo is behind a recent spate of fatal shootings and one fatal explosion in Sweden.
Sweden has previously detained Majid, 37, in absentia, but has struggled to get him to face court.
In 2018 he left Sweden for Iraqi Kurdistan where he is believed to have started a large narcotics business. He later received Turkish citizenship after buying a four million home in Bodrum.
There’s been an international arrest warrant for him since 2020.
Swedish vocabulary: intelligence – underrättelseinformation
Teen held after missing 15-year-old found dead
A 15-year-old boy who went missing in Alingsås in western Sweden a week ago was found dead in a stream on Sunday afternoon.
Another boy, 16, is being held on suspicion of murder.
The 15-year-old, named as Henrik in Swedish media, was last seen at his home in Alingsås last Monday. Police, the prosecutor and the suspect have all confirmed that the two boys had met that day and knew each other, but the suspect denies the murder allegations.
The prosecutor told Swedish news agency TT no "obvious motive" had so far emerged, and he was reluctant to release details pending the investigation, but said that the evidence so far included witness statements, forensic analysis and and an analysis of mobile phone traffic.
He said the 16-year-old had "given an explanation" about what happened when the two boys met that day.
Swedish vocabulary: an explanation – en förklaring
Swedish right-wing parties call on government to halt foreign aid to Palestine
Several Swedish party leaders are calling on the government to halt foreign aid to Palestine, after hundreds were killed when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday.
“We can’t support an authority that praises the killing, that praises acts of terror,” said Liberal leader Johan Pehrson on his way to a party leader debate broadcast by SVT on Sunday evening.
The Sweden Democrats’ Jimmie Åkesson also slammed foreign aid to Palestine as “unreasonable” and Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch called for an immediate suspension of the foreign aid.
Several party leaders criticised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of the Fatah party, for not condemning the attack by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union.
But the centre-left parties said pulling foreign aid out of Palestine was not the right response.
“The only ones who would rejoice in that are Hamas,” said Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar, and Green Party leader Märta Stenevi argued that “Palestinian schoolchildren are not the ones firing rockets”.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the government was looking into where its aid to Palestine ends up, with International Development Minister Johan Forssell previously saying every krona would be “scrutinised”.
Swedish vocabulary: to be scrutinised – att nagelfaras
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Unconfirmed reports: Foxtrot gang leader Majid held in Iran
Rawa Majid, leader of the Foxtrot gang, has been arrested in Iran, reports public broadcaster SVT, referring to several unnamed sources.
“We have that piece of intelligence, but it has not been confirmed enough, so I can’t say more than that,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Swedish news agency TT.
Neither police nor the foreign ministry were able to confirm the rumours to SVT, who reported that the arrest was said to have happened in some kind of traffic stop on Friday and that Majid was possibly held due to fake ID documents.
A conflict between Majid and his former right-hand man Ismail Abdo is behind a recent spate of fatal shootings and one fatal explosion in Sweden.
Sweden has previously detained Majid, 37, in absentia, but has struggled to get him to face court.
In 2018 he left Sweden for Iraqi Kurdistan where he is believed to have started a large narcotics business. He later received Turkish citizenship after buying a four million home in Bodrum.
There’s been an international arrest warrant for him since 2020.
Swedish vocabulary: intelligence – underrättelseinformation
Teen held after missing 15-year-old found dead
A 15-year-old boy who went missing in Alingsås in western Sweden a week ago was found dead in a stream on Sunday afternoon.
Another boy, 16, is being held on suspicion of murder.
The 15-year-old, named as Henrik in Swedish media, was last seen at his home in Alingsås last Monday. Police, the prosecutor and the suspect have all confirmed that the two boys had met that day and knew each other, but the suspect denies the murder allegations.
The prosecutor told Swedish news agency TT no "obvious motive" had so far emerged, and he was reluctant to release details pending the investigation, but said that the evidence so far included witness statements, forensic analysis and and an analysis of mobile phone traffic.
He said the 16-year-old had "given an explanation" about what happened when the two boys met that day.
Swedish vocabulary: an explanation – en förklaring
Swedish right-wing parties call on government to halt foreign aid to Palestine
Several Swedish party leaders are calling on the government to halt foreign aid to Palestine, after hundreds were killed when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday.
“We can’t support an authority that praises the killing, that praises acts of terror,” said Liberal leader Johan Pehrson on his way to a party leader debate broadcast by SVT on Sunday evening.
The Sweden Democrats’ Jimmie Åkesson also slammed foreign aid to Palestine as “unreasonable” and Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch called for an immediate suspension of the foreign aid.
Several party leaders criticised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of the Fatah party, for not condemning the attack by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union.
But the centre-left parties said pulling foreign aid out of Palestine was not the right response.
“The only ones who would rejoice in that are Hamas,” said Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar, and Green Party leader Märta Stenevi argued that “Palestinian schoolchildren are not the ones firing rockets”.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the government was looking into where its aid to Palestine ends up, with International Development Minister Johan Forssell previously saying every krona would be “scrutinised”.
Swedish vocabulary: to be scrutinised – att nagelfaras
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