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STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Hours after a tsunami flattened south Asia beaches -- a magnet for thousands of vacationing Swedes -- the Swedish foreign minister went to the theater. Even though the vast extent of death and destruction was not known at the time, Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds' outing has come to represent for many Swedes the government's failure to fully realize the scope of last week's disaster and to respond quickly. As the extent of Swedish casualties has unfolded -- 2,322 Swedes are missing and 52 are confirmed dead -- normally tolerant Swedes have directed rage and frustration against government...

Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson, distinguished himself earlier today by being the only leader from a Western nation to attend the Cairo funeral service for Arafat. A full list of funeral guests can be found here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-1355719_1,00.html You can contact Mr. Persson (ironically, known to many as "The Pig") at the URL above. Click on "e-post" under his name and write your Meddelande (message) and click "Skicka". Other fields are not required (namn = name, ärande = subject) . Please be patient as it seems a bit slow just now.

Swedish PM to wait in line for hip operation 25 May 2004 16:50:45 GMT STOCKHOLM, May 25 (Reuters) - Even the prime minister has to wait in line in equality-conscious Sweden. Goran Persson needs a hip replacement operation. But in a country famed for its cradle-to-grave welfare state and where politicians see themselves as ordinary folk, the leader of the ruling Social Democratic party won't go private. "I'm counting that this will be managed through public healthcare. I would be very surprised if not," Persson told reporters on Tuesday. Swedes are likely to applaud their leader, whose party pledges "people...