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Prosecutor probes firm over alleged war crimes
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Jun 21, 2010 - 6:58:55 AM

By Nina Larson (AFP) – 3 hours ago

STOCKHOLM — Sweden's international prosecutor said Monday he would investigate whether a Swedish oil company with connections to Foreign Minister Carl Bildt had any role in war crimes committed in Sudan.

Magnus Elving "today decided to launch a preliminary investigation regarding crimes against humanitarian law in Sudan during the years 1997 to 2003," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Sweden's national police will assist with the probe into allegations made in a recent report -- "Unpaid Debt" -- by ECOS, an umbrella group of European organisations "working for peace and justice in Sudan."

The report, published this month, claimed Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, previously Lundin Oil, and its partners Petronas Carigali Overseas of Malaysia and OMV Exploration from Austria "may have been complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity" in southern Sudan.

By launching oil exploration in such an unstable region, the consortium had set the wheels in motion for a power struggle that led to numerous crimes, including widespread "killing of civilians, rape of women, abduction of children, torture and forced displacements," the report claimed.

The Swedish prosecutor's office said "the aim of the preliminary investigation is to examine whether there are individuals with links to Sweden who can be suspected of involvement in crimes."

Although not mentioned in the prosecutor's statement, Bildt will likely be drawn into the inquiry, since Sweden's top diplomat was on Lundin's board at the time.

Bildt refused through a spokeswoman to comment on the investigation on Monday. Following the publication of the ECOS report he defended Lundin in an interview with Swedish public radio, insisting the company's actions in Sudan had "opened the way for a peace deal" in the area.

Bildt, who resigned from Lundin's board in 2006, thus echoed claims reiterated by the company that it had if anything "contributed to peace and development in Sudan."

Thomas Bodstroem, a former Swedish justice minister and a member of the opposition Social Democrats, meanwhile on his blog Monday called for Bildt to take a "time-out" from politics.

"Never before in contemporary Swedish history has a criminal investigation meant that such a high-ranking politician could become the focus of charges for such a serious crime," he wrote.

"Since the rule of law is also valid for government ministers, it is reasonable that Carl Bildt for the time being should not have to step down," he said.

"It is however obvious that he for now cannot continue to represent Sweden internationally when he himself has sat on the board of a company being investigated for war crimes," he added.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt meanwhile told the TT news agency Monday it was too early to comment on the case.

"It is always important to let the judicial system work through things so we know (which direction an investigation is heading) before we comment," he said.