A 41-year-old man with a history of psychiatric trouble was being brought in for questioning Wednesday in the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme, news reports said.
Police spokesmen and prosecutors declined to comment on the reports.But the national news agency TT quoted the detective in charge of the case, Hans Olvebro, as saying the reports could undermine the investigation.
And a clerk at the Stockholm district court told The Associated Press that the prosecutor handling the case had asked the court to provide a defense attorney, an indication the suspect faced almost certain arrest.
TT quoted police sources as saying the man had been under surveillance as a prime suspect for several months.
The reports by TT and two major tabloids, Aftonbladet and Expressen, said the suspect was a 41-year-old man from Stockholm with a criminal record and a history of psychiatric disturbances. Swedish radio said he had a previous murder conviction from a 1970 stabbing.
Under standard Swedish procedure, the man would be served notice of the suspicions and brought in for questioning later Wednesday.