Swedish PM Palme spied for U.S.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme cooperated with the CIA during his years as a student activist, newly declassified documents indicate.

Palme, one of Sweden's most influential politicians before he was assassinated in 1986, was contacted by American officials while he was working to create a counter-group to the International Union of Students, which was thought to be controlled by the Soviet Union, the Local reported Sunday.

He then handed over the names of some members of the union who were thought to be communists.

Palme, however, resisted attempts to be recruited as a CIA agent, and expressed disappointment later in life that the western-leaning International Students Conference, founded in 1950, had been infiltrated by the United States, the newspaper said.

He also worked with the Swedish military intelligence service during the same period, reporting on his trips behind the Iron Curtain.