STOCKHOLM : President Reagan and leaders from around the world expressed shock and outrage at the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who, President Raul Alfonsin of Argentina called a “tireless fighter for the defense of human rights”,

Reagan said he felt a “profound sorrow” after learning of Palme’s “tragic death”. The Prime Minister was gunned down by an unknown assailant Friday night on a Stockholm street. His wife was walking at his side,

“My sorrow in the face of this senseless act of violence is profound. Olof Palme was one of the world’s most respected leaders, a man who made compassion the hallmark of Swedish policy,” Reagan said.

In New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi said today, “I have lost a good friend and the international community, one of its finest statesmen”.

Ina letter to Palme’s wife, Gandhi said, “That such a man of goodwill should be filled with bullets of hatred is matter of great sadness”.

A spokesman at 10 Downing Street in London, the residence of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, said officials were “appalled and shocked by what happened”.

UN, Secretary General Javiar Perez de Cuellar sent a message of condolence to Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Enderrson,

“His contribution to international peace and cooperation will be a lasting legacy and be will be remembered with gratitude and profound respect by his many admirers around the world and especially in this organization, for which he undertook critically important responsibilities”.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone today described the fallen leader as a statesman true to his conscience.

“He was a great force for peace and disarmament,” Nakasone said in a statement following the shooting death of the Swedish leader on a Stockholm street, “Why did this awful thing happen?”

“On behalf of the Japanese people, I would like to express our deepest regrets,” he said, He described Palme’s death as “a grave Toss to the people of the entire world.”

Ina message to Swedish Government, Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid expressed “the profound feelings of shock which were produced in us by the deplorable assassination of his excellency Prime Minister Olof Palme.”

De la Madrid said Palme “always distinguished himself because of his active labor in favor of the best causes of humanity.”

‘Alfonsin declared a national day of mourning in Argentina for the slain leader,

The spokesman said Alfonsin and Palme became “true friends” during the creation of the Group of Six, world leaders from India, Mexico, Greece, Tanzania, Argentina and Sweden who have called for world disarmament.

“Palme was an untiring fighter for the defense of human rights around the world and was an unconditional friend of the Argentines who suffered under the past (military) regime,” the spokesman said.

Also in Argentina, a founder of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo human rights group, Nora de Cortinas, said the mothers were “profoundly grieved” by Palme’s death, calling the assassination “a crime which wounds the civilized world.”

In Nicaragua, the government declared three days of mourning.

Article extracted from this publication >> March 7, 1986