Five people have been arrested after the shooting death of Iraqi man Salwan Momika, who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden.
The anti-Islam campaigner was shot dead hours before a court verdict was due in a trial over his burning the Quran, as the prime minister expressed concerns over the killing's links to a foreign power.
Swedish media reported that Momika was killed in a house in Sodertalje town near Stockholm on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old had staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam's holy book in Sweden.
Sweden in 2023 raised its terrorism alert to the second-highest level and warned of threats against Swedes at home and abroad after the Quran burnings, most of them by Momika, outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.
Swedish authorities at the time allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech, but his actions raised alarm among government and security officials who warned they could make Sweden a target for Islamic extremists.
Momika previously said he didn't want to put Sweden at risk but was exercising his right to criticise Islam under freedom of speech.
"I can assure you that the security services are deeply involved because there is obviously a risk that there is a connection to a foreign power," Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a news conference on Thursday.
A Stockholm court had been due to sentence Momika and another man on Thursday in a criminal trial over "offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group," in connection with the Quran burnings but postponed the verdict.
Sweden's Security Service told Reuters it was assessing the potential impact of the shooting "on Swedish security.
Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds. He later died, and a preliminary murder investigation was opened.
Broadcaster SVT reported, without naming sources, that the victim was Momika.
In October last year, Momika’s residence permit was withdrawn by Sweden though his deportation was put on hold due to dangers to his life in Iraq.
Sweden’s Migration Agency made the decision after determining Momika had provided false information in his application for asylum, Swedish broadcaster TV4 reported at the time. Momika had been granted a residence permit in 2021.
