Swedish opposition to Iraq war on the decline: poll

STOCKHOLM (AFP) Apr 16, 2003
Swedish opposition to the US-led war on Iraq is on the decline, but those who are against the war still far outnumber those in favour of it, according to a poll published on Wednesday.

Twenty-seven percent of 500 people questioned April 9-11 -- during the fall of Baghdad -- said the United States and Britain were right to go to war against Iraq. That figure is an increase from 16 percent a month earlier.

"The increasing number of those who think the war was justified is probably due to the fact that the expected bloodbath in Baghdad did not happen," said spokesman Erik Loefgren at the Swedish Emergency Management Agency which commissioned the poll.

Meanwhile, the number of those opposed to the war fell from 60 to 48 percent.

The Swedish government has been critical of the US decision to go to war against Iraq without the support of the United Nations, and the launch of the war drew the biggest peace demonstrations seen in Sweden since the Vietnam War.

SPACE.WIRE