SODERTALJE, Sweden: An Iraqi refugee in Sweden who repeatedly burned the Holy Quran in 2023, sparking outrage in Muslim countries, has been shot dead, investigators said on Thursday, with Sweden´s prime minister suggesting a “foreign power” might have been involved.

Prosecutor Rasmus Oman confirmed to AFP that an investigation had been opened into the murder of 38-year-old Salwan Momika and that five people had been arrested.

“We´re in the very early stages… there´s a lot of information gathering. Five people have been detained suspected of involvement in the crime,” Oman said.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters at a press conference: “I can guarantee that the security services are deeply involved in this because there is obviously a risk that there is also a link to foreign power.”

A Stockholm court had been due to rule on Thursday whether Momika, a Christian Iraqi, was guilty of inciting ethnic hatred but said it had postponed its ruling until February 3 as a result of his death.

Police responded late on Wednesday to a call about a shooting in an apartment building in the city of Sodertalje, south of Stockholm, where Momika lived.

There they found a man who had been shot, and who later died in hospital, a police statement said.