A 20-year-old refugee who says he’s from Iraq has been arrested for the murder last autumn of 69-year-old Oslo resident Inger Sund. Sund was found dead in her flat and was last seen leaving a bingo parlor with cash winnings.

Police suspected all along that Sund was followed home and then attacked in an effort to get to her money. Her passion for bingo was well-known.

An investigation into the crime initially seemed to produce few leads, but on Monday, police arrested the 20-year-old, who also has been charged with at least six other offenses from robbery to drug possession since 2000.

Police also have charged another 20-year-old in the crime, but he reportedly fled the country after Sund’s murder and is now in Tunis. Extradition requests are being processed.

Police base their charges on technical evidence from the crime scene, including both DNA tests and fingerprints.

The arrests are expected to further fuel the current debate in Norway over whether more controls should be placed on asylum seekers and immigration in general.

A rash of high-profile crimes lately have involved both asylum seekers and Norway’s immigrant community. Police officials have claimed that foreigners are overrepresented among crime statistics in Norway.

Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB

This is an article from www.aftenposten.no. Updated : 02. juli 2003 kl.09:40 It can be found at this address : http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article575791.ece

Publisher : Aftenposten Multimedia A/S, Oslo, Norway. Telephone : +47 - 22 86 30 00.All rights, including copyright and database right, are owned by or licensed to Aftenposten Multimedia. © Aftenposten Multimedia.

Olaf Sander Heyerdahl
27 - 11 - 2004