Sweden: World leaders paid tribute yesterday to Ms Anna Lindh, describing her variously as a champion of the new Europe, a dedicated politician and a devoted wife and mother.
"The beauty that she had in her face was a representation of the beauty she had in her soul," the EU foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, said in Brussels.
In Geneva, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, called Ms Lindh a "great foreign minister, a great Swede and a great European".
In London, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, said outside No 10 Downing Street that Ms Lindh was "someone full of life who represented something wonderful in Sweden and Europe".
She evidently touched many of her political colleagues in a personal way, a fact reflected by Mr Straw. "I also wanted to say something more personal because Anna was a good friend of mine," he added. "She had this extraordinary ability to balance the demands of one of the most active of Europe's foreign ministers in her role as one of Sweden's leading politicians and that of someone who was completely committed to her family."
Her colleague in Brussels, Sweden's EU commissioner, Ms Margot Walström, broke down as she mourned the loss of a political ally and close personal friend. Addressing a sombre news conference at EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Ms Walström declared: "Europe has lost even more of its innocence today."
She described Ms Lindh as an outstanding political leader who was "courageous, straightforward and honest". Several times Ms Walström paused to hold back tears as she vowed that the Commission would continue the work of promoting European democracy and the single currency in the name of Ms Lindh.
The Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, described Ms Lindh as one of the most influential figures in Swedish politics, an admired woman with a strong personality, the innocent victim of a "mad attack".
The President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, said Ms Lindh was "the exemplary face of European politics". He told RTÉ: "This is a woman, for anyone who knew her, who was vivacious, full of wonderful human qualities and she represented for me very much the acceptable human face of modern European politics. She is a huge loss."
Prof Ken Coates, chairman of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, said he was "deeply shocked" by her murder. He said the foundation had received a letter from her only yesterday in which she announced the formation of the Blix Commission to offer new ideas on how to pursue disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Tributes came also from her counterparts around the world, including France's Mr Dominique de Villepin, German Foreign Minister Mr Joschka Fischer and Russia's Mr Igor Ivanov.
"The world on the 11th of September, with horrible irony, has lost another very substantial contributor to a better and safer world," NATO Secretary-General Mr George Robertson said on a trip to Denmark. - (Reuters)
• The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, led Irish tributes to Ms Lindh. Mr Ahern said he had learned of Ms Lindh's "tragic and untimely" death with shock and sorrow.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said: "Anna had a warm personality, a good sense of humour, an incisive intelligence and a commitment to decent values."