World

Calm in Stockholm on Saturday night

13:28 pm on 26 May 2013

Stockholm was relatively calm on Saturday night with only isolated incidents after nearly a week of car-burnings and vandalism in Sweden's capital.

Police had brought in reinforcements from around the country and were out in force in the poorer suburbs where the worst incidents occurred.

Twelve people were taken into custody in the south of the city and several cars were set on fire in different suburbs.

The trouble began last Sunday night. It was sparked by the shooting of a man in his apartment by police on 13 May.

Opposition leader Stefan Lofven of the Social Democrats said the causes of the rioting were a lack of jobs and education.

"I get angry when schools are burned down, but then there are those who are drawn into this because they feel their situation is hopeless. I see it as a lack of trust in society," he said.

Youth unemployment is high in neighbourhoods where the riots took place, where immigrants from Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Latin America live.

About 15% of Sweden's population is foreign-born.