Sweden calls off search for submarine

Stockholm: Swedish authorities say they have called off their weeklong search for a suspected submarine in the Stockholm archipelago.
Military authorities said on Friday that they have ordered naval and amphibious forces to end their hunt for the submarine, though some ground forces will remain involved.
Sweden’s military launched its biggest anti-submarine operation since the twilight of the Soviet Union last Friday after receiving credible reports of foreign underwater activity in the archipelago that extends from the capital, Stockholm, into the Baltic Sea.
Military officials haven’t blamed any country for the suspected intrusion, though most Swedish defense analysts say Russia would be a likely culprit.
Sweden built up an anti-submarine force after a Soviet sub with nuclear weapons ran aground off its southern shores in 1981 but started dismantling it as part of deep cuts in defense spending after the Cold War ended.
Sweden has  also shifted its focus from territorial defense to international peacekeeping operations and abolished conscription. (AP)