Swedish leader voices anger after dozens of cars are burned

Masked youths torched dozens of cars overnight in Sweden and threw rocks at police, prompting an angry response from the prime minister, who denounced an "extremely organized" night of vandalism.

Police spokesman Hans Lippens said today that initial reports indicate that about 80 cars were set ablaze overnight, chiefly in Sweden's second largest city, Goteborg, and nearby Trollhattan, an industrial city.

Fires were also reported on a smaller scale in Malmo, Sweden's third largest city.

In Trollhattan, northeast of Goteborg, where at least six cars were burned, rocks were also thrown at police and roads were blocked.

Goteborg is 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Stockholm.

Lippens said that because the fires started within a short period of time, "we cannot exclude that there is a connection between the blazes."
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lashed out at the perpetrators, asking them: "What the heck are you doing?" In an interview on Swedish radio, he said he was "really getting mad" and that "society must react in a tough manner."
He said the fires seemed to be "extremely organized."