World Notes SWEDEN

The tension fairly crackled in the Stockholm courtroom as Lisbet Palme, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Olof Palme, was asked whether the man she had seen just after the shooting of her husband more than three years ago was present. "Yes," she answered, indicating Christer Pettersson, 42, a confessed drug addict who is charged with murdering Palme. "Are you sure?" asked the prosecutor. After looking briefly at Pettersson, Mrs. Palme answered with a second yes.

Her testimony last week gave a much needed boost to the prosecution. Since the trial got under way three weeks ago, four key witnesses have recanted their pretrial testimony. Two of them admitted they had initially been swayed by hopes of sharing in the $7.5 million reward offered by the government. The court has been sharply criticized for agreeing to preconditions set by Lisbet Palme for her testimony, including a ban on tape recorders and television cameras. The prosecutors, whose case against Pettersson is built on circumstantial evidence, have yet to come up with a murder weapon or a motive.