Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad left for London late yesterday enroute to Sweden for a three-day working visit to the country starting tomorrow.

Mahathir, accompanied by his wife Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali and a government and private sector team, left from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the official Bernama news agency said.

The visit, at the invitation of Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson, is expected to enhance and strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation through bilateral talks, it said.

Audience with Swedish king

Mahathir was also expected to be granted an audience with Sweden's monarch King Carl XVI Gustaf.

He is scheduled to visit the Karonlinska Medical Institute and the Ericsson complex in Kista in addition to meeting Swedish industry leaders and attending a dinner organised by finance company Investor AB.

This is the prime minister's second visit to Sweden, the first being in 1985.