UPPSALA, Sweden, Jan 22 (AFP) - A Kurdish woman in Sweden who campaigned against so-called "honor killings" has become a victim of the phenomenon, having been shot dead by her father because she had a relationship with a Swedish man, police said Tuesday.
The slaying late Monday of the 26-year-old woman, known to the public only as Fadime, prompted Swedish Integration Minister Mona Sahlin to say the government was considering changing legislation to help protect immigrant women in similar situations.

"It is very tragic," Uppsala police spokeswoman Lena Larsson said of the killing. The father confessed to the murder, described by police as an "honor killing".

Fadime became a well-known figure in Sweden after bringing a highly publicized court case against both her father and brother in 1998 for threatening to kill her for having a relationship with a Swede rather than marrying a fellow Kurd.

"The only way for the family to regain its honour now that I have spread dishonour over it is to kill me," she said during the trial.

The father was given a suspended sentence and a fine for the threats, while the then 17-year-old brother, whose threats were considered most serious, was sentenced to probation for one year.

Shortly after the trial, Fadime's boyfriend died in a car accident.

Her brother was later sentenced to five months in prison for continuing to abuse Fadime.

Fadime later moved to northern Sweden to pursue sociology studies and travelled around the country speaking about her situation, at times living in hiding from her family.

According to Kurdo Baksi, a Kurd living in Sweden who knew the family well and is often quoted in the media on Kurdish-Swedish relations, Fadime's family was "one of the most conservative families I know of."

"They didn't want their daughters to marry non-Kurds and they wanted control over the women," he told the Swedish news agency TT.

Sahlin said the government was aware of the problem of "honour crimes" in Sweden, and said it had "tried to change the views of police, prosecutors and social workers."

"But we must do more. Change the law, among other things," she told Aftonbladet's online edition.

"My main job right now is to let the voices of these girls be heard," she said.