The 25-year-old man suspected of murdering Anna Lindh, the Swedish Foreign Minister, has told police that the voice of Jesus Christ pushed him to kill the popular politician.

Mijailo Mijailovic, a naturalised Swede originally from Serbia, was formally charged with murder today. His trial is due to begin in a Stockholm district court on Wednesday.

In a transcript of his confession, Mr Mijailovic, who has a history of mental illness, said: "One can't resist the voices, one can't manage to stand up to them. They are a real pain when they come."

When Mr Mijailovic was asked whose voice told him to attack Ms Lindh, he replied: "I don't know," before adding: "I think it was Jesus, that he has chosen me."

The popular 46-year-old politician, whom many had tipped as a future Prime Minister, was stabbed on September 10 while shopping at a Stockholm department store.

She was stabbed ten times in her chest, stomach and arms and died from her injuries the following day, plunging the entire country into mourning.

Peter Althin, Mr Mijailovic's defence lawyer, has said that the killing was a random act of unpremeditated violence. He said he would be requesting a psychiatric evaluation of his client during the trial.

The prosecution and police have said that the attack was premeditated. Christer Nilsson, a police investigator, said: "The main proof is the technical evidence, that Mijailovic's DNA is on the knife and that Anna Lindh's blood is on the knife".

Mr Nilsson also said that Mr Mijailovic knew it was Ms Lindh when he attacked her.

Mr Mijailovic's confession comes after nearly four months of denials. According to transcripts of the confession, he said the attack wasn't politically motivated and that he didn't have any hard feelings toward Ms Lindh.

"It could have been anybody, but I heard the voices, I couldn't resist the voices," he said.

Mr Mijailovic also said he had been denied psychiatric help at hospitals in the area before and after the attack.

Agneta Blidberg, the chief prosecuting lawyer, said that the main evidence against Mr Mijailovic was the DNA evidence linking him to the murder weapon, a craftsman's knife, while Ms Lindh's blood was also found on his clothing.

She added: "Our evidence was strong enough to press charges without his confession."

Ms Blidberg added that she would call three witnesses to testify: Anna Lindh's friend who was with her during the attack, the coroner who conducted her autopsy, and the British forensic expert who analysed the murder weapon.

Mr Mijailovic could be sentenced to between ten years and life in prison if found guilty of the murder of Ms Lindh, or indefinite confinement in a mental institution if found not to be mentally competent.

Many Swedes have been concerned that the murder of Ms Lindh might remain unsolved, just as in the case of the late Prime Minister, Olof Palme, who was shot and killed in a Stockholm street in 1986.