Swedish lawmaker bares all in social media gaffe

STOCKHOLM - A Swedish lawmaker was caught with his pants down Wednesday after flashing his private parts in a picture meant to show off his newly-inked Liverpool football club tattoo.

A picture of former Left Party leader Lars Ohly's tattoo - inspired by the Premier League team's Liver Bird emblem - was deleted by the politician after his followers on the photo-sharing network Instagram pointed out that they could also see his penis.

"Ha, ha, I accidentally posted a picture on Instagram that showed more than intended. Now corrected," Ohly wrote on Twitter.

The 56-year-old lawmaker was sunbathing outside his summer cottage when the picture was taken, he told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

Other Swedish politicians were quick to weigh in on the issue after the picture went viral.

"Congratulations to you, after all these years, for getting this genuinely public breakthrough!" conservative Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, a political opponent, tweeted.

Other Twitter puns ranged from allegations over Ohly showing "loads of balls to admit he supports Liverpool", to questions over whether he was really "left leaning."

"Today I decided not to start using Instagram," current Left Party leader Jonas Sjoestedt wrote.