Stockholm: Sweden's foreign minister said Tuesday he had been denied entry to Sri Lanka as part of a European delegation pressing for a cease-fire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt had been scheduled to visit this week along with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
They got permission to enter but he did not, Bildt said.
"This is remarkable," he told The Associated Press by phone from Luxembourg. "You just don't act this way."
The Foreign Ministry in Stockholm said it would recall Sweden's charge d'affaires from Colombo for consultations because of the snub.
Bildt said Sri Lankan authorities gave him no reason why he was denied an entry permit.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry said Bildt was welcome to visit the country in May "at a mutually convenient time." It did not elaborate on why Bildt could not visit now.
"I'm not persona non grata because they say I'm welcome at another time, but I'm not intending on taking up that invitation," Bildt said, adding that move by Colombo was "not good" for relations with Sweden.
Bildt said Kouchner and Miliband would visit Sri Lanka as planned Wednesday to increased pressure for an immediate cease-fire between Sri Lanka's government and the Tamil Tigers.
EU foreign ministers on Monday called for a cease-fire so the U.N. can coordinate evacuation of civilians caught in the war zone.
The Sri Lankan government said it would immediately stop air strikes and artillery attacks but has rejected calls for a cease-fire.
According to the UN, the conflict has cornered the rebels and tens of thousands of ethnic Tamil civilians on a small strip of land in the northeastern part of the country, killing nearly 6,500 civilians over the last three months.
Earlier this month, Sri Lanka's government dropped Norway as a mediator, accusing Oslo of failing to protect its mission there from Tamil protesters.
Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates have taken to the streets in European capitals over the past months to protest the military offensives and to demand a cease-fire.
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