U.N. concerned about Sri Lanka civilian casualties

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United Nations on Tuesday expressed concern to Sri Lanka over casualties among civilians trapped with rebels, and the European Union criticised Colombo for excluding a Swedish minister from an EU mission.

Sweden recalled its ambassador to Sri Lanka after Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was barred from participating in a mission there with French and British colleagues this week, Bildt said on the sidelines of EU foreign ministers' talks Luxembourg.

The mission's aim is to press EU calls for a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between the government and Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels, in an effort to protect tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, representing the Czech EU presidency, said the Sri Lanka move was "a grave mistake ... which will of course have repercussions in Europe and will influence the further development of relations between the Sri Lankan government and the European states".

Europe is an important trade partner and foreign aid source for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told Reuters: "We have not rejected the Swedish foreign minister. He has been invited to come here next week because we are just overwhelmed at the moment with all these visitors."

"Mature governments and institutions should not deal with each other based (on) threats," he added.

The Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the allegation is baseless, as there was no formal application received for a visa by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Stockholm.