Sweden to close down embassy in Sri Lanka

(July 25, 2009 - Lanka Polity) Sweden, one of the main development partners for Sri Lanka in the 1980s has decided to to close down its embassy in Colombo. 

The Swedish Embassy in Colombo is scheduled to be closed by March 31, 2010, said Xinhua news agency quoting diplomatic officials.

Sri Lanka and Sweden were embroiled in a diplomatic row in April this year when Sri Lanka denied visa for its Foreign Minister Carl Bildt who was intending to join British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in a visit to Colombo during the last stages of the government's military campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels. 

The Sri Lankan government claimed Bildt was welcome to make a separate visit.