Sri Lanka trip still on despite Swedish visa snub - London

British and French Foreign Ministers David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner will visit Sri Lanka this week, despite Sweden's Carl Bildt being refused a visa by Colombo, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

"It's all going ahead and there's no change in our plans," a spokeswoman told AFP, after the Swedish minister wrote on his blog that Sri Lanka is refusing him a visa for the trip, planned to start today.

A diplomatic source in Paris also confirmed Mr Kouchner still plans to travel to Colombo.

Mr Miliband had said over the weekend that the trio would visit Sri Lanka, after Colombo rejected a ceasefire declared by Tamil Tiger rebels, "to address the humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and the continuing grave risk to civilians in the conflict zone".

The Sri Lankan government says its forces have cornered the Tamil Tigers in a small patch of coastal territory in the district of Mullaittivu, but has come under pressure over its conduct of the war.