Sri Lanka probes abduction of Swiss embassy staffer

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said Thursday it was investigating a Swiss complaint that one of its embassy staff in Colombo had been abducted and forced to hand over sensitive information.

Switzerland's ambassador in Colombo has protested to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena over the case, the Swiss foreign ministry said.

"Switzerland considers the incident to be very serious and an unacceptable attack on one of its diplomatic missions and its employees," it told AFP in Geneva.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said Thursday it was "informed of the alleged incident yesterday" and the police have "taken immediate action to commence an investigation into the matter."

According to media reports, a Sri Lankan woman employee of the embassy was picked up on a Colombo street on Monday, held for several hours and was only freed after revealing embassy information.