OSLO, April 25: The daughter of a Pakistani diplomat stationed in Norway has sought asylum in the Scandinavian country, Norwegian media said on Friday.

The 20-year-old woman, whose name was not disclosed, is the daughter of an embassy counsellor and has diplomatic status, daily Aftenposten said.

Norwegian immigration officials and police refused to either confirm or deny the report, while the Pakistani embassy in Oslo would only confirm that the woman had fled to a crisis centre in Oslo.

“I can confirm that she has gone to a crisis centre in Oslo. Beyond that I don’t know,” Pakistan’s ambassador, Mr Shahbaz, said.

“We are making all the efforts we can, we are in touch with the Norwegian authorities” to try to convince the woman to return home, he said.

According to Aftenposten, the embassy counsellor belongs to the Shia community and is a Pakhtoon from the NWFP. The newspaper’s sources described him as “very religious”.

“Sources close to him describe him as a skilled diplomat and a friendly and charming man in public. According to the same sources, he runs a very strict regime within the family. This is the reason why the 20-year-old daughter has chosen to seek asylum in Norway,” Aftenposten wrote.

The paper said some sources in Norway’s Shia community had indicated that the daughter had recently fallen in love with a Sunni man. Her parents did not approve of the relationship.—AFP