ISLAMABAD, May 6: Visiting Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Re announced on Saturday a temporary closure of visa section of her country’s embassy here.

She told a joint news conference with her Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri, after talks between them at the foreign ministry, that Switzerland found itself in a ‘difficult position’ after being accused of abuse of visa procedures discovered at the embassy.

Ms Calmy-Re, who is also a vice-president of the Swiss Confederation, called the affair a ‘criminal activity’ that she said had damaged her country’s interests and goodwill and Pakistan’s interests also, and disappointed a large number of people wanting to visit Switzerland.

“We have been compelled to close down the visa section until further notice,” she said and added: “We have little doubt that we have been targeted by criminal networks engaged in human trafficking.”