ZURICH, May 18: Switzerland’s ambassador in Pakistan, Denis Feldmayer, is to be the subject of a disciplinary inquiry over the issuing of visas, the foreign ministry said on Thursday after an internal review.

His immediate predecessor Chrsitian Dunant and the head of chancery are also be investigated and the entire embassy staff, both Swiss nationals and locally-engaged employees, are to be replaced, the ministry said.

Last October the Swiss foreign ministry was alerted that visas were being issued in Islamabad in dubious circumstances.

Two Pakistani staff were suspected of organising a traffic in visas for a criminal gang. One is in jail, the other fled the country.

About 100 cases of probable abuse of the system have been identified for the month of September 2005 alone.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey earlier this month visited Islamabad and said there was little doubt that the embassy had been targeted by criminal network engaged in human trafficking.

“We are already cooperating and have agreed to further cooperate on the issue,” she said.

She said the alleged “criminal activity” of some embassy employees had not only damaged her country’s reputation but also hurt Pakistanis who wanted to visit Switzerland.

“Switzerland finds itself in a difficult position ... as a result of abuse of visa procedure that has been discovered.”

In a statement in Bern on Thursday the ministry said that the organisation of “the chancery of the Swiss embassy in Islamabad displayed flaws” and that the “head of chancery has neglected his duties of oversight and control”.

Both the present and previous ambassadors are under investigation “in the light of their collective responsibility in the leadership of the embassy during their time in office,” the statement said.

The visa service at the embassy will remain closed “until questions of organisation and staff” have been settled.

The ministry said that Pakistani nationals had complained at the end of February about the activities of an embassy employee who is now behind bars.—AFP