Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds, blamed for slow response to help Swedes caught up in the Asian tsunami, has decided to pull out of a ceremony marking the disaster's first anniversary.

"Out of consideration to those who are grieving, I will therefore honor the tsunami victims by following the ceremony in another way," she said in a statement on Saturday.

Freivalds had been due to attend the ceremony in Stockholm on Monday together with Prime Minister Goran Persson. But plans for her presence had sparked strong reactions from the bereaved families who will also attend the event.

Sweden was the hardest-hit country outside Asia. A total of 543 Swedes died in the disaster, mostly at Thai sea resorts.

Source: Xinhua