The Palestinian Authority's refugee minister Atef Adwan arrived in Sweden on Saturday morning to start his controversial visit, local media reported.

Adwan is attending a conference of Palestinian exiles in the southern Swedish city of Malmoe, Swedish news agency TT reported.

"We are a peaceful people," Adwan told reporters as he arrived in Malmoe.

The decision to give a Swedish visa to a Hamas representative has been heavily criticized from several quarters. The Israeli government protested to Swedish foreign minister Jan Eliasson, saying the visa "legitimizes representatives of a terror organization."

Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson on Friday defended the move, saying the consulate official in Jerusalem was only following rules when he gave the visa to the Palestinian Minister for Refugee Affairs.

He added that if visa matters became a political decision then "we would be on a slippery slope".

A European Commission spokeswoman has said that the EU has no common policy about granting visas to Hamas members. She said recent discussions by foreign ministers have clarified that "there would be no political contacts with Hamas. However, there has been no decision on the granting of visas."

Source: Xinhua