OTTAWA , Oct27, (AFP) - Canada vociferously denied charges from Sri Lanka that some Buddhist monks, seeking visas at the Canadian embassy in Colombo, were forced to strip during an anthrax scare.
Police in Colombo said the monks were forced under a shower and disrobed at the Canadian High Commission on Monday after they triggered an anthrax scare.
The three monks, one Sri Lankan and two Thais, had visited the mission to obtain visas, but talcum powder in one passport caused diplomats to panic and seize all three of them, who were forced to disrobe, police said.
But in Ottawa, Kimberly Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, insisted: "Reports that the high commission staff forcibly disrobed the monks are completely erroneous. At no time were they forcibly disrobed or forced under a shower.
"They were offered a private changing facility with a private shower stall in the high commission recreational area. New robes were purchased for them so they could leave their potentially contaminated robes behind."
And, before the monks left the diplomatic mission, said Phillips, they were offered medical advice on potential symptoms of anthrax contamination and whatever treatment may be necesary.
According to police in Colombo, the monks told Canadian staff that they had simply used some talcum powder to prevent silverfish attacking a passport.
In Ottawa, Phillips said the results of tests on the white powder were expected Thursday and that the Canadian high commission in Colombo would remain closed until then.