Sri Lankan ambassador to Vienna recalled for not answering phone

Colombo: Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena recalled his top envoy to Austria and five other embassy staff for failing to answer his long-distance telephone calls, officials said Saturday.

Ambassador Priyanee Wijesekera was given her marching orders after calls made by Sirisena to the embassy in Vienna last week went "unanswered for several hours," an official source said.

The source declined comment on why Sirisena needed to contact the embassy urgently or why he did not attempt to do so through the Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the recall, but did not give a reason.

The Sri Lankan embassy in Austria is also accredited to UN agencies in Vienna as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech republic, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Earlier this week, Sirisena flew into a rage over nuts served aboard the island's national carrier saying they were unfit "even for dogs." "Returning from Kathmandu, I was served some cashews on board a SriLankan flight, but it was so bad even a dog wouldn't eat it," he said on Monday.

An airline spokesman said it has responded by clearing its stock of cashews -- only served in business class -- and would change its Dubai-based supplier.