Sri Lanka has rejected British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's appointment of Des Browne, the former UK defence minister, as a special envoy here, as a unilateral move, intrusive and disrespectful to the country.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the government saw Mr. Browne's appointment as a unilateral move by London and decided not to accept him.

"It is tantamount to an intrusion into Sri Lanka's internal affairs and is disrespectful to the country's statehood," the minister told AFP, warning "there could be major repercussions" for relations with Britain.

The Foreign Minister also said the British move was "extremely unhelpful” and that "There is no further discussions with London on the matter," Mr. Bogollagama said, despite British Foreign Office claims that talks were ongoing to resolve the dispute.

According to the UK Daily Telegraph that describes Sri Lanka as “the former British colony”, the UK Foreign office had stated that "In this new role, Des Browne will focus on the immediate humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and the government of Sri Lanka's work to set out a political solution to bring about a lasting end to the conflict.

"As special envoy, he will work closely with the Sri Lankan government, leaders from all communities in Sri Lanka, international agencies and the wider international community," it said in a statement.

The statement, also issued by the British High Commission in Colombo, quoted Prime Minister Browne as saying he was "looking forward to contributing to Britain's efforts to improve the serious humanitarian situation and liaising with all parties."

However, the Foreign Ministry in Colombo states there was no prior consultations with Sri Lanka by the UK in making this appointment and that the UK has ignored a time honoured tradition of having consultations before making such appointments.