ISLAMABAD, Jan. 15 -- Pakistanis Sunday expressed indignation at the Swedish authorities for killing three thoroughbred horses the Pakistani army chief had given his Swedish counterpart. The horses were killed because of Sweden's quarantine regulations that prohibit the direct import of Asian horses.

'We have been receiving phone calls throughout the day by angry callers' said Swedish Charge d'Affaires Anna Lindstedt. The incident only became known over the weekend, when Swedish and Pakistani newspapers reported it. Calling the incident 'unfortunate', and putting out an apology on behalf of her country, she said Stockholm only accepted the gift from Pakistan after receiving guarantees Estonia would quarantine the horses for six months before the animals would be sent on to Sweden. 'It is a mystery why Estonia changed its mind after the horses were flown from Islamabad on December 19 and were headed to Estonia,' she said. 'Our government had no choice but to kill them when instead of Estonia, the horses landed at Stockholm,' the diplomat said. Pakistani army chief Gen. Abdul Waheed had given the horses to his Swedish counterpart Gen. Ake Sagren. The Swedish newspaper Expressen quoted Sagren as saying he had not yet informed Waheed of the indicent. 'We have not yet decided how to put this to him,' Sagren said. A Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman said that 'it would have been proper, had the Swedes told us what they intended doing with the horses, before killing them.' But he added that the authorities did not wish to 'escalate the unfortunate affair into a full-blown diplomatic incident.'