United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
World leaders are coming under pressure to boycott the ceremony and Gordon Brown has already confirmed he will not attend, but UN officials insist Mr Ban has pulled out because of a clash in his diary.
However, no details were given about Mr Ban’s other appointment.
UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said: “The secretary-general has conveyed to the government (of China) some months ago that he may not be in a position to accept the invitation to attend this important event due to scheduling issues.”
Mr Ban is planning an official visit to China at another time.
China has been criticised by Western governments for its bloody crackdown in Tibet and has been accused by human rights groups of not doing enough to pressure Sudan’s government to end the bloodshed in Darfur.
US President George Bush is under pressure from all three presidential candidates to boycott the opening ceremony, but he still plans to attend and speak out on religious freedoms.
The European Parliament has also urged European Union leaders to boycott the ceremony unless China starts talks with the Dalai Lama over the situation in Tibet.
