STOCKHOLM, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Over 36 percent of Swedes think the government did a poor job of dealing with the tsunami disaster,Radio Sweden reported on Wednesday citing a poll carried out on January 3.

    About 49 percent said Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds had doneher job "very badly" or "quite badly." 28 percent criticized PrimeMinister Goeran Persson.

    But 93 percent said humanitarian organizations had done "very well" or "quite well" with the media getting an 89 percent approval rating and tour operators 83 percent.

    Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds made her first public appearance in several days Tuesday evening when she took part in one of Swedish television's top current affairs programmes.

    She conceded that the government had been unprepared for the scale of the tsunami tragedy. But she rejected calls for her resignation, saying she had to carry on working in the crisis. Shealso expressed regret for going to the theatre on the evening of the day the giant waves hit.

    Meanwhile, the first coffins of Swedes killed by the Asian tsunami arrived early Wednesday at Arlanda Internatinal Airport ofStockholm.

    A guard of honour carried the coffins one by one from the Hercules military transport plane, which landed just before 0300 local time.

    The six coffins were draped in the bright blue and yellow flag of Sweden. A priest led a short ceremony for the relatives of the victims on the airport tarmac. Present at the ceremony were relatives, the royal family and the prime minister.

    At a press conference before the bodies arrived home from the Thai resort island of Phuket, Prime Minister Goeran Persson told reporters: "in our country this is something very unusual. We havebeen spared large losses of lives. Now, we are forced to get accustomed to this painful experience."

    The number of Swedes killed in the catastrophe stands at 52. 702 Swedes are now confirmed missing and authorities have a further 1201 Swedes who are unaccounted for. Enditem