STOCKHOLM, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds resigned on Tuesday over allegations that she lied about her role in shutting down a website which had published Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

    Freivalds said it had become impossible for her to carry out her job given recent media attacks, which she said would damage the ruling Social Democrats in the run up to September's general election.

    The website of the far-right party, Sweden Democrats, was closed on Feb. 9 after a Foreign Ministry official contacted its hosting company. Freivalds denied she had any advance knowledge of the move, but a later report from the ministry said she had been involved in the decision.

    Prime Minister Goran Persson said Freivalds would be temporarily replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Bo Ring Holm.

    The 63-year-old minister had already been under pressure over allegations that she was partly responsible for the government's slow response to the 2004 Asian tsunami, in which 543 Swedes were killed.

    Freivalds had resisted calls for her resignation for months with Persson's backing.

    The cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, published by many European newspapers and websites earlier this year, have caused fierce protests in the Muslim world. Enditem