Wimal Wants People To Surround UN Lanka Office

Minister Wimal Weerawansa says Sri Lankan people should surround the UN office in Colombo and keep its staff inside until UN chief Ban Ki Moon decides to dissolve the three-member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.

In a press conference yesterday, the minister said that the appointment of the three-member advisory panel by UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon is the primary step that would prompt the Sri Lankan leaders to be produced before the International Court of Justice.

In New York, reporters asked U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq on Wednesday about remarks a Sri Lankan minister made to the local media, where he was quoted as saying that employees of the U.N. office in Sri Lanka should be held hostage until Ban makes a decision to dissolve the panel. Haq said the government had assured the United Nations that the remarks represented an individual opinion and not official policy.

The UN spokesman also said that New York had contacted the UN office in Colombo to verify the report and added that at the moment there was no immediate threat as a result of the comments made by the government Minister. He however noted that in general the UN does not condone or accept threats made on UN staff anywhere be it by officials or anyone else.