UN concerned on lack of progress

9 March 2010 12:31 am

UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon has expressed concern over the lack of progress of a joint statement which both he and President Mahinda Rajapaksa had agreed during the visit to Sri Lanka last year by the UN chief.

“I raised this issue and discussed it. I made clear to President Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka. For that purpose, we have agreed that I dispatch Under-Secretary-General of Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe in the very near future,” the UN chief told reporter in New York.

Ban ki-moon said he had a frank and honest exchange of views with President Rajapaksa, last Thursday night over the telephone on issues that were of concern to both of them and this included moving forward on political reconciliation, further movement on the condition of internally displaced persons, and the establishment of an accountability process.  (Daily Mirror online)