SG/UN TALKED SERIOUSLY WITH PRESIDENT/GOSL!!! UN TEAM TO SRILANKA TO ASSESS TAMIL CIVILIAN/IDPs CRISIS!!!

Sri Lankan issue not on Security Council agenda

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the situation in Sri Lanka has been, to some extent, under reported.

Responding to a question raised at a news briefing at the UN on Tuesday, the UN Secretary General said that he had already dispatched his political director to Sri Lanka and is also considering dispatching a humanitarian assessment team whenever he thinks it's appropriate

“On this issue, as you may know, I have discussed with the [Sri Lankan] Presidential Special Envoy who visited New York, about two and a half weeks ago and I discussed this matter very seriously over the telephone with President Rajapaksa, that he should avoid civilian casualties and also help those people caught in the fighting, so that they can be transferred into a very safe zone, and ensure the safety of United Nations humanitarian workers there. He assured me he would give his best effort,” he said.

The UN chief noted that the Sri Lankan issue is not on the Security Council agenda and the respect for the sovereignty of Member States is another principle he firmly bears in mind.

“However, both the situation in Gaza and Sri Lanka are governed by international humanitarian law. I have consistently expressed my strong concern regarding violations of international standards. First of all, I have expressed consistently my concern at the ongoing violence and drawn attention to the need for a political, and not a military solution, and also specifically drawn attention to the plight of civilians. To some extent, the situation in Sri Lanka has been under-reported, I think,” he said.

Meanwhile a UN spokesperson speaking in Geneva called for a cease-fire in Sri Lanka, saying the UN is outraged by the deaths of civilians caught in the military’s drive to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

“We are outraged by the unnecessary loss of hundreds of lives and the continued suffering of innocent people inside the LTTE-controlled areas,” Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.

“We are calling on both the Government and the LTTE to halt indiscriminate fighting near civilians,” he said.

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