Take UN staff hostage, says Lankan minister

Sri Lankan Cabinet minister Wimal Weerawansa has urged the public to surround the UN offices in Colombo and trap the staff inside, until the UN Secretary-General dissolves his advisory panel on the human rights situation in the island nation, according to Daily Mirror Online.

Weerawansa told reporters on Wednesday that the appointment of the three-member panel by Ban Ki-moon was the first step towards producing top Lankan leaders before the ICJ for rights violations and alleged war crimes.

“The appointment of the panel should not be perceived as a simple act because the next step would be to appoint an investigative committee to look into the possible violations of human rights and war crimes. This would result in the leaders and war heroes of Sri Lanka being produced before the ICJ,” Weerawansa, who is also the leader of the National Freedom Front, warned.

BAN DEFENDS PANEL

Ban told reporters in New York on Tuesday that the UN panel accorded with a joint statement with Sri Lanka, issued after he visited the country just after the end of the war last May.

“The panel I am establishing will advise me on the standards, benchmarks and parameters based on international experience that must guide any accountability process such as the one mentioned in the joint statement,” he said.

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