by C.A.Chandraprema

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last night deliberately avoided answering a question put to him by a journalist whether the UN was operating on the presumption that war crimes had, in fact, been committed in this country during the last stages of the war.

The UNSG was addressing the media at the end of his three-day visit to Sri Lanka.

The end-of-visit media briefing was held at the Galle Face Hotel amidst a large gathering of media personnel. Even though the journalist tried to remind the UNSG of the question he had asked in relation to war crimes, Ban ignored him and the UN official conducting the proceedings went on to the next question.

In the course of his speech however, the UNSG commended the efforts of the unity government to set up truth seeking and accountability mechanisms and to deal with the grievances of the people of the North and East. His speech after his visit to Sri Lanka lasted just eight minutes and the question and answer session with journalists a further twelve minutes. Though several other journalists wanted to ask questions, the session was cut short on the grounds that the UNSG was due to fly out last night.

Courtesy:The Island