Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Maithripala to visit UK and 'lunch with Queen'

Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena will travel to the UK on March 7 on an official visit, Minister of Justice Wijayadasa Rajapakshe told the BBC Sinhala service.

President Sirisena, who was acting defence minister during the bloody final stages of the war in 2009, will have lunch with Queen Elizabeth on March 11, said Mr Rajapakshe.

The justice minister further said Sri Lanka had not yet decided whether it would start a new domestic probe into mass atrocities committed during the armed conflict.

"We will do an internal inquiry if it is necessary. As a step towards this, the former government appointed and obtained a report from the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission," he said, adding that even if a domestic inquiry is conducted, it would prioritise establishing the truth and promoting reconciliation rather than punitive action.

Sri Lanka's new government and the possibility of justice (23 January 2015)

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.