Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena met with both the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres and Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland whilst in New York last week, where they discussed “reconciliation” on the island.
The Sri Lankan president’s official media outlet claimed both Guterres and Scotland “praised Sri Lanka” for “progress”, though there have been no press releases from the UN Secretary General’s office or the Commonwealth on the meetings.
“Mr Guterres said he deeply appreciates the difficult and complex challenges faced by Sri Lanka and said the United Nations would continue to extend support to Sri Lanka’s efforts towards reconciliation,” claimed the Sri Lankan President’s Media Division. “He praised Sri Lanka’s good work in peace building, human rights and UN peace keeping.”
It added that Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland “praised Sri Lanka’s progress in strengthening democracy and reconciliation”.
The meetings took place during Sirisena’s trip to the UN General Assembly, where he rejected “foreign influence” and told an audience in New York that his government is "always fully committed to safeguard the honour, dignity and respect of war heroes from the top generals to the last private soldier".
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.
