Dr. Kohona to advise on peace process

Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO : Chief of the Treaty Section in the UN Legal Affairs Office Dr. Palitha Kohona is to arrive in Colombo this week on the Government's invitation to advice the President on the Peace Process.

Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga confirmed the UN legal expert's return to Sri Lanka mid this week, ahead of the crucial round of talks to strengthen the ceasefire scheduled to take place in Geneva in mid February. Dr. Kohona a past pupil of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia obtained his LLB at the University of Ceylon and a Master's in Law from the Australian National University.

Later he received a doctorate from the Cambridge University, UK for his work "The Regulation of International Trade through Law".

Since 1995 he has been based in New York as Chief of the Treaty Section at the UN, the largest of five divisions of the UN Legal Affairs office and holds a past record for effectively negotiating politically sensitive issues among nations.

He was responsible for 'Rights of Women and Children and Treaties relating to terrorism' during his tenure. From 1994 to 1995 Dr. Kohona was the head of the Trade and Investment section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia.