Minister meets UN chief

Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the sidelines of the World Climate Conference.

Referring to the comments made by the UN Secretary-General's Spokeswoman Marie Okabe in the UN press release dated September 3, Minister Samarasinghe stated that he briefed the United Nations Secretary General on a wide variety of issues concerning IDPs as well as plans of the Government to resettle them as soon as possible.

Minister Samarasinghe reiterated the President's commitment to care for the IDPs and to re-settle them as soon as the de-mining process is completed and infrastructure and basic services are restored.

Minister Samarasinghe referring to the Join Communique issued after the last visit of Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka, pointed out that the National Framework Proposal on Re-integration of Ex-combatants mentioned in the Joint Communique has now been completed, after wider consultations, and an Action Plan based on the Framework proposal is now being implemented.

Referring to the UNSG's comments on the need for reconciliation, Minister Samarasinghe briefed the UNSG on the reconciliation and development process launched by the President.

Referring to the UNSG's concerns on the Channel-4 video tape, Minister Samarasinghe informed the UNSG that the authenticity of the video tape has not been established by the Channel-4 and that the purported footage had been allegedly recorded in January this year and that it was strange that it took nearly eight months for the video to be broadcast.