UN plan to appoint expert panel:

A clear case of interference - Weerawansa

Rasika Somarathna

The National Freedom Front (NFF) yesterday said they saw the UN Secretary General’s plan to appoint a panel of experts to advise him on Sri Lanka, as the first step in attempts to meddle with the country’s sovereignty.

While asserting that such attempts at undermining the country’s sovereignty should be nipped in the bud, NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa told the media that his party would seek the support of all patriotic forces to protest the UN move, if it goes ahead with the plan.

The NFF leader said his party would mobilize the public to voice their opposition to the UN through a one million e-mail campaign in addition to other forms of agitation.

Weerawansa said the fresh bid to malign Sri Lanka using alleged human rights violations as a tool was the result of certain malicious utterances by Sarath Fonseka during the recently concluded Presidential Election campaign.

Weerawansa also questioned whether the UN was taking the same measures to inquire on alleged human rights violations by other states including the US that continue armed conflicts on large scale, involving major humanitarian catastrophes. The stand taken by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the issue was praised by Weerawansa.

Tourism Minister Achala Jagoda also spoke.