Army chief en-route to Haiti meets UN peacekeeping official in NY
Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, en route for
Haiti to inspect operational duties of the peacekeeping troops serving
the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), had a stopover at UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York and met Military
Adviser and UN Assistant Secretary for Department of Peacekeeping
Operations Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye on Friday.
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Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya with
Military Adviser and UN Assistant Secretary for Department
of Peacekeeping Operations Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye.
Deputy UN Representative Major General Shavendra Silva is
also in the picture. |
The Army Commander during his visit to the official headquarters of
the United Nations had one to one discussions with Lieut Gen Babacar
Gaye. Army Commander Lieut Gen Jagath Jayasuriya recalled healthy
relations and strong bonds of goodwill being maintained between the Sri
Lanka Army and UN Peacekeeping missions ever since the first contingent
of Sri Lankan Peacekeeping missions arrived in Haiti in 2004. The Army
Commander presented a memento to the UN Peacekeeping official.
On the sidelines of the UN meeting, the visiting Commander had a
brief meeting with Sri Lanka's Permanent UN Representative in New York
Dr Palitha Kohona on the same day. Deputy UN Representative Major
General Shavendra Silva, was also associated with this meeting. MINUSTAH,
a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti that has been in operation since 2004
is composed of 8,940 military personnel and 3,711 Police and
concentrates on assisting the Haitian National Police, maintenance of
law and order, provision of humanitarian aid, community projects, etc.
A 950 strong Sri Lankan contingent is serving in Haiti for the
MINUSTAH. |
