Buhne heads to Colombo with Ban’s ‘special message’

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 July 2010, 11:39 GMT]
The United Nation’s Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Neil Buhne, who was recalled by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon early this month, is heading back to Colombo, with a ‘special message’ from Ban to be delivered to the Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa led Government, the government owned Dinamina newspaper said in its front page.

According to the paper, Buhne will deliver the special message to the government immediately upon his arrival in Colombo.

The Secretary General’s special message covers several significant areas including the fast track resettlement of the Internally Displaced Persons, political reconciliation and accountability on several wide ranging issues, the paper said.

On July 8th, Ban ki-moon decided to close down the UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo and recalled the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Neil Buhne, to New York for consultations, after the Sri Lankan government failed to prevent the disruption of the normal functioning of the United Nations offices in Colombo.

Unruly protests organized and led by Cabinet Minister Wimal Weerawansa who demanded the immediate disbanding of the controversial expert panel disrupted the functioning of the UN offices.