Question: Kind of related questions. In Sri Lanka, the former chief opposition candidate, [Sarath] Fonseka, has now been arrested by the Government. The Defence Minister has said, he has been quoted as saying, there will be no UN investigation; there is no need for an investigation of the events earlier in the year in the country. And just finally, it’s also said that the Foreign Minister tried to reach the Secretary-General and it’s reported in the Sri Lankan press that he tried to reach the Secretary-General and was told to speak to Mr. [Vijay] Nambiar, to try to cancel actually the press conference by [Philip] Alston that was held in this room about a month ago. I’m wondering, just from the last bit, whether Mr. Nambiar is, is either formally or sort of de facto, being put in charge of Sri Lanka policy for the Secretariat. And I am also wondering whether there is any response to the opposition candidate being arrested given all the things that the Secretary-General said in the run-up to the election? Spokesperson: On the second part of your question, to do with the chain of command or the conduit for information, as you well know, DPA, the Department of Political Affairs, has people who look very closely as Sri Lanka and of course, within the Secretary-General’s immediate team, there are also people looking very closely at Sri Lanka. I’m really not aware of the details of this phone call that you refer to. I can find out about that.
On the reported arrest; you know, of course we’re aware of the news reports, just the same as you are. And we’re looking at this closely. As we’ve said before, the peaceful conduct of the first post-conflict national election and its aftermath is of the highest importance for long-term peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. And the Secretary-General has repeatedly appealed to all parties in Sri Lanka and their supporters to show restraint and to adhere to electoral laws and avoid provocative acts, not only in the election period, but also in the post-election stages. And the Secretary-General reinforces these concerns that he has already expressed.
seen at 12:00, 8 February
in
Spokesman for the UN Secretary General.
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