Colombo: President Mahinda Rajapaksa has underlined his "priority" to push ahead with the
reconciliation process, saying the government was engaged in talks with all sections of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, as well as the expatriate from the minority ethnic community.
President Rajapaksa, who met the UN Secretary General
on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Egypt on Wednesday, told
Ban ki-Moon that the reconciliation process was a priority of
the government. He stressed that the work had already been
initiated in this regard with the All Party Committee of
Development and Reconciliation.
The government was engaged in talks with all sections
of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, as well as the expatriate Tamil
community to achieve reconciliation, Rajapaksa told Ban
when the Secretary General underlined that the reconciliation
was important to the international community.
Rajapaksa told the UN chief that Sri Lanka too
considered it a matter of great importance, and was in the
process of working towards this goal.
The issue of IDPs, conditions in the IDP relief
centres and the need for reconciliation among all communities
were among the issues mentioned by the UN chief during his
discussions with President Rajapaksa.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, July 17, 2009, 18:09