UN envoy satisfied

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

I saw that people in the welfare centres were well looked after being provided with meals, medicine and other facilities, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir John Holmes said at the end of his three-day visit to Sri Lanka at the Government Information Department auditorium yesterday afternoon.

“LTTE is responsible for not allowing people free movement out of the war zone to safety and they should also stop forced recruitment,” he added.

Sir John Holmes said his concern on the present humanitarian assistance process has been conveyed to the President and the Government. “Sri Lankan Government assured that the main concerns that I had made will be included while continuing with the ongoing humanitarian assistance in their present policy of prioritizing the safety of the civilians,” he added. He condemned the brutal LTTE air attack on Colombo and Katunayake on Friday. UN Under Secretary General . He expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of those who died in the attack. Sir Holmes announced a 10 million US dollar donation through the UN Emergency Relief Fund as a support to the humanitarian assistance works conducted at present.

Addressing the media briefing, Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe stated that the government’s utmost priority is the safety of the civilians and hence even the military has stopped using heavy weapons capable of long distance attacks in the combat. According to the Minister since there are infiltrated LTTE cadres among the IDPs the government is in the process of screening them and there is scope for improving free movement of these displaced people.

According to Minister Samarasinghe of the 36,000 people who have already escaped to the cleared areas 250 have been identified as ex-LTTE cadres.