NE Bishops scheduled to meet UN special envoy

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 February 2008, 00:33 GMT]
A delegation of bishops from Northeast are scheduled to meet Angela Kane, UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs who arrived in Colombo Wednesday morning for a week-long fact finding mission in the island, sources close to the Bishops said.

During the talks with the UN envoy scheduled to be held in Colombo, discussions will centre on the abnormal situation prevailing in North and East, war initiatives, arbitrary arrests, abductions, killings, disappearances and economic blockade, sources close to the bishops said.

Kane will visit Batticaloa during her stay but will not tour conflict affected areas in the North including Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - controlled territory in the Vanni where the UN has its offices and projects, sources in Colombo said.

Ms.Kane is to hold talks with the Sri Lankan foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, foreign secretary Palitha Kohona and diplomats from the European Union, Norway, India and the U.S. in addition to meeting Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of United National Party (UNP), the main opposition party.

A face to face meeting with Ms Kane will help the UN envoy to learn first hand the situation prevailing in the troubled regions of the island, sources added.

Kane will also meet with the all political party forum, the All Party Representative's Committee (APRC)..

Kane's visit was the result of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's concerns on the situation in Sri Lanka and escalating armed conflict in the island's north and east provinces.