Taking note of the official announcement of provisional results of Gabon’s presidential election, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday expressed deep concern about reports of arson and clashes between protesters and security forces in the country’s capital, Libreville.
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Earlier today, Ban was received at the Bandaranaike International Airport here by Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva.
During his visit Mr. Ban will meet with the President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera, and Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan as well as several other political leaders and civil society representatives.
The TNA says that it expects to discuss with visiting UN Chief Ban Ki-moon the joint statement issued in 2009 by the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the UN Secretary General.
The visit of the United Nations head here sparked protests countrywide with nationalist groups calling for the United Nations to respect national sovereignty and with Sinhalese groups demanding justice for ongoing discrimination and abuse.
The Secretary-General will proceed to Galle tomorrow in order to participate in an event under the theme “Reconciliation and Coexistence: Role of Youth”. He toured the island in May 2009 immediately after the Sri Lankan troops defeated the LTTE ending the three decades old civil war.
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This will be Ban Ki-moon’s second visit to Sri Lanka. He is scheduled to speak at an event in Colombo on September 2 on “Sustaining Peace – Achieving Sustainable Development Goals”.
