On
War
Criminal as UN
Adviser Story,
Sri Lanka Says
General Is
Mad, Deal?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 9 --
"The General
is very angry
with you,"
Sri Lanka's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Palitha Kohona
told
Inner City
Press on
Thursday night
at Iran's
national day
reception.
"You refer to
him as an
alleged war
criminal."
Kohona
was
referring to
Inner City
Press' series
questioning
Silva becoming
a
member of UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
Senior
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping
Operations,
despite
Silva's
division being
listed in
Ban's Panel of
Experts report
on Sri Lanka
as shelling
hospitals and
killing people
who sought to
surrender.
Inner
City Press
told Kohona
that a number
of member
states say
that he will
replaced
Silva on Ban's
Advisory
Group, in
exchange for
the states not
pushing
accountability
for Sri Lanka
in the UN
Human Rights
Council in
Geneva.
Kohona
replied,
"This is an
Asia Group
nomination,
it's the group
that has to go
back, and from
what I
understand the
Group is not
going to go
back...
Fifty four
countries, I
don't know if
they're going
to do that, I
doubt it. Have
you eaten the
food?"
The
conversation
took place
during Iran's
national day
reception at
the UN
Millennium
Hotel; the
spread
included grape
leaves and
filet mignon
but no
liquor. After
this
interchange,
Kohona went to
greet Ban
Ki-moon's
chief of staff
Vijay Nambiar,
who was
involved along
with Kohona in
the so-called
White Flag
killings of
surrenderees.
Inner
City Press
also spoke
with Shavendra
Silva, who was
as Kohona
said, angry.
Silva
began, "You
are always
writing
against me."
Ban shakes
with Silva,
Kohona back to
camera, deal
not shown
Silva
said that
that
allegations in
Ban's Panel of
Experts report
are against
the
division, not
him
personally.
But he led the
division.
Inner City
Press
committed to
going back to
parse out each
paragraph, and
will.
But whether in
each instance
named as an
individual,
Silva must be
held
responsible
for what the
division he
commanded did.
We will have
more on this -
watch this
site.
, 
