UN officials have raised concerns over a threat reportedly made by Minister for Housing and Construction, Wimal Weerawansa yesterday to take the UN staff in Colombo hostage unless the UN Secretary-General dissolved the panel of experts appointed by him.
Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror Online Wednesday reported that Minister Weerawansa has urged the public to surround the UN office in Sri Lanka and trap the staff inside until a decision is taken by the UN Secretary General to dissolve the panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.
The Associate Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said yesterday that the UN security officials in Sri Lanka are aware of the Minister's remarks and would try to ascertain the validity of those threats.
"The (Sri Lankan) Government has assured us this is an individual opinion and is not their policy. Along those lines, we've also called in to the UN house in Colombo just to see what the conditions are there. They have not reported any actual mobilization of people. Certainly if there was any such activity, though, that would be a cause of concern. But we're not at that stage yet," the Associate Spokesperson said.
The Spokesman said the UN Resident Coordinator and other officials in Sri Lanka had contacted the government counterparts immediately to check the accuracy of the media report and at this stage, there is no particular cause for concern.
"Obviously we do not condone and do not accept any threats made against UN staff anywhere. What was precisely said and so forth, that's something we'd certainly have to determine," the Spokesman told the reporters.
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