Sri Lankan government blames controversial "white flag" statement for the appointment of UN panel of experts

The Sri Lankan government blames the controversial "white flag" comment allegedly made by former Army Commander and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) parliamentarian retired General Sarath Fonseka as the reason for the UN Secretary-General's decision to appoint a panel of experts on Sri Lanka.



Director General of the Media Center for National Security (MCNS), Lakshman Hulugalle told a press conference today that General Fonseka's "white flag" story had led to the UN appointment of the panel to probe human rights and humanitarian law violations during the later stages of the war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
He said that the UN panel of experts had been appointed despite the government managing to defeat a motion at the UN Human Rights Council last year to bring a resolution against Sri Lanka.
During the campaign for presidential election in January, General Fonseka has reportedly told a local English weekly that the Defense Secretary had given the order to shoot the senior LTTE leaders surrendering with white flags.
Although the defeated presidential candidate later recanted the story, editor of the paper stood by her story.