By Xinhua
Colombo : Sri Lanka Tuesday asked its permanent representative in the UN to call for a clarification on a statement made by a top official of the world body saying the country was one of “the world’s dangerous places for aid workers”.
“We will take up the issue with the UN,” Keheliya Rambukwella, defence spokesman and the minister of foreign employment told reporters here.
The government has taken strong exception to a statement made by Sir John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs last week that Sri Lanka was one of the world’s dangerous places for aid workers.
He backs his claim citing that 34 aid workers had been killed in the island since 2006.
“As for the government, we only know of just 19 aid workers being killed. So we want to know how the figure of 34 had been arrived at,” Rambukwella asserted.
Holmes was in the island on a three-day visit where he visited the northern Jaffna peninsula and parts of the island’s eastern province.
Holmes’ press comments have drawn an angry reaction from the government.
He was blamed for attempting to discredit the government of Sri Lanka on its battle with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.