UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he will visit Sri Lanka on Friday and called for immediate progress on reconciliation following the government's declaration of victory over Tamil Tiger rebels. "We urgently need to treat the wounds of a war that has alienated the communities in the island for almost three decades," Ban told journalists here.
"To aid this endeavour I will visit Sri Lanka this Friday May 22 to Saturday May 23," he added. Ban warned that there had to be swift progress on three "critical" areas: immediate humanitarian aid in the former conflict area, reconstruction, and sustainable political dialogue in Sri Lanka.
"The legitimate concerns and aspirations of the Tamil people and other minorities must be addressed," Ban said. "Progress on all three fronts must be in parallel and it must begin now," he said, calling for "serious steps" to "reconciliation, rehabilitation." Ban said he would travel to the hardest hit areas in the north-east and especially to see the thousands of people who managed to flee bitter fighting in the final months of the military offensive on the Tamil rebel held areas.
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