Ritz complains of PSD behaviour

The Management of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York has lodged a strong protest with the Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN there after a group of Sri Lankans who were staying at the venue disturbed the Qatar Foreign Minister who was resting in his room.

The incident had happened in September when a large delegation of Sri Lankans went with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to attend the UN session and a group of his security personnel who were staying at the hotel had in a drunken state knocked on the door of the Qatar Foreign Minister who was staying on the same floor.

The Qatar minister had been resting after breaking fast when the incident happened and had reported it to the Hotel’s management. He had booked the room for an entire month but after the incident had decided to check into another hotel.

The hotel management had taken up the matter with the Lankan Permanent Representative’s office and asked that an apology be tendered. Embassy officials had said they had no authority to do so and such actions must be initiated from Colombo. When asked about the matter, a Qatar embassy official in Colombo confirmed the incident but a Foreign Ministry official in Colombo said he was unaware of it.