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UN sends back Lankan troops from Lebanon
View(s):The United Nations Department of Peace Operations is sending back to Sri Lanka Army personnel who were deployed in UNIFIL — United Nations Forces in Lebanon — on completion of their term.
This team is to be replaced by a contingent from the Indonesian Army, according to military sources in Colombo.
As a result, the mission of a Sri Lanka Army contingent that was headed for Lebanon for a turnaround of troops, is to be cancelled.
Last week, in New York, the United Nations spokesperson declared that 25 percent of the troops from Sri Lanka engaged in peacekeeping operations would be be replaced. The move is the outcome of Sri Lanka government’s appointment of Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva whom the UN alleges had committed human rights violations – a charge strongly disputed by the Ministry of Defence.
Military circles were concerned about the move to retain troops in Mali, described as one of the worst hot spots for peacekeeping troops. These circles believe no other contingents were willing to undertake assignments in that country. Sri Lanka also has a detachment in South Sudan.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Ariyasinha yesterday raised issue with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations over what it had termed “re-adjustment” of troops.