After having failed in its last attempt to get the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to back Sri Lanka against Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the government is making a last ditch effort to convince the 118-member group to take sides in the growing political confrontation at the United Nations.
The original draft said "NAM members are seriously concerned about the appointment of this panel...."
The diluted draft now reads: "The NAM members note that the panel of experts has been appointed despite objections by the country concerned, and most importantly, without any mandate from the Human Rights Council, the Security Council or the General Assembly."
In addition, two references to "serious concerns" have been changed to read "expresses its concerns".
A letter sent by Sri Lanka’s UN Ambassador Palitha Kohona to Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz of Egypt, the current NAM chair, reads: "Further to our conversation last evening, I am sending herewith a revised draft and hope the new text will find broader acceptance among those who have expressed certain concerns."
"Please feel free to make any suggestions or make any appropriate amendments to the text that you feel may help achieve consensus."
The unwritten rule in NAM is all decisions have to be taken by "consensus".
The "concerns" referred to in Ambassador Kohona’s letter have come mostly from Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries which are pushing the secretary-general to appoint a similar panel of inquiry to investigate the May 31st killings of nine Turkish nationals by Israeli commandos on board a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
As a diplomat from an OIC country told a foreign ministry official last week: "How can we criticise the secretary general for appointing one panel of inquiry while we are demanding another panel of inquiry from him?"
In his letter to NAM members, Ambassador Abdelaziz says any comments or objections to the draft letter should be communicated before 6 p.m. on Tuesday "with a view to finalizing the draft at the earliest possible date."
A former Sri Lankan ambassador told the Sunday Times: "It's a wrong approach which has unnecessarily brought Sri Lanka into negative focus, with some NAM members, including greater violators of human rights, taking the moral high ground." |
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