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Lanka signs letter against Israel’s ban on UN chief
View(s):- Country’s name will appear on the revised list, says ambassador
Sri Lanka was a signatory to a letter signed by 105 countries condemning Israel for banning UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering Israel, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the UN, Mohan Peiris, said yesterday.
He said the Sri Lanka Permanent Mission in New York (UN) had asked the Chilean mission that sponsored the letter in support of the UN SG that their names be added to the letter circulated on October 11th and had been informed by the Chilean mission that an updated version of the signatories would be released next week.
The Sunday Times learns that several other countries had also wanted their names added to the list of signatories to the letter. In Colombo, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday there was no policy decision against signing
the letter in support of the Secretary-General as claimed by the Opposition and added that the Sri Lanka Government had consistently supported the “Palestinian cause,” pointing out the new Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s statement to the foreign diplomatic corps in Colombo on October 14. It highlighted Sri Lanka’s support for unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza as well as the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and viable State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders in line with UN resolutions. He also condemned the attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, 126 of whom are from Sri Lanka.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared UN Secretary General Guterres persona non-grata, and its Foreign Minister Israel Katz claimed that the Secretary-General had not sufficiently criticised Iran’s missile strikes on Israel.
The letter condemning Israel’s move was signed by most countries in the Global South, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Uganda, as well as European countries such as France, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The letter defended not just the Secretary-General but also the UN mandate itself. Sri Lanka’s Deputy UN Ambassador, Sugeeswara Gunaratne, told the Sunday Times that the signing of the letter was “an ongoing process,” and Sri Lanka signed the letter on October 11th as “we don’t subscribe to the Secretary-General being declared persona non-grata.”
The letter comes as tensions are escalating between Israel and the UN. Last week, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were targeted by Israel at their positions in Southern Lebanon.
In Colombo, the Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya Chairman Imtiaz Bakeer Markar asked why Sri Lanka was not among the original 105 countries that condemned Israel for banning the UN SG from visiting the country.
In a statement, Mr. Bakeer Markar said Sri Lanka “has consistently backed international efforts aimed at conflict resolution and upholding the rights of the oppressed, including our steadfast support for Palestine at the United Nations.”
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