Sri Lankan President and UN chief discuss need to move forward on outstanding issues

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met today for talks focused on political settlement, reconciliation and accountability.

In discussions at UN Headquarters, held on the margins of the General Assembly’s annual general debate, the two officials talked about the need to move forward expeditiously on outstanding issues covered in the joint statement of May 2009, according to information released by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

Mr. Ban underlined that the President’s strong political mandate provided a unique opportunity to deliver on his commitments to address the issues of political settlement, reconciliation and accountability.

Mr. Rajapaksa, for his part, underlined that development and education in the north of Sri Lanka were integral to national reconciliation. He gave examples of progress made on reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in that regard.

The President also updated the Secretary-General on the work of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.