AP image
Colombo:
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Sri Lanka late on Friday, the first major international figure to visit the country since President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this week.
Ban began his trip by appealing to the Sri Lankan government to turn its victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels into a fair and lasting resolution of the Tamil minority's long-standing grievances.
On board a UN peacekeeping plane on his way to Colombo, Ban said Sri Lanka needs "reconciliation through dialogue".
He said it was also important that the "grievance and challenges" of Sri Lanka's minority groups, including Tamils and Muslims, were properly addressed.
Ban said he had three major goals for his trip -- "the humanitarian assistance and reintegration of society as well as political reconciliation".
"I am convinced that through my visit this time I will be able to get some assurances from the Sri Lankan government and President Rajapaksa on those issues," he added.
Arriving in the capital after a 12-hour flight from Frankfurt, Ban also said he would ask the government for greater access by the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international relief organisation to the relief camps where more than 300-thousand desperate and uprooted people are living.
Ban was greeted at the airport by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama.
The two walked along a red carpet, saluted by a military honor guard of soldiers in white uniforms.
Ban brought along international journalists for a 24-hour visit that was to include a visit to a hospital and to the biggest relief camp, Manik Farm, about 6 miles (10 kilometres) north of the town of Vavuniya.
Aid agencies have complained the Sinhalese-dominated government was restricting access to the camp, allowing in only essential supplies of food and water.
The military says it is concerned that Tamil rebels may be hiding among the refugees and would try to escape if there were heavy traffic in and out.
Ban said that just before the trip he spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, gaining their endorsement of the trip and pledges to offer whatever humanitarian aid they could.
Ban's visit could put him in the delicate position between offering assistance to a war-torn nation and appearing to be part of Rajapaksa's victory celebrations.
Ban was among many world leaders who had called on the government to halt its offensive so that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. Those calls were ignored.
The UN says at least 7-thousand civilians were killed in the final offensive, and between 80-thousand and 100-thousand people were killed since the war began in 1983.
Ban began his trip by appealing to the Sri Lankan government to turn its victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels into a fair and lasting resolution of the Tamil minority's long-standing grievances.
On board a UN peacekeeping plane on his way to Colombo, Ban said Sri Lanka needs "reconciliation through dialogue".
He said it was also important that the "grievance and challenges" of Sri Lanka's minority groups, including Tamils and Muslims, were properly addressed.
Ban said he had three major goals for his trip -- "the humanitarian assistance and reintegration of society as well as political reconciliation".
"I am convinced that through my visit this time I will be able to get some assurances from the Sri Lankan government and President Rajapaksa on those issues," he added.
Arriving in the capital after a 12-hour flight from Frankfurt, Ban also said he would ask the government for greater access by the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international relief organisation to the relief camps where more than 300-thousand desperate and uprooted people are living.
Ban was greeted at the airport by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama.
The two walked along a red carpet, saluted by a military honor guard of soldiers in white uniforms.
Ban brought along international journalists for a 24-hour visit that was to include a visit to a hospital and to the biggest relief camp, Manik Farm, about 6 miles (10 kilometres) north of the town of Vavuniya.
Aid agencies have complained the Sinhalese-dominated government was restricting access to the camp, allowing in only essential supplies of food and water.
The military says it is concerned that Tamil rebels may be hiding among the refugees and would try to escape if there were heavy traffic in and out.
Ban said that just before the trip he spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, gaining their endorsement of the trip and pledges to offer whatever humanitarian aid they could.
Ban's visit could put him in the delicate position between offering assistance to a war-torn nation and appearing to be part of Rajapaksa's victory celebrations.
Ban was among many world leaders who had called on the government to halt its offensive so that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. Those calls were ignored.
The UN says at least 7-thousand civilians were killed in the final offensive, and between 80-thousand and 100-thousand people were killed since the war began in 1983.
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