Sri Lanka's former foreign minister has said that the UN's repatriation of an army commander was down to the current government's inability to handle foreign relations, and warned that the repatriation could have serious repercussions for the entire Sri Lankan Army.
“It will have serious repercussions not only on the 58th Division but on the entire Sri Lankan Army,” former minister G L Peiris said according to the Daily Mirror.
“If it were our government, we would have asked for the basis of such allegations,” he said.
He said such allegations against Sri Lankan military forces would have serious repercussions due to the current government's 'commitment'to an international tribunal with foreign judges.
Peiris also railed against Yasmin Sooka, a member of the UN appointed panel of experts who compiled a report in 2011 detailing allegations of atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan state. Sooka is also the director of the International Truth and Justice Project, which has submitted evidence to the United Nations pertaining to war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka's military and police forces.