செவ்வாய், 28 பிப்ரவரி, 2012

Nambiar opens mouth after killing of Marie Colvin

Nambiar opens mouth after killing of Marie Colvin

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 February 2012, 22:58 GMT]
Refusing to comment officially, but speaking to Inner City Press (ICP) later Friday, UN Secretary General’s Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar conceded that Marie Colvin had urged him to personally go and witness the surrender of Nadesan, Puliththevan and others. He had planned to go along with US diplomat Bob Blake, but the ICRC was not able to go by sea route and the SL government had refused to give him permission, Nambiar said, adding, “there was no way we could just force our way in.” Accusing the ICP for involving him in the genocide, Nambiar said, "Marie Colvin was involved in the same...now that she has passed away I would like to place on record my own" position, and "appreciation for the intrepidity with which she pursued her own vocation. She talked to me, you know that,"

When the ICP asked why he hadn’t spoken out then, when he had been blocked from witnessing the surrender and the people whom he had assured ended up killed without witnesses, Nambiar said that he was not prepared to hazard any guess as the Rajapaksa brothers had told him that the victims could have been shot by their own people.

“[T]hey could have been shot by own people. I am not prepared to hazard any guess. Even Basil [Rajapaksa], he also said that. It was mainly Gotabaya [Rajapaksa] and the President [Mahinda Rajapaksa]," Nambiar told ICP.

While answering the ICP on Friday, Nambiar has forgotten the names of the victims of his ‘surrender’ effort.

"In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner, what happened after that, I couldn't...," Nambiar said.

Meanwhile, Palitha Kohona, who was also involved in the White Flag drama, is now tipped to replace Shavendra Silva removed from the UN Senior Advisory Group on Peacekeeping Operations.

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