Mangala briefs UK's Swire on National Reconciliation, UNHRC Resolution

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera was on a brief visit to London last week to meet British Minister of State for Asia Hugo Swire to discuss measures adopted by Sri Lanka in relation to the vexed issue of national reconciliation and the UN Human Rights Council resolution passed last October.

The closed door discussion took place against the backdrop of the UNHRC meeting in Geneva at which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein presented his first verbal report on Sri Lanka since the adoption of the October resolution.

Samaraweera had a one-to-one meeting with Swire during which the British State Minister at the Foreign Office is believed to have stated that Sri Lanka had indeed made some notable progress since the Council last met in Geneva.

However the UK was concerned that Sri Lanka's refusal to accomodate Commonwealth and other foreign judges and lawyers in the judicial mechanism to hear cases pertaining to alleged human rights abuses and other possible violations of international humanitarian law during the latter stages of the war against the LTTE could lack legitimacy in the eyes of victims of war and the international community.

Meanwhile four Sri Lankan MPs from some of the major parties represented in parliament have just ended a study tour in the UK organised by the Westminister Foundation for Democracy.

They are are Chandima Weerakkody, Minister for Petroleum (SLFP); Ajith Perera,Deputy Minister of Power (UNP); Mahinda Abeywardena, former Minister of Agriculture (SLFP/UPFA) and Mathiaparanan Sumanthiran (TNA).

Their study programme took them from London to Edinburgh in Scotland and Belfast in Northern Ireland during which they were able to interact with their counterparts in the Commons and MPs from the devolved legislatures in Scotland and Northern Ireland and with parliamentary officials.

Sources told the Sunday Times that these integrated programmes discuss support that can be provided to overseas parliaments and political parties.

In this instance discussions centred round a pragmatic approach to constitution-making and devolution of power and improving Sri Lanka's democratic process.