The pro-government newspaper, The Island, reported on Monday, that the external affairs minister, G.L. Peiris "summoned" the British High Commissioner John Rankin, to "protest against the UK envoy contradicting President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Victory Day speech".
The newspaper added,
"Ministry sources told The Island that Prof. Peiris had expressed displeasure over Rankin disputing President Rajapaksa’s claim of scaling down of the military presence and the non-involvement of the military in civil administration in the Northern Province."
See article here.
On Saturday, Rankin criticised the on-going militarisation of the North-East in a video broadcast. Answering questions about last month’s report on human rights, Rankin went on to state that Sri Lanka has serious human rights issues that need to be addressed.
