Sri Lanka keen to cooperate with UN investigation

Colombo, Jan 30: Sri Lanka's government has received encouragement from the UN to cooperate in an ongoing investigation into its human rights record, the foreign ministry said Friday. President Maithripala Sirisena's senior advisor on foreign affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala met UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein in Geneva and briefed him on the new government's policies, Xinhua news agency reported. The former diplomat, who has termed his visit an "exploratory visit", briefed top UN officials on the policies of the newly elected President Sirisena and his government. The meeting in Geneva came as Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein prepares to submit in March a report that includes investigations into alleged war crimes to the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka's previous government under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa had steadfastly refused to cooperate in what it termed as a "flawed" investigation.