COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan ethnic Sinhalese nationalists have protested the United Nations chief’s visit to the island nation, accusing him of interfering in its internal matters.
Dozens of protesters gathered at two locations Thursday, the second day of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit. They shouted slogans accusing the world body of wanting to penalize Sri Lankan soldiers for ending a decades-long civil war with ethnic Tamil rebels.
They dispersed without incident after handing a petition to U.N. officials.
Ban arrived in Sri Lanka on Wednesday on his second visit to the country and met President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday.
They were expected to discuss Sri Lanka’s progress in accounting for missing persons and addressing human rights violations committed during the civil war.