French charity mulls Sri Lanka future after murders

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

PARIS, Aug 8 (Reuters) French charity ''Action contre la Faim'' has sent an official to Sri Lanka to examine its future in the country after 15 of its local aid workers were found murdered at the weekend, the group said.

''The aim is to re-examine our presence at the different sites, to see if conditions are still feasible and to get some light on what happened,'' a spokesman said in Paris yesterday.

He said the organisation may seek help from the United Nations or the Red Cross in uncovering what happened.

The bodies of 15 local aid workers, all wearing Action contre la Faim T-shirts were found in the eastern town of Mutur, which has been hit by fighting in Sri Lanka's civil war. All had been executed, most with a shot to the head.

They had been helping with relief work after the 2004 tsunami.

The Sri Lankan military has blamed the rebel Tamil Tigers movements for the killings, while a pro-rebel Web site blamed government forces.

Action contre la Faim said the circumstances leading to the murders were unclear but it said it had been worried about the team since last week when it failed to answer telephone calls.

''A source told us on Sunday that the workers had been murdered in cold blood and the director of our human resources has gone there,'' the spokesman said.

Access has been extremely difficult to Mutur, the centre of fierce fighting between rebels and the Sri Lankan military that has forced thousands to flee the area.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy condemned what he called ''the appalling and cowardly murders''.

''I offer my total solidarity to Action contre la Faim, which works throughout the world in difficult conditions on behalf of the poorest people, and I salute their work,'' he said.

REUTERS DH RK0420

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X