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France condemns Sri Lanka arrests of UN personnel

PARIS, June 22 (KUNA) -- France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, condemned on Monday the reported arrest of two staff members of the United Nations working in Sri Lanka who were detained by security authorities there.
"We condemn the arrest announced by the United Nations of two of its agents by the Sri Lankan authorities," a French Foreign Ministry statement said.
"We support the demand expressed by the United Nations to obtain all necessary information on these arrests," it was added.
The United Nations has been openly critical of the treatment of Tamil refugees who are being held in military camps after the defeat last month of the LTTE Tamil Tiger rebels by the Sri Lankan army.
The Tamil refugees seem destined to spend a long period in detention and UN and other humanitarian bodies have urged more be done to allow them to return to some form of normality.
"The agents of the United Nations must be able to exercise their missions without hindrance," the French statement concluded. (end) jk.ema KUNA 221514 Jun 09NNNN