UN downplayed death-toll in Sri Lanka

The United Nations deliberately downplayed the number of civilians killed during the Sri Lankan government offensive against the Tamil Tigers, according to a report in a leading French daily.

The report, which was published Thursday in the newspaper Le Monde, quotes several unnamed UN sources alleging that high-ranking UN officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, chose to keep silent about the high civilian death toll in order to maintain UN operations in the country and avoid slighting the Sri Lankan government.

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