Buhne recalled, UNDP office closed

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is closing the UNDP office in Sri Lanka and temporarily recalling its head official there because of the government’s handling of protests aimed at the world body, UN spokesman said.

U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday that Ban found it “unacceptable” that Sri Lankan authorities failed to prevent the office from being disrupted by “unruly protests organized and led by a cabinet minister.”

The U.N.’s resident co-ordinator is being pulled back for “consultations” inNew York until normal operations can be restored at the U.N. Development Program’s regional centre in Colombo.