SECRETARY-GENERAL DEPLORES ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE HUMAN BEINGS ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC GROUNDS

26 January 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6445

SECRETARY-GENERAL DEPLORES ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE HUMAN BEINGS ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC GROUNDS

19980126 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General has learned with outrage of the news of a bomb attack on a major Buddhist shrine in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on 25 January, and the resulting loss of life and destruction.

As he has done on many occasions, the Secretary-General strongly condemns the use of terrorist tactics in all circumstances. He deplores attempts to divide human beings on religious and ethnic grounds. He extends his sympathies to the families of the victims and appeals for calm and restraint amidst reports of reprisals provoked by the bombing of the shrine.

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