Heads of state arriving for first day of 3-day summit скачать в хорошем качестве

Heads of state arriving for first day of 3-day summit

(15 Nov 2013) Sri Lanka opened its Commonwealth summit on Friday with a red-carpeted stairway lined with smiling children to greet leaders from Britain and its former territories. President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wife, Shiranthi, welcomed officials from Commonwealth countries, even as some were absent in protest over Sri Lanka's human rights record. Sharply dressed leaders arrived on Friday morning at an enormous lotus-shaped theatre building for an opening ceremony presided over by Britain's Prince Charles. Children dressed in fine yellow silk sang the Sri Lankan national anthem and waved national flags. The Commonwealth has been harshly criticised for holding the summit on this Indian Ocean island after years of refusal by its government to allow independent investigations into alleged war crimes and rights abuses during and after a 27-year civil war that ended in 2009. Recent reports of media harassment and continued rights abuses have also raised alarms. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who with his brothers has controlled the Buddhist Sinhalese-majority nation since 2005, has defended his country's efforts, saying its army committed no abuses and its courts and other institutions are handling complaints. He invoked the Buddha in his opening speech with a quote that appeared to gently chastise nations questioning Sri Lanka's commitment to democracy and human rights. British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday was expected to travel into northern areas that saw the worst of the war between soldiers and ethnic Tamil rebels fighting for a homeland. While the leaders of Canada, India and Mauritius have boycotted the summit, the Commonwealth organisation and other leaders defended the meeting as a way to engage Sri Lanka on the issues. Cameron urged Rajapaksa to hold an inquiry, which has been demanded by the United Nations and Western governments including the United States. Protests have been banned in Colombo during the conference, though pro-government demonstrators have attacked the main opposition United National Party headquarters. On Friday, the opposition announced it was boycotting the opening ceremony to protest what it called a crackdown of political opponents. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...