http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=30878 Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, appears to have received a reprimand from his Department's Minister after making disparaging remarks on Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary execution, and for dismissing as "another nuisance," the letter from Alston requesting explanation to Sarath Fonseka's allegations that Colombo may have committed war-crimes. In an interview, Mr Wijesinha calls Alston "a sad man," "an excitable man," and "a bit of an excitable chap." The Sri Lanka Government announced that it has withdrawn Mr. Wijesinha's self-publicized response to Alston. "Colombo rightly felt that Mr Wijesinha's condescending admonition to Philp Alston, whose strong legal credentials earned him the coveted expert position at U.N., to withdraw the letter, would create difficulties for Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, especially as Alston is scheduled to submit a report on these revelations. Further, when International community, following the damning report by the U.S. State Department, is raising stronger voices of war-crimes allegations against Colombo, Wijesinha's diplomatic transgressions are ill-advised," spokesperson for a US-based pressure group said.