Yasushi Akashi, who oversaw the U.N. transitional administration in Cambodia in the early 1990s, vowed in a recent interview with Kyodo News to try his best as Japan's representative to Sri Lanka to help broker peace and reconstruction there.
"I would like first to go (to Sri Lanka) and think about what I can do after observing the situation," said Akashi, a former U.N. undersecretary general.
Akashi, 71, was scheduled to head Sunday to Sri Lanka for seven days to talk with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando as well as visit refugee camps and observe land-mine removal activities.