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Sri Lankan peace-broker resigns

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Government's top peace-broker, a candidate to have become the next U.N. Secretary-General, resigned on Wednesday, a week before a presidential election.

Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the Government's Secretariat for coordinating the peace process, will step down at the end of November, the Secretariat's Deputy Secretary General, John Gooneratne, told Reuters.

``He was appointed by the Government and there's an election coming, and he feels whoever comes in should have their own choice,'' Mr. Gooneratne added.

Outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga accepted the resignation.

``He has other plans that he needs to work on,'' Mr. Gooneratne said, referring to Mr. Dhanapala's publicly-announced bid to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr. Dhanapala's resignation comes just days ahead of the November 17 presidential vote.

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