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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 7859658" data-attributes="member: 92282"><img src="http://i30.tinypic.com/2ypjlh2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena - July 9 2010) A Sri Lankan Cabinet minister continued a hunger strike for a second  day Friday to demand the U.N. halt its investigation into alleged  wartime abuses, despite the world body's decision to recall its top  Colombo-based official and shut its regional office.Housing  Minister Wimal Weerawansa remained inside a hut outside the U.N. office,  a day after beginning what he called a fast until death to protest the  probe into the conduct of the final bloody months of Sri Lanka's civil  war."His condition is deteriorating, but he is determined," a  spokesman, Wasantha Bandara, told reporters.The U.S. and a group  of European nations expressed dismay Friday over an earlier blockade of  the U.N. office led by Weerawansa which trapped its staff for several  hours.In a joint statement, they called the action a "breach of  international norms and harmful to Sri Lanka's reputation in the world."Hundreds  of people participated in the protest Tuesday. Protesters held a much  smaller sit-in Wednesday and U.N. employees were able to keep working in  the office or from home.In an apparent bid to deflect criticism  of the government, Weerawansa announced Friday he was resigning from the  Cabinet. But party spokesman Jayantha Samaraweera said President  Mahinda Rajapaksa declined to accept the resignation.Weerawansa  wants U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to dissolve a panel he  appointed last month to advise him on alleged human rights abuses  committed as Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war was ending last year.The  U.N. has said the panel's work will continue.On Thursday, Ban  recalled Neil Buhne, the U.N.'s resident coordinator for Sri Lanka, and  decided to close the U.N. Development Program's regional center in  Colombo, which houses U.N. agencies that operate in Sri Lanka and  coordinates U.N. development programs in 37 nations in Asia and the  Pacific region.Ban found it "unacceptable that the Sri Lankan  authorities have failed to prevent the disruption of the normal  functioning of the United Nations offices in Colombo as a result of  unruly protests organized and led by a Cabinet minister of the  government," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ij-D67fEIY_lCaAalIujISmZREfQD9GRKEQO0" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/ap_logo.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></blockquote>

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