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TAMIL NATIONAL HEROES DAY 25-JULY-2009 |
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25 July 2009 REMEMBRANCE DAY STATE TERROR BLACK JULY OF 1983 REVISITED The Madras Hindu of 10th August 1983 “Selvaraja Yogachandran (TELO), popularly known as Kuttmuni, a nominated member of the Sri Lankan parliament who was one of the 52 prisoners killed in the maximum security Wellikade prison in Colombo two weeks ago, was forced to kneel in his cell, (where he was under solitary confinement), by his assailants and ordered to pray to them. When he refused, his tormentors taunted him about his last wish, when he was sentenced to death. (He had willed that his eyes be donated to someone so that at least that person would see an independent Tamil Eelam.) The assailants then gouged his eyes. He was then stabbed to death and his testicles were wrenched from his body. That was confirmed by one of the doctors who had conducted the post-mortem on the first group of 35 prisoners. According to S.A David,[iii] the thirty-five Tamils were then heaped in front of the statue of Gautama Buddha in the yard of the Welikade prison and when some yet alive raised their heads they were clubbed to death.The second round of killings on July 27 was lead by Sepala Ekanaike, undergoing life imprisonment for the hijacking of an Alitalia plane on its flight from Delhi to Bangkok a year previously. Sinhalese prisoners convicted of murder, rape and burglary charges were handpicked by the warders, who after plying them with liquor, let them loose on the remaining Tamil political prisoners. Seventeen prisoners were killed on this occasion. London Daily Telegraph, 26 July 1983 "Motorists were dragged from their cars to be stoned and beaten with sticks during racial violence in Colombo, the Sri Lanka capital yesterday (24 July). Others were cut down with knifes and axes. Mobs of Sinhala youth rampaged through the streets, ransacking homes, shops and offices, looting them and setting them ablaze, as they sought out members of the Tamil ethnic minority... A Sri Lankan friend told me by telephone last night how he had watched horrified earlier in the day as a mob attacked a Tamil cyclist riding near Colombo's eye hospital, a few hundred yards from the home of Junius Jayawardene, the nations 76 year old President. The cyclist was hauled from his bike, drenched with petrol and set alight. As he ran screaming down the street, the mob set on him again and hacked him down with jungle knifes.." Guardian, 26 July 1983 ''Pillars of smoke and flame rose over the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo yesterday as mobs attacked the minority Tamil community and looted their homes and stores...Some of the worst rioting erupted in the morning only 200 yards away from President Jayawardene's house... All over the city by mid-morning lorries jammed with young men shouting anti Tamil slogans, were moving into Tamil areas and into shopping centres picking out Tamil shops... Petrol was siphoned from cars into buckets and plastic bowls to speed the work of arson.. By noon Colombo resembled a city after a bombing raid. Smoke obscured the sun, main roads were blocked by burnt out vehicles.. The rioting surged into the heart of the city. In area after area Sinhalese rioters systematically picked out Tamil homes and shops, whether occupied or empty, and looted and destroyed them...'' London Daily Express, 29th August 1983 a tourist told yesterday how she watched in horror as a Sinhala mob deliberately burned alive a bus load of Tamils... Mrs.Eli Skarstein, back home in Stavanger, Norway, told how she and her 15 year old daughter, Kristin, witnessed one massacre. 'A mini bus full of Tamils were forced to stop in front of us in Colombo' she said. A Sinhalese mob poured petrol over the bus and set it on fire. They blocked the car door and prevented the Tamils from leaving the vehicle. 'Hundreds of spectators watched as about 20 Tamils were burned to death'. Mrs. Skarstein added: 'We can't believe the official casualty figures. Hundreds may be thousands must have been killed already." The Guardian, 28 July 1983 "Smoke from hundreds of shops, offices, warehouses and homes blew idly over Colombo yesterday. Any business, any house belonging to or occupied by a Tamil has been attacked by gangs of goondas and the resulting destruction looks like London after a heavy night's attention from the Luftwaffe. The sharp smell of destruction fills the nostrils and the roads beneath the feet crunch with broken glass. Cars and lorries lie at ungainly angles across the footways. In Pettah, the old commercial heart of the city, row after row of sari boutiques, electronic dealers, rice sellers, car parts stores, lie shattered and scarred... government officials yesterday estimated that 20,000 businesses had been attacked in the city." London Times, 22 August 1983 ''Considerably more people died during the recent violence in Sri Lanka than the 380 deaths the government there has admitted to, according to an aid organisation. Dr.Sjef Teuns, General Secretary of Novib, the leading private development aid organisation in the Netherlands, said between 1000 and 2000 people lost their lives. He returned to Netherland on Saturday. He accused the Sri Lanka government of serious human rights violations against the Tamil population and called the Dutch government to reconsider its development aid policy towards the country.'' Patricia Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales and Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee Report -Democracy in Peril, June 1985 ''Estimates of the number of persons killed in the week of violence vary. Official estimates are just under 400 killed. These estimates are conservative. Unofficial estimates are as high as 1500 to 2000. It is probable that many bodies were not at first discovered because they were burned in houses. Also some bodies were hidden and buried privately by people who were frightened by the prospect of further reprisals should the bodies be discovered, or scared to attract attention to themselves by reporting the deaths. At the date of our departure from Sri Lanka, September 1st, there were many people still missing or not accounted for.'' Sri Lanka - The Unfinished Quest for Peace - L.Piyadasa, Marram Books, 1988 ''The police and the government made no attempt to stop or hinder small gangs of men who went about with lists, burning the houses and flats (in Sinhala owned dwellings only the contents), grocery stores, pharmacies, textile shops, tailoring establishments, restaurants, bookshops, hardware shops, lawyers offices, studios... as well as tourist hotels. They also burnt trucks, vans and cars. They went for only those things which were owned by (Tamils)... They did this expertly.... within sight of President's House in the administrative and business centre, a few yards away from the Prime Minister's official residence, near the UNP headquarters, in blocks immediately adjacent to or opposite major police stations - taking care, on a hot, dry morning, not to start fires which would spread to adjacent Sinhalese owned or state property. Accidents and violations of 'discipline' were few.'' Patricia Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales and Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee Report -Democracy in Peril, June 1985 eye witnes and victims reported that on the streets cars were stopped by gangs and the people inside were asked whether they were Sinhalese or Tamil. Some Sinhalese words are extremely difficult for people who do not speak the language fluently to pronounce, people were tested by being made to pronounce these words. The mobs were also demanding to see identity cards to establish whether or not people were Tamils... People identified as Tamils as a result of the questioning were told to get out of their cars and their cars were set alight... In cases where any resistance was offered, killings were likely to take place... It was reported by many people that in some instances students from Buddhist schools followed on behind the first rioters and that some Buddhist monks were seen amongst the gangs'' The London Times, 2 August 1983 Tamil owned businesses account for between 50 and 60 percent of the commercial life of the capital and they have been destroyed - scientifically extracted from among their neighbours and burned." Eye witness account, Sri Lanka: Racism and the Authoritarian State - Race and Class, Volume XXVI, A.Sivanandan and Hazel Waters, Institute of Race Relations ''A most distressing aspect of the vandalism was the burning and the destruction of the houses and dispensaries of eminent Tamil doctors - some with over a quarter of a century of service in Sinhala areas...'' The Guardian, 9 August 1983 ''About 100 industrial plants were severly damaged or destroyed, including 20 garment factories. The cost of industrial reconstruction was estimated at 2,000 million rupees (£55 million). This did not include damaged shops.'' The New York Times reported in early August: ''The shells of (Tamil owned) businesses line Galle Road, the main waterfront thoroughfare advertising the names that marked them for destruction. Lakshmi Mahal, pawbroker, or Ram Gram stores and florist.. Damage estimates are uncertain and incomplete, but the total economic loss has been placed at $300 million.'' Eye witness account, Sri Lanka: Racism and the Authoritarian State - Race and Class, Volume XXVI, A.Sivanandan and Hazel Waters, Institute of Race Relations. ''Seventeen industrial complexes belonging to some of the leading Tamil... industrialists were razed to the ground... Several cinemas owned by Tamils were destroyed... Probably the worst affected area was the Pettah, the commercial centre of Colombo, where Tamil and Indian traders played a dominant role. Hardly a single Tamil or Indian establishment was left standing.'' Wide spread attacks in Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and elsewhere The attacks were not confined to Colombo alone. They spread to Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Bandarawela, Negombo, and many other areas where Tamils lived amongst a predominant Sinhala population."Violence also erupted in places such as Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Bandarawela. On each of these occasions it followed a similar pattern. The incidents were started off by people coming in from outside the districts, lists were used to identify Tamil property and systematic attacks were made on it: the local people were then encouraged to follow with further depredations..." (Patricia Hyndman, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New South Wales and Secretary, Lawasia Human Rights Standing Committee - Report on the Communal Violence in Sri Lanka, July 1983) ''(A British tourist) said: 'Last Wednesday a taxi driver took us into Negombo... and the whole town was smouldering. All the Tamil property in the centre of the town had been burnt down. The cigarette factory had gone up together with a cinema and a garage. There was smoke everywhere and the whole area was a burnt out mess. ..there was no sign of any Tamil anywhere. We were told that Tamils were being grabbed off buses by groups of people wielding iron bars. We also saw young Sinhalese stopping cars to siphon out the petrol so they could use it to start fires.'.. '' (London Times, 2 August 1983) ''...the looting burning and killing that began last week end in Colombo spread to the cities of Kandy and Gampola in the central hills... In Kandy, 62 miles northeast of Colombo, mobs burned and sacked at least 55 stores owned by members of the Tamil minority in attacks that began Tuesday night and continued Wednesday...'' (The Guardian, 28 July 1983) "The town (Kandy), which lies at the centre of the tea and rubber plantations of the central highland area of Sri Lanka has witnessed rioting and fire bombing against Tamil owned homes and businesses for the past four nights. And the presence of the rows of burnt out shops and of the 6000 Tamils in five temporary camps shows that the communal terror which has been unleashed in Sri Lanka is much more widespread than at first reported. The testimony of similar outrages in the villages in the steep sided hills and dense green country around Kandy reinforces that impression...The Sinhala District Inspector General of Police for the central range said: 'We usually expect what we call the soda bottle effect in these things. A sudden foaming up and then going flat but that hasn't happened yet.'... Two unidentified bodies were fished from the artificial lake in the centre of Kandy and a third body was found on a railway line close to the town. The body, which had been cut and chopped, was evidently thrown from a train..." (The London Times, 30 July 1983) "...News of the extent of the violence directed at the centre of Nuwara Eliya by Sinhala mobs was somehow contained by the town's remoteness... But no point in Colombo or the surrounding suburbs matches the mess... Whole blocks have been reduced to charred rubble. Only a handful of provision shops belonging to Sinhala traders remained... Remarkably, only sixteen people died in the inferno..." (London Daily Telegraph, 6 August 1983) ''Two weeks ago (Nuwara Eliya).. became the focal point for much of the communal violence that has engulfed the island... We had already been in Sri Lanka for 10 days... before the events of 29 July. We had started in Colombo; we then fled to Kandy to escape the violence; when it followed us there we moved to Nuwara Eliya. Yet subsequent reports confirmed that the damage done to Nuwara Eliya was at least the equal of anything experienced elsewhere.. By dusk on Friday 29 July, not one building in the central street was left standing; fire had spread to the hills too, engulfing shops, homes and buses...''(Peter Hartnell, New Statesman, 12 August 1983) ''In the relatively small town of Lunugala in the Badulla District, 67 houses, 35 business establishments and two vehicles belonging to Tamils were burnt. A leading businessman and a nun were murdered.. In Badulla itself, according to a report in Virakesari of 1 October 1983, quoting the government agent, 127 houses, 252 shops, four Hindu temples, four printing presses, two cinemas, one tavern, three Tamil schools, 79 vehicles and a rural bank were destroyed. There were 20 murders. In the nearby small town of Passara, in the sam district, 63 houses, 21 shops, 16 vehicles and printing press were burnt and destroyed. There were two murders...'' (N.Shanmugathasan,Sri Lanka: Racism and the Authoritarian State - Race and Class, Volume XXVI, A.Sivanandan and Hazel Waters, Institute of Race Relations, London) ''Holiday makers who returned to Dusseldorf said hundreds of Tamils had been murdered and even their hotel waiter told them proudly, 'we have killed several of them." A business consultant said a dozen houses had been burned down near the popular seaside resort of Bentota, among them the local chemist shop...''(Oslo Report dateline 29 July 1983 in Madras Hindu) ''Fearing adverse international reaction to photographs and TV footage depicting the aftermath of the violence, the authorities yesterday imposed strict censorship on all still and moving pictures.'' (London Daily Telegraph, 2 August 1983) David Beresford reporting in the Guardian, 7 August 1983 ''...the latest incident to be reported took place (in Badulla).. The survivor's account was given by Mrs.Sivamany Ganesan, aged 36, a mother of three children who belonged to one of two Tamil families attacked. Mrs.Ganesan said that she was a weaving teacher, married to a used car salesman, living with her family atMuthieyangama Road, Badulla, a well to do street which included three Tamil homes. At about 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27, a crowd gathered outside a bus depot 100 yards away, attacking passing vehicles. She said that her family telephoned the police to evacuate them but they did not come. The crowd then began to attack the home of a neighbour, Mr.Ramanathan, who had a shotgun and who fired a single round into the air through a window to try to frighten them away. The army then arrived.. and took up positions behind the crowd which began the attack again... Mrs.Ganesan said that a son of Mr.Ramanathan, aged about 15, climbed onto the roof of their house... and was shot by a soldier from the street and fell to the ground. She fled to her aunt's house nearby with her children, hiding with them in the bathroom. She heard firing and then an explosion. They ran out of the bathroom to find that the house was on fire... On the main road in front of Mr.Ramanathan's house there was a pile of bodies including those of her husband, brother in law, father in law and her sister in law's husband... her husbands intestines (were) falling out and his head staved in... The Ramanathan menfolk had been hacked and beaten to death by the crowd she said... Diesel oil was then poured over three lorries, a van and a motorcycle parked around the house. A brand was lighted and handed to Mr.Ramanathan's daughter who was made to set... the vehicles on fire...'' Impunity, a debilitating fixture in state culture 25 years after Welikada massacre - by Rajan Hoole -commemorative Article for Black July 83- Colombo’s Welikada high security prison was the scene of two massacres of Tamil political prisoners during the communal violence of July 1983, first after lunch on July 25 claiming 35 prisoners and second, about 4.00 PM on the July 27 claiming a further 18. On both occasions Secretary of Justice Mervyn Wijesinghe asked Colombo Magistrate Keerthi Srilal Wijewardene to hold inquests with the assistance of Tilak Marapone and C.R. de Silva (the present AG) from the Attorney General’s Department. No culprits were identified and the case was hushed up.The massacres made life a living hell also for those on the spot, who driven by moral aversion tried unsuccessfully stop them, but were not even allowed to clear their names. The inquest One of them, Superintendent of Prisons (SP) Alexis Leo de Silva, upon hearing the alarm on the 25th, rushed into the mob in the Chapel Section with ASPs Amarasinghe and Munaweera, followed by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Cutty Jansz, but to little avail. Leo felt very angry that the army unit at the prison headed by Lt. Mahinda Hathurusinghe, 4th Artillery, did nothing to stop the murder, and later also blocked emergency hospitalization of injured survivors. A lieutenant would hardly have dared to override DC Jansz and doomed the survivors, without prompting from Army HQ. While some prison staff protected Tamils, others, including a jailor, attacked the survivors in the compound.At the inquest on the 26th, Leo wanted to place the truth on record. Magistrate Wijewardene left out chunks of his testimony. Leo’s son Lalanath de Silva recently told us, “An AG’s department counsel called my father outside the room where the inquest was being held and attempted to persuade my father to go along - pleading that the truth would place Sri Lanka in a very adverse position internationally.” At one point the Magistrate became so angry that he refused to take down Leo’s testimony.The Police under Detective Superintendent Hyde Silva questioned the survivors on the 26th following the Magistrate’s order. To Suriya Wickremasinghe of the Civil Rights Movement belongs the credit for painstakingly seeking out survivors of the massacres, interviewing them and keeping the issue alive. She told us that survivor Manikkadasan in his statement to the Police, blamed two jailors of active complicity. A thin jailor warned him that mention of names might lead to similar jeopardy from inmates. Eyewitnesses Suriya believes that the second massacre owed to earlier survivors being also eyewitnesses. On the 27th Lt. Nuvolari Seneviratne of Army Engineers commanded the platoon outside the prison. Hearing a commotion where the survivors had been re-housed, Nuvolari radioed the Duty Officer (DO) at Army HQ. He told the Junior DO who answered that he wanted authority to go into prison and disperse the mob. The Junior DO gave him a telephone number and asked him to phone the DO (a colonel). Nuvolari used the coin phone at the entrance to ring the number at Army HQ. The DO told him to stick to standing orders and stay outside prison, or would face court-martial if he went in. Nuvolari asked for the Army Commander. He was refused, being told the Commander was with President Jayewardene, and relief was being sent to deal with the problem. (Cutty Jansz had also phoned Army HQ.) The relief, commandos under Major Sunil Peiris, promptly went in and saved 19 of the 37 prisoners. Nuvolari felt the deaths to be sheer murder, which his platoon could have prevented if not constrained by HQ. At the second inquest, the AG’s men, Marapone and de Silva, were keenly selective. Leo who was in prison the whole day, had at the first forebodings asked DC Jansz to expedite the removal of the survivors to safety. As if by design, the attack began when he went for a late snack in lieu of lunch, causing him to rush back. Neither he nor his ASPs were called upon to testify at the inquest.The AG’s men and Magistrate tried to frame a jailbreak attempt that supposedly left inadequate resources to prevent the massacre. The AG’s men and Army’s lawyers importuned Lt. Seneviratne to tell the inquest that he was outside the prison controlling a jailbreak. He refused. The world had crashed around the 22-year-old sportsman from Trinity College who joined the Army with high hopes. Major Sunil Peiris stepped in saying not to harass Nuvolari and if he won’t, he won’t, and if their object was having someone from the Army testify, he would.To a leading question, Major Peiris answered with professional precision, “I did not notice any prisoners attempting to break out. Therefore I gathered that the attempted mass jail break had been contained before our arrival!” Undeterred by Peiris’ refusal to perjure, the Magistrate summed up, “...prompt and efficient steps taken by the special unit of the Army under witness Major Peiris had effectively prevented the jail break ... and helped quell the mob which might otherwise have caused [even greater death].” Taming scandals and condemning posterity In July 2001, President Kumaratunge appointed the Presidential ‘Truth’ Commission on Ethnic Violence headed by former Chief Justice Suppiah Sharvananda, with S.S. Sahabandu and M.M. Zuhair. Suriya Wickremasinghe had repeatedly been thwarted in her efforts to obtain from the Police, testimony they received from the survivors of the first massacre. The Commission, which relied heavily on Suriya’s work, could have followed this up to further its investigations, but did not.Tamil survivors named to us Jailor Rogers Jayasekere, Jailor Samitha Rathgama and Location Officer Palitha as the protagonists on the ground. Senior prison officials have indirectly affirmed Jayasekere’s culpability. His family were strong UNP supporter from President Jayewardene’s old Kelaniya electorate, shared in 1983 by Ranil Wickremasinghe and Cyril Mathew. Rumours charged that gangsters under Gonawala Sunil of Kelaniya UNP fame were brought into prison to assist the second massacre. Vehicle check Nuvolari Seneviratne’s testimony bears relevance here. His soldiers at the entrance checked the vehicles going into the prison to ensure they were the government’s. Jail guards just inside the entrance did the identity checks. The soldiers at the entrance told Nuvolari that some of the official vehicles entering took underworld figures, but exited without them. Asked who the underworld figures were, Seneviratne replied, “I did not see them myself and there is no way my men would have known them. But the jail guards knew them as persons in and out of jail. They told my men.”During the second massacre, Journalist Aruna Kulatunga wrote recently, he saw airline hijacker Sepala Ekanayake coming out of the prison gates screaming “kohomada ape wede” (How is our job?), felled by a thundering blow from Major Sunil Peiris. Peiris had told me something more, that Sepala was carrying a severed human head.Senior prison staff dismissed this as fantasy. I published it in my book Arrogance of Power, since I knew Peiris. I had checked back with Peiris, who, a little hurt, explained, ‘You know your Bible? It was like John the Baptist’s head on a charger’. It happened before Peiris saw the scene of crime. Peiris’ action makes sense only if Sepala’s utterance, reported also by Kulatunga, drew his attention to something revolting. Peiris’ testimony at the inquest speaks for truthfulness and accuracy that are hallmarks of a good officer. Nuvolari’s refusal to perjure again stands his testimony in good stead.About when Peiris’ party arrived, Nuvolari’s men drew his attention to a fresh hole in the prison wall near the cricket ground. Upon inspection he saw an Air Force truck standing by. No words were exchanged. The Army’s legal unit also removed Nuvolari’s standing orders and the logbook with records of vehicles entering. On 27th, the Tamil detainees fought back, some attackers were mauled and soldiers shot some, but there is no account of casualties. SP Leo de Silva felt impelled by his honour to place the truth on record. His later investigations were stalled by an order from Commissioner Delgoda. Then Justice Minister Nissanka Wijeratne threw Leo out of service at the age of 56 by refusing a routine extension. The total cover up and a diversity of coherent testimony pointing to the nefarious deployment of broader resources, gives surely the lie to representing the massacres as an outburst of subaltern patriotism. No perpetrators were named and Sepala walks free. Is it not because they have beans to spill? Whether or not directly intended, what our commissions and AG’s Dept. achieve is to protect the State’s inbuilt abuses that have gone over tolerable limits. The blame for its repeated crimes is invariably shuffled off to subaltern sectors. The routine official prevarication also leads to Sinhalese seeing the ethnic problem as Tamils making mountains of molehills, and the solution as being to knock them about, pat them on the head and give them sweets to suck.Regrettably, few Sinhalese would be shocked that Attorney General C.R. de Silva guides important commission proceedings such as the ACF investigation. He, or Marapone, tried to stop Leo de Silva 25 years ago, pleading that ‘the truth would place Sri Lanka in an adverse position internationally’. Lanka would have redeemed itself had all such crimes been faced squarely long ago, rather than make fixers of truth a permanent feature of the State. On a further point, the prison murders of rising Tamil leaders Dr. Rajasundaram, Kuttimani and Thangathurai led to the fracture of the original Tamil youth leadership and the rise of Prabhakaran. That is another intricate story. 16 July 2009 “Tamil camps”: The Time for silence on is over – NY Times More than two months after declaring victory over Tamil Tiger guerillas, Sri Lanka’s government is continuing to hold hundreds of thousands of displaced Tamil civilians in what it calls “welfare villages,” but what increasingly look like military internment camps. The civilians, many of whom were held hostage by the guerrillas in the bloody last stage of the long war, are not being allowed out of the camps, and access by human-rights organizations or journalists is highly restricted.The government claims it is looking for Tamil Tigers among the refugees and clearing Tamil villages of landmines before letting people return. It may well be that there are former guerrillas hiding among the civilians — the Tamil Tigers had no compunctions about using civilians as cannon fodder or forcibly conscripting men and children. But the screening process is dragging on far too long. And many refugees see it as another abuse of the country’s Tamil minority. As one prominent Tamil politician told The New York Times’s Lydia Polgreen, “This is simply asking for another conflict later on down the road.” If President Mahinda Rajapaksa means it when he says he seeks reconciliation with the Tamils, he should start by letting these people return to their homes.The government’s strict control on visits to the camps has also raised suspicions that it may be trying to block any investigation into possible government abuses committed in the last months of the war. Soldiers corralled the Tigers, along with hundreds of thousands of civilians into a narrow stretch of beach and, according to human-rights organizations, shelled the area repeatedly. The United Nations says that thousands of civilians were killed, though how and by whom remains murky in the absence of independent investigations.Donor countries — including the United States, the European Union and Japan — as well as international aid organizations are helping provide food, shelter and clothing to the camps. Most have kept quiet so far about the Tamils’ plight, evidently fearful that criticizing conditions in the camps could get them thrown out of the camps. The time for silence is over. The best way to help the Tamils is by demanding their freedom and an end to their long ordeal. Sri Lanka's army chief vows to re-focus military Sri Lanka's new army chief took up his post Wednesday vowing to "re-motivate" his 200,000-strong force and build a peacetime military following the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels.Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, 50, said his first priority would be the military's new role in supporting a massive reconstruction effort in areas once held by Tiger separatists."We have to transform them from fighting to other things," he said at the tightly guarded army headquarters here. "We have to re-motivate them.""Running a peacetime army is quite different. Discipline has to be emphasised. I am very concerned about it," he said.Government forces declared victory over Tamil Tiger rebels in March after wiping out the entire leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which took up arms in 1972 to fight for a separate Tamil homeland.The new chief said the army had recruited 80,000 soldiers in the past two years to boost its offensive against the rebels.Jayasuriya replaced General Sarath Fonseka, who was elevated to a new post as Chief of Defence Staff with powers to map out military strategy and planning.General Fonseka is widely seen as the architect of the final military success over the Tigers.Sri Lanka attracted widespread international condemnation for allegedly using heavy weapons in rebel areas where civilians were being held. SLMC ignores official language policy Dr. Michael Fernando, former Director of the National Integration Program Unit (NIPU) has sent us the following story on how the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) is implementing the National Language Policy: Yesterday, July 14, 2009 a young doctor son of an Emeritus Professor, University of Jaffna has submitted his Marriage Certificate to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) for the purpose of getting his wife's name on the document of the Council and of the Department of Health. At the office of the Registrar of the Medical Council, the certificate had been rejected point blank because it was in Tamil. The young doctor has explained to the authorities that this is an official document and he has no right to make any changes and also explained that they cannot reject it because it is issued in one of the official languages of Sri Lanka. The authorities had vehemently rejected his appeal and said that they accept certificates written in Sinhala and English only. The poor young man had to spent Rs. 700 to go to Dehiwela to get the certificate translated and then go back to the hospital that is situated about 20 km from Sri Lanka Medical Council Office. Paradoxically the young man has had with him a Tamil newspaper that has published a statement by the Chairman of Official Languages Commission giving the details of the State Language Policy. The father of the young doctor who had to face this illegal and ugly incident is a person who had decided his life to assist the State to implement the Official Languages Policy. He has written several text books and I was the Director of National Integration Program Unit (NIPU) (till June 30, 2009) got him to prepare audio teaching material to teach Tamil in Sinhala. Today when I called him for an important matter the depressed professor narrated this story to me. After 22 years of making Tamil an Official Language in this country, this is the way the policy is being implemented. Is it ignorance, foolishness or something else? Barriers being pulled down Security forces have commenced dismantling protective measures like bunkers and fences built around border villages since the defeat of the LTTE.On the instructions of the Ministry of Defence such security measures that were in place in Tekkawatte, Muntrumurippu, Vairavapuliyankulam, Katkuli and Thavasikulam are being dismantled.Several roads in the vicinity of Vavuniya were kept permanently closed with barriers built across and deep trenches dug during the last eight years to prevent LTTE cadres having free access to places of strategic importance.On the completion of the demolition of these barriers, public will be allowed free access along these roads. Furthermore, the Vavuniya-Kebitigollewa road that was closed for traffic, too, would be reopened soon, security sources said. Malaysia to tackle LTTE remnants Malaysia has pledged to cooperate with the Sri Lankan Government in preventing LTTE remnants from carrying out operations from countries in the region. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama was given this assurance when his Malaysian counterpart Anifah Aman called on him on the sidelines of the 15th NAM Ministerial Meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Minister Bogollagama met his Malaysian counterpart to discuss matters of mutual concern. Minister Bogollagama expressed his gratitude for the assistance and cooperation extended by Malaysia during recent times, when Sri Lanka was fighting terrorism. This, he asserted, Sri Lanka did while trying to continue the development process, amidst ramifications of the global financial crisis. Thanking Malaysia for supporting Sri Lanka's application to join the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Minister Bogollagama extended an invitation to his counterpart to attend the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Colombo in October this year. He also appreciated ongoing cooperation on security matters between the two countries. Minister Datuk Anifah Aman conveyed his congratulations to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the defeat of terrorism. He said that Malaysia looked forward to assist Sri Lanka in its economic and social development process in the post-conflict era. Explaining the last stages of the humanitarian operation, Minister Bogollagama stated that Military Forces were able to rescue 300,000 civilians who were held as human shield by the LTTE. He said the Government was providing them with maximum facilities in the welfare centres, while demining has commenced to pave the way for the resettlement of the displaced people. He stressed that 10,000 cadres of the LTTE had surrendered to the Security Forces and that only for those who had committed serious crimes due process of law would be initiated, while other would be rehabilitated. Minister Bogollagama explained the outcome of the visit of UN Secretary General to Sri Lanka, stating that an important joint statement was issued, which focused on humanitarian assistance of IDPs, reconciliation process and accountability. Clarifying a point made by the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Minister Bogollagama also emphasized that there was adequate access for UN and INGOs to the Relief Centres. Minister Bogollagama also met his Mauritian and Egyptian counterparts on the sidelines of the NAM Ministerial Meeting. US$ 200 m.ARMS deal cancelled Newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Sarath Fonseka yesterday said that the Government had to cancel military hardware worth about US $ 200 million ordered from China as the decades’ long war had come to an end.“We had to cancel a huge order of military hardware, including ammunition, because the war was over before the estimated time,” General Fonseka said soon after assuming duties in his new post at the Joint Operations Headquarters.He also said that considering the usage of the military hardware and ammunitions during the last laps of the war, the US $ 200 million worth of items could have been used for a period of three to four months.“We were able to divert the massive amount of money for post war activities such as the welfare of the Army,” General Fonseka said.Commenting on his new post, General Fonseka said that he expects to carry out his duties as he did when he was the Commander of the Army. “It would be a bigger task that I have, as all the armed forces and the Police are under my purview,” he said.He also said that his first duty is to organize the whole operation and coordinate all the forces with the Defence Ministry. When asked, if as the CDS he would take action to wipe out the underworld in the country, the former Army Commander said that ‘we were able to wipeout the ruthless LTTE from the country, so eliminating the underworld menace from the country would not be a difficult job’.He also claimed that because he introduced a Merit Scheme to the Army, Lt.Gen Jagath Jayasooriya was able to become the Army Chief. “I introduced the Merit Scheme to the Army. Because of that officers who showed their skills in the field were able to come up, including the newly appointed Army Commander.”Gen. Fonseka further said that currently de-mining operations are underway in the newly liberated areas in the north using maximum resources. He revealed that some 500 soldiers from the Indian Army would come down to assist the de-mining operation in the country soon.Rejecting claims that there would be a ‘Tamil Regiment’ in the Sri Lankan Army, he said that some 800 TMVP members are already recruited and some of them were commissioned officers.Earlier on Lt.Gen. Jagath Jayasooriya assumed duties as the 19th Commander of the Army at a brief ceremony at the Army Headquarters.Addressing the media, he said that he expects to transform the Army into a highly trained well developed organization.“I will continue with what Gen. Fonseka was doing, and my vision would be transforming the Army to a highly trained and developed organization to face the future requirements of the country,” the new Commander said Six banks to lend Rs. 3 b to economically awaken the North Under a Presidential initiative six banks will begin lending initially Rs. 3 billion to a range of sectors to economically awaken the North.Titled “The Awakening North” the details of the Special Loan Scheme for Resumption of Economic Activities in the Northern Province was discussed by President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday with CEOs of banking institutions.The scheme exclusively designed for the development of the Northern Province by the Central Bank will strengthen the banking sector’s contribution to the development of the Northern Province.At the meeting chaired by President, MP and Senior Advisor to President Basil Rajapaksa, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor, CBSL, CEOs of Participating Credit Institutions (PCIs) and Senior Bank Officials were also present.The following Financial Institutions which operate branches in the Northern Province, have been identified as the PFIs under “The Awakening North” Loan Scheme: Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, Hatton National Bank, Commercial Bank, Seylan Bank and SANASA Development Bank.These banks will provide credit facilities for capital investment for the resumption of economic activities in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, micro and small enterprises. This could boost the livelihood development of the people in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Central Bank said Rs.3,000 million is earmarked to be disbursed initially under the Loan Scheme at a concessionary rate of interest among the eligible Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises (MSMEs) through the PFIs. Under the proposed Loan Scheme, credit facilities would be available for agriculture and related activities, livestock development projects, fisheries and related activities, micro and small scale enterprises and trade and other self employment projects. The PFIs are requested to provide 90% of the total sub project cost, subject to a maximum limit of Rs.200,000/- per borrower. The rate of interest to the borrower is 12 percent and the repayment period could be extended up to the maximum of 5 years including a maximum grace period of 6 months depending on the nature of the activity. The PFIs are eligible to obtain refinance from the CBSL in respect of loans granted under the Scheme at 6 percent per annum.The PFIs are permitted to provide credit facilities to eligible borrowers to commence new income generating activities or to expand their existing IGAs. As usual, the prospective borrowers are required to provide at least 10% equity contribution of the estimated cost of the project. The borrower could bring the equity capital in the form of cash, kind, material or managerial capacity. Security/collateral for such borrowing could be determined by the PFIs in negotiation with the borrower according to the creditworthiness of the IGA and the respective borrower.The Regional Development Department of the CBSL will be responsible for the implementation of the Loan Scheme. 15 July 2009 we cannot be part of Government in exile and nobody can impose any political agenda on us – TELO MP Sri Kantha Stating that the TNA has always stood for a negotiated settlement even at the height of Eelam War, its frontline lawmaker N Sri Kantha told the Asian Tribune from Jaffna that they cannot embark on adventurous path for the heck of its. ‘We are answerable to the people’, he told the Asian Tribune in an exclusive interview. Excerpts From The Interview Asian Tribune: Have you all met to decide about meeting the President of Sri Lanka? N.Srikantha: No, because Mr.Sambanthar has gone out of Colombo on the evening of the 7th and due to come only on the 12th evening. I have already indicated to my good friend Minister Nirmal Sripal de Silva that we will be too glad to meet the President any time after the 12th. So I would be pursuing this matter from Jaffnato ensure that there will be an early meeting 16th and by this time I hope to be in Colombo. I am here in Jaffnafor the election campaign. So I think we will be able to discuss some social issues more particularly regarding the IDPs. Asian Tribune: So you have not had the chance of going to the IDPs camp till now? N.Srikantha: No, no, if we had made a request I believe they would have readily agreed to give permission for us to visit the camps, but we thought since we did not go there so far, we thought it better first to have the meeting with the President, take up certain issues pertaining to the IDPs and thereafter visit the camp. Asian Tribune: What are the issues….. N.Srikantha: In regards to the IDPs? Asian Tribune: No, in your present local body’s election campaign? N.Srikantha: In the election, well we have to convince the people, or rather our duty to tell the people, why they should vote for us in the first place by ignoring the request made by Douglas Devananda and V. Anandasangaree. In addition, regarding the relevance of TNA at the juncture, I think TNA is relevant. The President has said in his interview to The Hindu, which was quiet very interesting, among other things, he said that TNA has to agree, they should not think that they will get everything but they have to agree. It shows the relevance of the TNA. We have been of the view….rather of the conviction….the government and the LTTE could have come to some agreement then we were prepared to support it unconditionally. Asian Tribune: The government? N.Srikantha: No… till the LTTE was alive and kicking, our position was that the Government and LTTE should talk and then we can settle this, that would be acceptable but now we are of the view, this is what I told the Australian Radio as well, that we are of the view that we should exert ourselves, we have taken the issues in our own hands on the Tamil side. On the Tamil side we are the people, at present. Asian Tribune: Do you mean to say that you represent the Tamils? N.Srikantha: Exactly. We are the representative of the people as long as parliament is there… We are the authoritative representative for the people from the North. Asian Tribune: There are people like KP, Ruthirakuran …all claim that they represent the LTTE and theTamils? N.Srikantha: No, No. I don’t want to waste your precious time by talking about all those matters. Asian Tribune: Do you recognize them? Do you subscribe to their notion of a Government in exile for the Tamils? N.Srikantha: Not at all! I have already dismissed such talk by some individuals or rather some personalities headed by my good friend Late Raja Viswanathan’s son Rudrakumar… after immediately hearing about this announcement of intentions to form a power sharing government, I said that we cannot be part of that and nobody can impose any political agenda on us. This is a move by some interested group to sustain in politics. Asian Tribune: So you don’t agree with all the talk of government in exile for Tamils…. N.Srikantha: No. Certainly…..It is very, very unrealistic to say the least. Asian Tribune: Do you think that any foreign country is supporting them, their idea of Government in exile for the Tamils, I mean? N.Srikantha: No. I don’t think so. Asian Tribune: There is a rumor that Eretria is behind the move… N.Srikantha: No. I don’t think so. Asian Tribune: What about Norway? N.Srikantha: I don’t think (Norway was behind the move)….Norway has been deeply involved in the peace process…. I don’t think they are supporting this idea of Government in Exile. What do they gain by this, in the first place? Sometimes some people are politically drawn but what for purpose. When all the people are suffering here? I would tell you very sincerely that the TNA has been misrepresented. Maybe some of our MPs, have been very extreme about giving their views about the political stand of TNA.However, generally speaking the TNA’s position right from Mr. Sambanthar up to anybody in the back row of the TNA ranks has been consistent ….we have been saying that we are ready for political solution within the framework of United Sri Lanka …..We were accusing the Government of Sri Lanka when the war was on ….that it did not come forward with any meaningful proposal for us to persuade the LTTE to consider that and re-start the negotiation. So that position continues. We are answerable to the people. We can’t be adventurous. One can be academically adventurous, one can be theoretically adventurous. Not politically. No. Certainly not. We are politicians. TNA is a political party Sri Lanka probe 'clears military' 'Incorrect' "The evidence that was laid before us is that not a single witness stated before us that they saw the army around the place at the relevant time," the head of the commission, retired Supreme Court Judge Nissanka Udalagama, told the BBC's Sinhala service. "The entire town was taken over by the LTTE [Tamil Tiger rebels] at the time. The LTTE said on their website that they had taken over the town of Muttur," he said. Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella had earlier claimed that Muttur was under the complete control of the military at the time of the massacre. Judge Udalagama said he "believed that information to be incorrect". "We got the army to give evidence. The officer in charge of the contingent which came to Muttur from Jaffna gave evidence. He denied Rambukwella's statement. We would have liked to have Rambukwella's evidence, but because of time limits, we were unable to do so." The report exonerates the army and navy, but says auxiliary police known as home guards could have carried out the killings. "There was other evidence like the presence of Muslim home guards. They had access to the weapons. And it could have been LTTE," Judge Udalagama said. The report also found the French charity to be at fault. "They also have to take a portion of the blame, they have to enhance the compensation given to the people," Judge Udalagama said. In 2007, a report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said there had been "a disturbing lack of impartiality and transparency in the investigation" by the police into the massacre. The report said official reports indicated that police had decided from the outset that Tamil rebels were responsible for the killing of the aid workers, all but one of whom were ethnic Tamils. The report said the collection of evidence had been incomplete and inadequate. Impunity Critics say Sri Lanka has a long history of failing to prosecute human rights abuses. The Sri Lankan group University Teachers for Human Rights said the government had to be held to account "to stop this culture of impunity in the country". "The way in which the government handled the whole investigation - the pressure put on witnesses, the video conferencing through which witnesses tried to bring out information on how it was stopped - all sorts of things basically show that the commission was not interested in finding the true culprits," a spokesman for the group, Gopalasingham Sridharan, told BBC Tamil. "Unfortunately we are not aware about the full report, from the media we gather that they are absolving the security forces. "We are now in preparation of another report to try to bring out all the facts again." New Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya an illustrious officer from the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps will take over the command of the Sri Lanka Army as the 19th commander succeeding General Sarath Fonseka who relinquished duties yesterday to take over the post of Chief of Defence Staff. Jayasuriya who hails from the Southern town of Weligama, Matara completed his education at Royal College and joined the , Sri Lanka Army in July,1978. He passed out first in order of merit of Intake 10, and commissioned as Second Lieutenant on January 23, 1980 to join the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps. A famous boxer at Royal College Colombo, Jayasuriya captained the college boxing team in 1977. He also held the position of Secretary of the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka in 2006 and 2007. He is the youngest of the six brothers in his family. Now he is a father of two, a son and a daughter Sanjaya (23) and Deshani (16) after his marriage with Manjulika. During his illustrious career in the Sri Lanka Army, Jayasuriya served in various operational and staff positions in peace and operational areas and commanded the 1st Reconnaissance Regiment, Armoured Brigade, 632 Brigade, 52 Division before he was appointed as the Security Forces Commander Wanni, in 2007 after he was promoted to the rank of Major General on December 6, 2005. He also had the opportunity to serve as the Staff Officer to late Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa during the Eelam War IV. As the General Staff Officer I of the Joint Operations Headquarters from July 1995 to May 1996, he contributed for the famous Riviresa I, II and III’ operation to liberate the Jaffna peninsula from the clutches of the LTTE. It was in March 4, 1998, he had a narrow escape when his jeep was caught in a land mine explosion in Kolamadu area during the Jaya Sikuru operation in which he sustained severe internal injuries. He was commanding the 563 Infantry Brigade. He was also appointed as the Military Liaison Officer, of the Defence Ministry from January 1998 to June 2002. He was the Commandant of the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa from July 2002 to August 2004 and appointed as the Director Operations, Army Headquarters, from December 2004 to August 2005. He served as the General Officer Commanding, 52 Division from August 2005 to August 2006. It was in August 2007, he was appointed as the Security Forces Commander, Vanni when the Sri Lanka Army started operations to liberate Vanni with the formation of a number of offensive Division starting from the formation of the 57 Division. He was entrusted with the daunting task of handling the exodus of civilians arriving in Vanni from the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts as intense battles were going on between the Security Forces and the LTTE whilst overlooking ongoing operations but took up the challenge after effectively handing the civilian exodus at the final stages of the battle. He has undergone Young Officers Course at School of Armour, Nowshera, Pakistan in 1980, Radio Instructors Course at Armoured Corps Centre and School, India in 1982, Senior Tactics Course at Sri Lanka Military Academy in 1987, Mid Career Course, School of Armour, Nowshera, Pakistan in 1988, Defence Service Staff College Course at Welington, India in 1989, Master of Science degree in Defence Studies, University of Madras, India in 1990, International Defence Management Course, California USA in 2004 and at National Defence University Course in China, China in 2006 -2007). He has been awarded Uttama Seva Padakkama, Sri Lanka Army 50th Anniversary medal, Sri Lanka Armed Services Long service Medal and Clasp, Sri Lanka 50th year of Independence, Desha Putra Sammanaya, North and East Operations Medal, Poorna Bhoomi Padakkama and Riviresa Campaign Service medal. Relatives 'not allowed' to visit IDPs Minister 'not aware' "Even the relatives of LTTE members are allowed to visit them in Vavuniya camps, but I wasn't allowed to visit my son in Pulmoddai," she told BBC Sinhala service. The ICRC has told the woman that they cannot assist her as it is out of their mandate.The resettlement minister, Risath Bathiuddeen, told the BBC that he would try to make arrangements for the relatives to visit IDPs in Pulmudai. The government has made arrangements in Vavuniya camps, he said, but he was not aware of the issue in Pulmoddai. Mangala, Mano offer to support President if 13A implemented UNP allies, SLFP dissident MP Mangala Samaraweera and Democratic People’s Front leader MP Mano Ganeshan, yesterday offered their support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa if the government would fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. A referendum on the issue of full implementation of the Amendment should be held so that the people could express their willingness for the move, the two party leaders told a press conference in Colombo yesterday. Without devolving power, a solution to the national crisis could not be found, they said. SLFP - M Wing leader MP Mangala Samaraweera said that since the inception of his political career, he was of the view that the powers should be devolved to the provinces. There is no need to keep the people waiting till after the next Presidential Election to know what the government’s political solution was. He demanded that President Rajapaksa announces the government’s stand on the 13th Amendment."President Rajapaksa has made a promise to India that the government’s solution to the national crisis would be based on the 13th Amendment. Some Ministers, including Tissa Vitharana, Rajitha Senaratne, Dilan Perera and DEW Gunasekera, have made public statements that the government would go for the full implementation of the Amendment. In the meantime, the very same President assures Wimal Weerawansa and Minister Champika Ranawaka of JHU that the 13th Amendment would never be implemented. Now, the people of this country have a right to ask him to make known his genuine stand over the issue without any further delay," Samaraweera said.He said that President Rajapaksa promised in his Mahinda Chinthanaya policy to hold a referendum before the implementation of the 13th Amendment. "It is the best way to implement it," he said.Leader of the Democratic People’s Front, formally known as the Western People’s Front, MP Mano Ganeshan said that he no longer accepted separatism of the defeated LTTE as a solution to Tamils’ problems in Sri Lanka. "Now the separatist LTTE terrorism is over. The government must give a solution to the Tamil people by devolving power. I think the full implementation of the 13th Amendment is an initial step to the solution of Tamil community in Northern and Eastern Provinces," he said.Colombo district MP Ganeshan said that President Rajapaksa had asked the people to wait until a Presidential poll to know the government’s political solution. "In addition, the government has also told people of the North to wait until resettlement is over to announce the solution. If the government could hold local government elections in Northern and Eastern Provinces before resettling the IDPs and Presidential Poll, why can’t they announce their political solution now?"Nawa Sihala Urumaya leader Sarath Manamendra and SLFP - M Bhikkhu wing leader Malabe Seelarathana thera also attended the Press Conference. Maj Gen Jagath Dias recovering after accident Major General Jagath Dias is recovering from minor injuries at the Colombo National Hospital (CNH) after he met with an accident on Monday late night in Havelock Town. CNH Director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe said that Major General Dias was admitted to the hospital after an accident around 11.45 p.m. with leg injuries and was being treated at the ICU. “Major General Dias has undergone an initial surgery to his right leg for fractures,” he added. Major General Dias was futher operated for his leg fractures yesterday morning. “He underwent an operation for his leg injuries by Orthopaedic doctors and is out of danger now,” Dr. Weerasinghe said. He said after the operation, Major General Dias will be admitted to the Post Operation Management ICU in the CNH. Major General Dias was injured when the car he was driving collided with a van opposite Police Park in Havelock Town. Upul Kumara of the Lake House transport section who helped to transport Major General Dias to the Accident ward told the Daily News that while returning after transporting ANCL staff to Homagama, he noted a crowd that had gathered and an accident that had just taken place. “I stopped my van to see what had happened and saw a car and van that had collided near a police post, opposite Police Park. An officer from the Military Police asked me to help him to take the injured man. He also told me that the injured man was a senior Army Officer. I carried the injured man to my van with the help of others and took him to the CNH. On my way, the officer told me that the injured was Major General Jagath Dias. I rushed him to the CNH and when we arrived, all were prepared to receive us, as the information about the accident had reached them,” Kumara said. UK Parliament paper reveals efforts at UN mandate for SL ‘war crimes’ probe A United Kingdom Research Paper dated June 5,2009 revealed an account of developments conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE when a ceasefire was agreed and hopes raised and rapidly dashed since 2002 when there might have been a peaceful resolution to the conflict.The paper also provided a brief historical and social survey of Sri Lanka including the origins of the conflict between the Government and the LTTE.The paper also surveyed the stance taken by the international community on the conflict, the military capabilities of the Sri Lankan military and aid and development issues.It concluded by considering Sri Lanka’s future prospects, including assessing and future prospects, including assessing how real the Governmwnt’s military victory was and whether genuine political and constitutional reforms were likely to be introduced’ Following are extracts of the report: A recent UK House of Commons research paper dated 5 June 2009 details the role of the UK and the EU in the international campaign on Sri Lanka including at the United Nations. The extracts that follow from the 88 page document which contains the term "war crimes" 31 times and "investigation" 34 times, sets out the "failed efforts to mandate the Human Rights Council to conduct an independent investigation into alleged war crimes." The report states that "The paper also surveys the stance taken by the international community on the conflict" and that the "information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties". The report is entitled "War and peace in Sri Lanka, RESEARCH PAPER 09/51, 5 June 2009". The Contributing Authors are: Jon Lunn, Political and diplomatic issues, International Affairs and Defence Section; Claire Taylor, Military issues, International Affairs and Defence Section; Ian Townsend, Development and humanitarian issues, Economic Policy and Statistics Section. The introduction to the report states: There has also been some activity on Sri Lanka within UN human rights mechanisms. Since late 2007, international human rights groups and their local allies have been lobbying for a UN human rights monitoring mission to be established in Sri Lanka, supported by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour and her successor, Navi Pillay. These calls have been consistently rejected by the Sri Lankan Government but remain ‘on the table’ internationally, at least in theory. In 2008 Sri Lanka took part in the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the Human Rights Council. In the same year it failed in its bid for a second term on the Human Rights Council. Also in March, the international panel invited by the Government to investigate alleged human rights abuses announced that it was leaving Sri Lanka, on the grounds that the authorities were obstructing its work, a claim that was denied. Two months later, Sri Lanka’s attempt to get re-elected to the Human Rights Council was defeated. Nonetheless, the only context in which Sri Lanka has been on the Security Council’s formal agenda to date is under its thematic concerns – for example, on children and armed conflict under Resolution 1612 (2005). Both parties to the conflict have been accused for many years of abducting children and forcibly recruiting them as soldiers, although the LTTE has been responsible for the majority of such crimes. Efforts at the recent 10th session of the HRC in March 2009 to win agreement to hold a special session on Sri Lanka were unsuccessful, despite support from some European countries.Finally, the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sir John Holmes issued numerous statements about the humanitarian crisis and also visited Sri Lanka in late April.The conflict in Sri Lanka has not yet been put on the formal agenda of the UN Security Council as a country situation. While in general there was little appetite for doing so until late 2008, in recent months it was Russia and China that have blocked more concerted efforts by other members of the Security Council. The apparent inaction of the Security Council has been the subject of heavy criticism by those who believe it should have played a much more active role than it has. However, the mounting humanitarian crisis in the north eventually led the Security Council to issue a press statement on Sri Lanka on May 13.Members of the Security Council expressed deep concern at the reports of continued use of heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians, and expected the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its commitment in this regard.Members of the Security Council took note of the steps taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to address the humanitarian situation of displaced persons and called on the Government to ensure the security of those displaced by the conflict and to cooperate with the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international humanitarian organizations in providing humanitarian relief and access to them as soon as they leave the conflict zone.While it fell short of the legally binding Security Council resolution that many had been calling for, the issuing of the press statement was widely interpreted as a setback for the Sri Lankan Government and a signal that it could not rely on Russian or Chinese protection irrespective of its actions.There was growing criticism of the international community for its failure to respond adequately to the crisis in Sri Lanka. Efforts to get Sri Lanka onto the formal agenda of the UN Security Council were stymied by Russia and China, although a press statement was eventually issued. Following the brief ‘humanitarian pause’ on 12-13 April, international calls for a longer one, so that the remaining civilians could escape safely, intensified. A series of international delegations travelled to the country. For example, a EU diplomatic mission comprising UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his Swedish and French counterparts, Carl Bildt and Bernard Kouchner, was mandated to go to Sri Lanka on 29 April. However, Bildt, despite EU protests, was refused entry. Following Miliband and Kouchner’s visit, President Rajapakse again ruled out a ceasefire, stating: "I don’t need lectures from Western representatives." Despite the growing international condemnation, there were no official international moves to impose sanctions against the Sri Lankan Government, as some were calling for. However, in April 2009 the Sri Lankan Government accused the US and UK, amongst others, of putting pressure on the International Monetary Fund not to give a $1.9 billion loan to Sri Lanka. There did appear to have been, at the very least, a delay. On 18 May, as the fighting drew to an end, the European Council issued a statement. In the statement, Member States came out in favour of holding an independent investigation into allegations that both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE had committed war crimes. Second largest asylum seekers to Switzerland from Sri Lanka Daya Mohan has fled to Malaysia- Karuna 10 July 2009 A new rule for entering Sri Lanka North Sri Lanka Government today said that any person or organization wish to enter the Northern region for transporting essential items and other various activities should get the permission from S.B Divaratne, the Secretary of Special Presidential Task Force. Issuing a special statement, the Director General of Media Center for National Security (MCNS) Laxman Hulugalle said that this rule will apply even on the members of Non Government Organizations, both local and international. Sri Lanka Government also has opened a separate office at the 4th floor of World Trade Center (West wing) to handle the issue of access to the North.Sri Lanka Government informed that any clarification on this issue could be resolved by calling 2483322 (ext 225) and through the fax line 2478326. Plans afoot to reduce CoL in Jaffna Jaffna’s famous Windsor cinema hall will be turned into a Lak Sathosa outlet within two weeks to bring down the prevailing high prices of essential goods in Jaffna, Trade, Commerce and Cooperatives Minister Bandula Gunawardena told a meeting in Jaffna yesterday. Ministers Bandula Gunawardena, Douglas Devananda, Tissa Karaliyadda and Mahindananda Aluthgamage held discussions with the members of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce, small and medium traders and farmers at the Jaffna Kachcheri to seek ways to bring down the cost of living and address their problems. During the discussion, it was revealed that there was a monopoly created by some traders and steps should be taken to arrest the situation. Not only essential goods, but prices of vegetables like drumsticks and tomatoes were high as Rs. 400 per kilogram though drumsticks were freely available in Jaffna. The Ministers emphasized that it was now a new Sri Lanka, one nation and President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not want to have different prices for essential goods whether it was in Colombo, Galle, Matara or Jaffna. The Ministers suggested that farmers send their products directly to the special Economic Centre at Narahenpita without sending them through intermediary channels so that the products would be in good quality and fetch better prices. Minister Gunawardena said two new outlets of the State Trading Corporation and Building Materials Corporation would be set up to bring down the high prices of cement, tyres and tubes. Jaffna Chamber of Commerce members requested the Ministers to increase the number of lorries transporting goods from Colombo to Jaffna which was around 30 to 40. The Ministers said they would extend their fullest cooperation to bring down the prices of goods. Sri Lanka orders Red Cross to 'scale down' mission The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had been ordered by Sri Lanka to scale down relief operations in the island where it has been helping civilian war victims.As a result, the ICRC said it was withdrawing expatriate staff from the battle-scarred eastern province which was the focus of the final government offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in outright victory in May."Following the cessation of active hostilities between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the government of Sri Lanka has asked the ICRC to scale down its operations in the country," the charity said. Colombo’s most feared gang leader bumped off The Police early yesterday found the bullet riddled body of notorious underworld leader M. K. Imtiaz, alias Anamalu Imtiaz, in Old Moor Street Pettah. Police said it seemed that the notorious thug had been thoroughly assaulted before being shot several times.Ana Malu was one of the most feared underworld figures in Colombo. He operated from Maligawatte and engineered robberies, extortion and murder through about more than one hundred of his henchmen.Police said he lived a comfortable life through the ill-gotten wealth while hundreds of victims suffered in silence while he always managed to slither through the Police dragnet to catch him.A Police source said many of his victims even feared to lodge an official complaint against him fearing reprisals against the complainants and their families. Even drug barons had to pay him protection money to stay in business. Landlords sought his help to oust tenants and he undertook contracts to bump off anyone if the proper payment was made.A fortnight ago, he along with a gang of between 10 and 15 stormed the Maligawatte Mosque and shot dead a person who went there for prayers. Several others were also injured in the shooting.With that killing, the Police stepped up their search for him and were even ready to shoot him on sight. When several Police teams were hot on his heels he disappeared from Maligawatte and several of his gang too went underground. However, he was abducted by an unknown gang at Kuliyapitiya last week and nothing was heard about him until his body was recovered last morning. Police sources further said that until this edition went to press no one had called to see him in the mortuary and it looked like no one would claim his body, fearing that Police would keep a close tab on visitors. No one can challenge our successes: Army chief Army Commander Sarath Fonseka yesterday said that no one could challenge the success of his army after the victory over the Tamil Tigers. “No one can challenge our successes against the Tamil Tigers, my men made sacrifices more than anyone,” the Army Chief said. He said in last two weeks of the battle against the Tamil Tigers he lost some 300 soldiers and 5200 in last three years in the fight against the Tamil Tigers. The Army Chief made these comments at the launch of Defence Columnist of the Rivira newspaper Tissa Ravindra Perera’s book ‘Wanni Awasan Maha Satana’ (Final Battle for the Wanni) yesterday in Colombo. The Commander also claimed that although he lost a large number of soldiers and officers during the fighting, compared to the year 2000 it was less. “In the year 2000, the army lost a large number of soldiers and officers, but during this shorter period we were able to minimize deaths and casualties and win the war successfully,” the Commander said. The Commander also praised the political leadership of the country and said because of the leadership of the President he was able to conduct the War successfully. “I did my part military wise and President Mahinda Rajapaksa played his role as the political leader,” he said. Commenting on Mr. Perera’s book, the Commander said that the book contains more details about the war. “Mr. Perera is one of the rare journalists in the country and throughout the war, he showed his skillfulness by way of writing through the media,” the Commander added. Director General of the Civil Defence Force Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara and Air Force Spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara also participated at the event. India awaits formal confirmation of Prabhakaran’s death Forced to fight for Tamil Tigers, Canadian says The Canadian government has asked Sri Lanka to confirm the number of Canadian citizens detained at camps where ethnic Tamils displaced by the country's civil war are being held.A Foreign Affairs official said yesterday the department had been advised that four Canadians were at the camps. Officials have confirmed the whereabouts of two of them but are seeking more information."Our High Commission in Colombo has sent a diplomatic note to the Sri Lankan government requesting confirmation of the number of Canadian citizens that are being detained," spokeswoman Laura Markle said.A Brampton couple said on Wednesday their son, George Julius, was among the Canadians held in the camps. Richard and Fatima Julius said the 26-year-old had left Canada in October 2007 to visit relatives in northern Sri Lanka.He was staying with an aunt in the rebel capital, Kilinochchi, when the fighting erupted and they lost contact with him. In May, they got word he was being held at a camp and contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. "He's my life," his mother said of her Sri Lankan-born son, who immigrated to Canada with the family in 1996, when he was 12. "He's nice and friendly. He liked to enjoy the life. He's nice to everybody."Colombo freelance journalist Kath Noble wrote in an on-line posting on Wednesday that she had met the Canadian while visiting a camp for captured Tamil Tigers rebels. He was one of 300 men at the camp, located in a school in downtown Vavuniya, she wrote. She did not name him in the article but provided his name to the National Post."He claimed that he had returned to Sri Lanka in 2007 to visit some relatives in Kilinochchi, and had been forcibly conscripted by the LTTE," she wrote. LTTE is the acronym for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels. "The Tiger police had turned up at the place where he was staying not long after he had arrived, he said, confiscating his passport and compelling him to join them."The Julius family said they knew nothing about him having been conscripted by the rebels, and the Canadian Tamil Congress has said such claims should be viewed with skepticism because they could be the product of torture. During a visit to Sri Lanka this week, Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai said a military official told him a Canadian captured during the civil war was being held at a camp for rebel "combatants." "He is a combatant, according to them," Mr. Obhrai said. "We were told he was held at a camp which is for combatants, which is separate, which they classify as a rehabilitation camp."Mr. Obhrai is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was Canada's first official visit to the South Asian island nation since the civil war ended in May with the defeat of the rebels and the killing of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Sri Lanka is emerging from a long civil war between government forces and separatist Tamil Tigers rebels. During the last phase of the conflict, hundreds of Tamil fighters were killed while others surrendered or were captured. The war forced almost 300,000 Tamil civilians to flee their homes. The government is holding them at temporary camps. A handful of foreign nationals are among those detained at the camps, notably Australian, British, Norwegian and Dutch citizens. Mr. Obhrai met one of the Canadians on Monday but was not allowed to meet the one at the combatants' camp."Officials were permitted to visit one of the Canadian citizens, but Sri Lankan authorities refused permission to visit the second Canadian," Ms. Markle said. "Canadian officials are in regular contact with Sri Lankan authorities to obtain permission to visit all four Canadians, as well as to clarify their legal status. Consular officials are in contact with the families of those individuals reported as being detained." 09 July 2009 TELO Jaffna MP Srikantha calls for political dialogue before presidential polls The TNA yesterday called for a political dialogue involving all democratic forces, emphasising they shouldn’t wait for the outcome of the next presidential election.Commenting on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent statement that a political solution would come only after the next presidential election, TNA Jaffna District MP Sri Kantha said he understood political constraints and compulsions confronting the President.He said that the recent meeting of the All Party Committee on Development and Reconciliation was a step in the right direction in resolution of the national problem.He said that he wasn’t only talking about the Tamils or Tamil speaking Muslims, but the Sinhalese as well. He said that there were many common grounds which could unite communities rather than divide them."We have common cultural and religions links and background. Buddhism and Hinduism have many things in common. We also find Christians and Catholics in both communities. There are Muslims whose mother tongue is Tamil. They are the community that link Sinhalese and Tamils in the South", he said.He said that his party like any other party respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.The majority community should not have any doubts regarding the TNA. The TNA would be there with the other communities to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka."In the past, there were many instances where we fought together as well.We were united against the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. Why cannot we unite now?" he asked.He concluded his speech saying "united we stand, divided we fall." Vavuniya schools closed over killing of principal All government schools in Vavuniya and its suburbs were closed yesterday in protest against last Saturday’s killing of Nadarajah Rameshkanda, Principal of the Bharathipuram Vidyalaya, Vavuniya. He was shot dead along with a businessman named Gunaratnam Sivaruban in the Vavuniya police division.A senior police official told The Island that they had been on their way to Sambaltottam, when the gunman fired at them, killing them on the spot. The police are yet to make a breakthrough. US nominee praises India's role in Sri Lanka The Obama administration's top diplomatic nominee for India has praised the country's role in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. "I would like to say with respect to the Indians and Afghanistan that they have provided a very helpful role to the United States and to Afghanistan and to the region," Tim Roemer, the nominated US Ambassador to India, told lawmakers at his confirmation earing on Tuesday. On India's role in Sri Lanka, Roemer appreciated the massive Indian humanitarian aid to the island nation, which has just emerged out of a more than three-decades of civil war. "With respect to Sri Lanka, the Indian government has sent high-level I think their foreign minister and their national security adviser have been down there if not once, twice. They've committed USD 20 million in aid. They've pledged another USD 100 million in aid," he said. Roemer said the United States was very much concerned about the internally displaced people and encouraging resettlement and reconciliation and a peace process to go forward. "I think that's something that would be important for the next ambassador, to continue to work with the Indian government on, to see that the Sri Lankan situation moves in a peaceful process, with reconciliation as a high goal," Roemer said. Hunt for LTTEers in Moneragala Security has been intensified in the Moneragala district to capture two hardcore LTTE terrorists, Ram and Nagulan along with several other cadres who are believed to be roaming in Moneragala SSP Moneragala Division Amarasiri Senaratne said. He said currently there is no LTTE threat in the Moneragala district. Several incidents in the district, happened on April 12 and 13 creating the fear psychosis in the area. "We have blocked all supply routes in the entire Moneragala area that supply food and other requirements to the LTTE group," he said. SSP Senaratne said they are now covering 40 villages with a population of 40,000 in the district bordering the Ampara district with the assistance from a Army Detachment along with the Civil Defence Force to maintain security. "We have deployed our forces and intensified security in the area to capture them. They are constantly patrolling the area to capture the remaining LTTE cadres in the East and the Moneragala district," he said. Security sources said Ram led the Eastern Part of the country during the hight of the LTTE a few years ago and is believed that he and his deputy Nagulan are roaming in the area without surrendering to security forces, he said. Two STF camps have been set up in Kotiyagala in the district and operating jointly with the Police and the Civil Defence Force covering the Yala National Park boundary to capture these wanted LTTE hardcore terrorists, he said. He said intelligence reports have revealed that Ram and his team has gone to the East. Sources said the new LTTE Head, Kumaran Pathmanathan is having contacts with Ram and the group. With these operations and high intensified security situation illegal cannabis plantation and sales have reduced by 50 percent and expected to eradicate cannabis menace from the district in the future. During the recent past Police have made several raids in Tanamalvila area, SSP Senaratne said. 08 July 2009 Security in the east relaxed Journey time reduced “It took nearly 11-12 hours to travel through about eight check points. Now it only takes six to six and half hours,” he said.Meanwhile, some requested authorities to relax few remaining security measures.A businessman in Chenkalady, Kanapthipillai Mohan, said A5 road leading to Badulla is close for 12 hours from 6pm.Regular travellers will be relived if the road is open for longer hours, he said.A traveller expressed relief that the security measures are gradually been relaxed."Earlier we had to wait 30-45 minutes at the check points. We are happy that these check points are removed," he said.Travellers are only required to register the details of their vehicles at three check points."We are still facing problems with security registration of vehicles. We hope the authorities will soon relax this registration scheme," the traveller said. Meeting fixed to discuss Jaffna air fares The Civil Aviation Authority has called a meeting on Friday (July 10) to discuss the possibility of revising air fares between Ratmalana and Palaly. This follows Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, MP, making representations, both to the authority and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, regarding the urgent need to bring down fares as the private airlines now take a much shorter overland route to Jaffna whereas earlier they took a circuitous route. The SLAF headquarters said that they authorised revision of the route as an LTTE missile threat no longer existed. Combing operation against LTTE A massive combing operation was on Tuesday launched by Tamil Nadu police aided by intelligence and Coast Guard personnel in nearby islands and all the coastal districts of the state to verify whether any LTTE militant had infiltrated into the areas in the aftermath of the outfit's defeat in Sri Lanka. The operations, ordered by the Union Home Ministry, were being carried out jointly by the state police, including the Coastal Security Group and "Q" Branch, various intelligence wing personnel and Coast Guard, official sources said. Police used metal detectors and sniffer dogs to thoroughly check the casurina jungle in Dhanushkodi area and various islands, including the Musal Tivu in the Gulf of Mannar. The operations would continue till tonight, they said. Both the state police and Navy and Coast Guard stepped up vigil in the coastal areas during the past few months following escalation of hostilities between Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE, whose leader V Prabhakaran along with several of his associates were reportedly killed in May. Sri Lanka extends state of emergency All Tamil parties should join President to win their rights - Karuna Minister of National Integration Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan, said that all Tamil political parties should join hands with President Mahinda Rajapaksa to win their rights.The minority parties like the TNA too, should join forces with national parties, such as the SLFP, he told the Emergency debate. "The President had assured that he would go even beyond the 13th Amendment to settle the national problem," he said, urging Tamil parties not to turn a Nelsonian eye to the President’s offer. He also commended the move taken by Tamil parties to join the All Party Committee on Development and Reconciliation on invitation of the President. "This is a very positive development on the part of the TNA. The TNA should forget petty party differences. The problems faced by the Tamil people could only be sorted out through the means of negotiation," he said. 07 July 2009 India 'committed' for Lanka solution Mullaiththeevu town declared HSZ: GA The Government Agent of Mullaiththeevu, Imelda Sukumar, on Sunday reportedly told a section of the uprooted Tamils of Vanni sheltered at the internment camp situated at "Sahanagama" in Pulmoaddai that the town of Mullaiththeevu has been declared High Security Zone by the Sri Lankan military, dashing any hope of resettlement in the coastal township of Vanni. Hundreds of Tamils captured by the Sri Lankan military are kept in the centre. Ms. Imelda Sukumar spoke to the IDPs and recorded their grievances and urgent needs. She further told Vanni IDPS now sheltered in Pulmoaddai: "Under the present circumstances you have to stay in Pulmoaddai camps for another three months. Thereafter all families displaced from Mullaiththeeivu would be shifted to Maangku'lam as the Mullaiththeevu town has been declared as High Security Zone." "We cannot resettle IDPs of Mullaiththeevu in their original places. The District Secretariat office is also to be relocated in Maangku'lam," media reports quoted the GA as saying. Later she handed over salaries to the employees of the Mullai District Secretariat and Divisional Office who are sheltered in Pulmoaddai camp. Sri Lanka key issues solution after vote-president Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who won a 25-year war with Tamil Tigers long viewed as unwinnable, said a political solution to the problems that helped fan the conflict must wait for presidential elections.The president, who had strong backing for his tough military approach from hard-line members of his ruling coalition, will have a tougher time getting them on board with a political solution if it involves significant concessions to the country's Tamil and other minorities, political analysts say.Parties like coalition members Jathika Hela Urumaya and Janatha Nidahas Sandhanaya are among those unlikely to go along. But a fresh and broader personal electoral mandate could allow Rajapaksa -- whose popularity climbed as he brought the 25-year war with the Tigers to a close in May -- to bypass them."I know what to give and I know what not to give," Rajapaksa told India's newspaper The Hindu in an interview, referring to the political solution."I am waiting but it will be after my (re-)election. I must get the mandate. After that, the political solution comes."Rajapaksa won a six-year term in 2005, but under Sri Lankan law could call a fresh presidential election as early as this November and a parliamentary election sooner.The mostly Hindu ethnic Tamils, and other groups like the country's Muslims, say they are discriminated against politically and economically by the mostly Buddhist ethnic Sinhalese majority.The Sinhalese have dominated successive governments in the South Asian country of some 20 million people since independence in 1948.The government says it aims for a home-grown solution to issues involving the Tamils and other minorities, and has a committee examining the problem.The government on May 18 announced the complete defeat of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), including the death of its founder Valupillai Prabhakaran. India offers US$100mn for Sri Lankan Tamils India on Monday offered 100 million dollars for the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by conflict in Sri Lanka."I propose to allocate five billion rupees for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced people and the reconstruction of the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his budget speech to parliament. Nearly 300,000 civilians fled their homes in the final stages of the Sri Lankan military's offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam separatist force. They are currently being housed in temporary shelters. Observers said Mukherjee's offer was aimed at appeasing his government's regional Tamil allies. India is home to millions of Tamils in southern Tamil Nadu state, which is separated by a narrow strip of sea from Sri Lanka. Swarnam committed suicide – wife Wife of one of the Eastern Province LTTE leaders Swarnam has told the Army that her husband seriously injured in battle with the armed forces had swallowed cyanide and committed suicide unable to bear the excruciating pain.Swarnam’s wife and another woman, wife of Thevan, a prominent LTTE cadre, were arrested by the armed forces in a welfare centre in Vavuniya last week.Swarnam’s wife has said that they got married in 1996 when the latter was a prominent LTTE fighter in the East. Both, Swaranam’s and Thevan’s wife have been brought to Colombo and are being interrogated by the Colombo Crime Division. Key LTTE suspect nabbed in relief centre A team from the Central Provincial Terrorist Investigation Intelligence Unit arrested a main suspect together with an accomplice in the assassination of Major General Janaka Perera and the attack on the Anuradapura Air Base. The main suspect was identified as a ' Lt.Col.' of the LTTE . The suspects were arrested by police while they were at the Settikulam relief camp. Police believe that the suspects were connected with the attacks on the Vavuniya Army Camp, Air Force Radar system, Digampathane bomb attacks and other major terrorist activities. Police investigation revealed that these suspects are from Kankasanturai. Further investigations are being conducted on the instructions of Central Provincial DIG Pujitha Jayasundara and SSP Gamini Nawaratne. Indian Army to help de-mine Sri Lanka After providing medical services to thousands displaced by war, Indian soldiers will now go to Sri Lanka to help de-mine areas once held by the Tamil Tigers, it was announced Monday.The military personnel will be part of Indian experts who will assist authorities in Sri Lanka to detect and defuse thousands of mines laid by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told the media here.'We will send experts and equipment to Sri Lanka. Yes, this will possibly include army experts,' Menon said.India deployed troops in Sri Lanka's northeast in 1987. The soldiers returned home in 1990 after suffering nearly 1,200 dead in a dragging war against the LTTE.As the Sri Lankan military battled the Tamil Tigers this year, India sent military doctors to take care of the thousands escaping from LTTE territory. The medical personnel were first based in Sri Lanka's east and are now located in the north.Menon's comments came shortly after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in his budget speech that India would grant Rs.500 crore ($100 million) for the relief and rehabilitation of Tamils displaced by the fighting in the island's northeast. All Sri Lankans must live in harmony – british MP Group seeks action against Tiger in UK 05 July 2009 Amnesty to hand over weapons in Eastern Sri Lanka ends without success Sri Lanka Police has decided to commence search operations to arrest the people who have not handed over their weapons during the amnesty period that ended on Saturday.According to the police department several armed groups have handed over their weapons last evening obeying the government's amnesty period, but still there are more weapons in the possession of those armed groups.Eighteen T-56 guns, five guns of 303 model, twenty pistols, sixteen hand grenades and 2,000 rounds of ammunition were among the weapons handed over last evening at the Meera Mosque in Kaththankudi, police confirmed.Earlier government said there are 18 armed groups in the Eastern Province and nearly 400 firearms are in their possession.Reportedly those armed groups have not used the amnesty period to hand over the weapons to the government. Two Killings in Vavuniya Election campaign in the Vavuniya Urban Council took a bloody turn yesterday as two people were shot dead at 1:00 pm at Barathypuram within Vavuniya Urban Council area.TELO and TNA MP Srikantha Nallathamby claimed that unidentified gunmen shot the Principal of Barathypuram Viduhala, M Ramesh Kandha and well known businessman, Gunarathnam Peter Ruben.“These two men are well known personalities in the area and this cold blooded assassination has shocked the residents of the area. This is the latest in a string of election violations in Vavuniya,” he said. “It would be too early to come to a conclusion but the truth would come to light soon,” he added. The TNA MP claimed that in the last few weeks there has been a lot of election violations. He added that the government affiliated, splinter group from SEITELO and EPDP coalition has been openly violating election law by using public announcement systems.“These guys have been using loud speakers broadcasting seriously defamatory statements against the TNA from dawn to dusk. But we are not perturbed because the people know who we are,” he said.“I will speak to the Vavuniya SSP and to the Elections Commissioner about these violations. I will also speak to Minister Douglas Devananda about this. How can we have free and fair elections?’ he added.Meanwhile, Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara said that these double murders are not related to the election violence. “From what we know, the principal had no political background but we don’t know about the businessman. So we are conducting investigations into the matter,” he said. Akashi sees Prabha’s polls boycott as big misjudgment Sri Lanka's need for IMF wanes: Central Bank Sri Lanka's central bank chief said Saturday that the island could live without a major IMF bailout that had been delayed by the final stages of the government's fight with Tamil Tiger rebels.The government had requested the 1.9-billion-dollar loan in March to help stave off its first balance of payments deficit in four years after foreign currency reserves fell to around six weeks' worth of imports.The loan was delayed under political pressure from the United States, Britain and other countries who felt the government was not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties as it closed in on the remnants of the once-powerful Tamil Tiger army.Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nivard Cabraal said the final defeat of the Tigers had helped alleviate the island's balance of payments concerns."Things are looking good after the war. The urgency for an IMF loan is not there anymore," Cabraal told AFP."We have over 1.6 billion dollars in reserves, enough to pay for over two months of imports. And the figures are steadily climbing," Cabraal said.Foreign reserves, which fell by more than two thirds when the central bank sold dollars to defend the local rupee last year, had climbed to 1.3 billion dollars by the end of April, according to central bank figures.Cabraal said inflows had come from higher remittances, donor funds and foreign investors buying rupee-denominated treasury bills and bonds. The bank has also raised cash by selling dollar debt.But he said some investors would still be more comfortable with an IMF loan."If the IMF funds come, it will give us a comfortable buffer stock. I hope we get it. But we are otherwise in a comfortable position right now," he said.The IMF on Thursday said Sri Lanka's loan was still pending before the executive board which has yet to set a date to consider the application."Discussions are continuing," IMF spokesperson Caroline Atkinson told reporters in Washington, adding: "We don't have a date for an executive board meeting at present on Sri Lanka."Sri Lanka crushed the militant Tamil Tigers -- who had been fighting to carve out a separate state for minority Tamils since 1972 -- in mid-May by killing the leadership of the rebels, including supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. George Master’s daughter visits her father at the CID The daughter of George Pancharatnam, better known as George Master, the LTTE’s one-time media spokesman, visited her father at the CID last week.Domiciled in Australia, Gayathri Jude arrived in Sri Lanka last week with her husband and two children to see her father who is being held by the CID following his surrender to the army during the height of the military thrust against the LTTE.She works as a lecturer at a leading Australian University while her husband is an engineer.Speaking to The Sunday Island after meeting with her father, Gayathri said she was cautioned against visiting Sri Lanka by her friends and relatives who predicted the worst in a "hostile land"."When I announced plans to visit Sri Lanka, they warned me that the police will not only kill me, but my husband and two children as well", she recalled. "If not, we will be tortured, they warned"."So, I returned to Sri Lanka with a great degree of fear", she noted. "On arrival, I called the CID and asked whether I could visit my father, preferably on Saturday"."The CID officers were very cordial and cooperative. They asked me not to wait till Saturday but to call over on Friday itself", Gayathri said. "So, I went there with my family and had a chat with my father".She said the OIC, CID, CI Chandana de Silva and his officers were so accommodative that he asked me to visit my father again the following day (Saturday) also. "I never expected such a warm reception from the police in Sri Lanka".She said that she had a long, leisurely chat with her father on both days and the CID made her experience a pleasant one. "My father said that he is being treated well by the police".Gayathri said that she last visited Sri Lanka in 2005 to attend her mother’s funeral. "I now realize the extent of the false propaganda spread by the LTTE to mislead the international community and tarnish Sri Lanka’s image"."To say that Tamils are being persecuted in Sri Lanka is bunkum", she stressed. "I am talking through experience, though I myself feared the worst at first".She thanked DIG (CID) Nandana Munasinghe and the Director, SSP Ravi Waidyalankara for the goodwill extended to her. NFF softens stance on 13th Amendment National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, one of the fiercest critics of 13th Amendment to the Constitution, yesterday said that this wasn’t the time either to repeal the amendment or implement it.Meanwhile Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told The Sunday Island that any political proposal outside the 13th Amendment would be subjected to a referendum. He said that the President had received an assurance from coalition partners not to cause a political storm over the national issue. In a brief interview with the Sunday Island, Weerawansa said there was no purpose now discussing that particular legislation imposed on Sri Lanka in a different era. Those who believe that this law could be applied even now, conveniently forget the LTTE no longer exists. On the other hand, the Eastern Province which was once ``temporarily’’ merged with the North had been de-linked and a separate Provincial Council set up, he noted.Weerawansa whose party last week secured the tourism ministry and the non-cabinet cultural affairs portfolio said that the armed forces’ triumph over the LTTE had made the 13th Amendment irrelevant. The President had advised his coalition partners not to discuss this issue as they weren’t aware of the proposed political formula to be offered to the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The President has also assured them at a recent meeting that they would be briefed on the settlement when it was ready.The former JVP heavyweight was confident that the President wouldn’t do anything detrimental to Sri Lanka’s national security interests. The NFF wouldn’t hinder the President’s efforts, he said, emphasizing the importance of looking beyond 1987.Getting embroiled in a damaging dispute over what India did in the 80s will only mean that the country will not get the full benefit of the LTTE’s destruction, he said.He said we must all plan for an economically stronger country by 2020 while preserving Sri Lanka’s unitary status. The armed forces had done their job and now it was our duty to finalize a political formula.Last week, the President advised the JHU not to cause trouble after the coalition partner threatened to quit the government over the proposed implementation of the 13th amendment. A fire breaks out in two compartments of Yal Devi A fire broke out in two compartments of the Yal Devi train this morning on its way to Thandikulam. The train left Colombo fort at 05.45 am this morning (04).The fire erupted between the Mihinthalaya junction sub railway station and the Saliyapura sub railway station at around 10.50 am.The fire has started in the cafeteria of the first class in train and had spread to the nearby compartment as well. The passengers who were travelling in the train were unharmed. It is reported that the fire occurred due to an explosion of a gas cylinder.Speaking to Lankapuvath Railway Commercial Authority Vijaya Samarasignha said that investigation regarding the fire is being conducted.He also said that the train will resume its journey up to Thandikulam without the two damaged compartments. The Anuradhapura fire brigade rushed to the scene to put off the fire he said. LTTE regional leader opens fire killing soldier A soldier was killed during an attempt to search a suspicious boat with a man on board spotted moving in the Kirankulam seas off Batticaloa early yesterday, army sources said. The soldier who was on duty hear the beach had seen this boat moving stealthily and tried to search it after talking to the boatman. But, the boatman now identified as Nallarathnam Mohan, a LTTE leader for the Batticaloa region had suddenly grabbed the soldier’s weapon and opened fire, the sources said.Two more soldiers in close proximity had run to the scene, but they were also fired upon by the terrorist. However, other soldiers in the area had managed to overpower the terrorist after shooting at him. Police visited the scene and took the terrorist leader with gunshot injuries into custody and admitted him to Bstticaloa hospital under police guard, the sources said..Four passport photographs, an Identity Card, a cyanide capsule and Rs. 16,500. in cash were found in the possession of the terrorist leader by the troops. IPKF failed in mission as it spurned army help: General COLOMBO: General Cyril Ranatunga, chief of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) and Defence Secretary when the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was in Sri Lanka, says that one of the main reasons why the IPKF did not succeed in its mission to restore peace in the island was that it was over confident and unwilling to accept the assistance of the more experienced Sri Lankan army.“The Indians thought they knew everything. Therefore they did not want any help from the Sri Lankan army. They didn’t want to listen to our views or consult us on our ground knowledge and intelligence,” Ranatunga writes in his just published memoirs entitled: ‘From Peace to War: Insurgency to Terrorism.’“When the first armoured ranks of the Indians were used in the north, some machines got bogged down because they did not know the ground realities. They had no modern maps of Sri Lanka. Thus, on a number of occasions, the LTTE changed the name boards of the roads and the Indian Army ended up going in the wrong direction,” Ranatunga recalls.OPPOSED GIVING ARMS TO LTTE TO FIGHT IPKF: Though he resolutely opposed the induction of the IPKF as it was an invasion of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, Ranatunga was appalled when President Premadasa decided to give arms to the LTTE to fight the IPKF and the IPKF-sponsored Tamil National Army (TNA).“How can you give weapons to the LTTE? What about the IPKF who are engaged in wiping out the LTTE? What about India?” he asked Premadasa. The President replied: “I will sort it out. They (LTTE) have assured me they will never fight us with these weapons. I am giving them these arms to fight the TNA which the IPKF is creating.”Ranatunga retorted: “You are giving weapons to terrorists. My life has been spent fighting with them. Please stop it.” Premadasa was annoyed and said: “I can’t change it now.” Ranatunga calmed down but said firmly: “It is my duty to tell you. It is your prerogative to take a decision.”WITHDRAWAL OF IPKF A MISTAKE: Gen. Ranatunga also felt that President Premadasa had made a “mistake” by ordering the withdrawal of the IPKF. The Indians left in March 1990, without finishing their task.JAYEWARDENE NOT RAJIV WAS TARGET OF SOLDIER: Gen. Ranatuga hints that the intended target of the naval rating who hit Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the back of his neck during the Guard of Honour at the Colombo airport after the signing of the India-Sri Lankan Accord in 1987, was not Rajiv, but the Sri Lankan President J R Jayewardene. Five more Majors General Army Headquarters has recommended the promotion of five brigadiers to the rank of Major General, The Nation reliably learns. The letter of recommendation has been sent to the President early this week.“Head of the President’s Security Division, Brig. Jagath Alwis, Director Military Planning, Brig. Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the 22 GOC, Brig. Janaka Walgama, Brig. A. L. R Wijethunga and Brig. H.L. Weeratunga are the five brigadiers who have been recommended,” a reliable source told The Nation. “After they are recommended by the Army HQ it’s only a formality for the President to sign the letter of appointments,” he added.Meanwhile Army Spokesman Brigadier, Udaya Nanayakkara said that he has no information about the appointments. Special polling stations for displaced voters at forthcoming Jaffna MC poll The Commissioner of Elections has received 7,047 applications from displaced voters to exercise their franchise at the forthcoming polls to the Jaffna Municipal Council. Action is being taken to set up special Polling Stations for displaced voters in the Districts of Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Anuradhapura and Puttalam, Additional Commissioner of Elections (Provincial and Local) W. P. Sumanasiri said yesterday.He said the delivery of postal voting packets to certifying officers will take place on July 15 with marking of postal votes due to be held on July 27 and 28.He said that the delivery of Polling Cards would begin on July 21 with a special delivery on August 2. The Assistant Commissioner of Elections for the Jaffna District P. Kuhanathan said that there are 100,417 registered voters in the Jaffna MC area.He said that 473 postal voting applications were received of which 335 were accepted.He said that 172 candidates from four Political Parties, the UNP, UPFA, TULF and the ITAK and two independent Groups are in the fray to elect 21 members for the 23-member Jaffna MC with two Bonus seats.Nominations of the SLMC and one Independent Group were rejected. The numbers of the candidates and their Identity Cards are in the process of being issued, Kuhanathan explained.He said that 70 applications had been received from persons displaced from Kilinochchi. "As a result of the conflict and as they are residents living within Jaffna MC area we will set up a special polling booth at Ariyalai".The Assistant Commissioner of Elections for the Vavuniya district A. S. Karunanidhi said there are 24,626 voters in Vavuniya UC area.He said that all together 135 candidates from six Political Parties, the ITAK, UPFA , UNP, DPLF, SLPF and the SLMC are in the fray along with three Independent Groups to elect 11 members to Vavuniya UC.He said that 197 applications were received for postal voting of which 183 were accepted.A staff of 500 elections officials were selected for training along with Senior Presiding Officers on July 7. Training for Grama Niladharis and Postal Vote Certifying officers will follow on July 8 and Training for assistant returning Officers (AROs) and Chief Counting Officers on July 9, he said.Arrangements are being made to set up 18 Polling Stations and three counting centers including one for counting of Postal votes, Karunanidhi noted. 04 July 2009 Discharge IDPs with own houses from Wanni camps, says TELO MP Srikantha N Srikantha and other TNA lawmakers attended an all party conference held by the President for the first time in several years signaling thereby a change of heart in synch with the times. They appreciate the government efforts at resettling the IDPs but have their own views on how the work should progress.In an exclusive interview with AT, Srikantha has spelt out these views. Excerpts from the interview Asian Tribune: After a long time, you accepted an invitation by the President and went for the all party conference yesterday. Why this sudden change of heart? What happened at the meeting? N.Srikantha M.P: Well, we have been invited in our individual capacity as members of parliament, but without harping on the technicalities the TNA as a party discussed this invitation which we received on Wednesday evening. After long deliberation, we decided to join the all party meeting. Now your second question – what happened there (at the meeting). We (TNA) highlighted two issues. We urged the meeting to consider these issues as a matter that deserves top most priority.Firstly, the hardships faced by about 300,000 Tamils who are now housed in the IDP camps in the North as a consequence of the war. We pleaded for speedy resettlement and rehabilitation of these people.Secondly, we said a political solution should be evolved with a view to quickly solve the national question without any further delay.These are the two matters we raised at today’s meeting. Asian Tribune: Who and who Participated from the TNA side? Yourself and? N.Srikantha M.P: Yesterday’s meeting only those TNA MPs who were present in Colombo participated in the meeting, and next time it will consists of all the TNA MPs under the leadership of Mr. R. Sampanther. Yesterday, there were 8 of us – along with me , Thurairatnasingham MP from Trincomalee , Aradi Immam, T. Kanasbai from Batticalo, Mrs. Pathmini Sithamparanatha, Vino Noharathalingam, Sivanathan Kishor and Arianthiran from Batticalo. Asian Tribune: What was the response in the meeting? N.Srikantha M.P: Generally speaking, except for one or two, every one seems to be of the opinion that these pressing issues should be dealt with in addition to certain other matters. These two issues I raised on behalf of TNA. The President said that the area is heavily mined (by LTTE) and these landmines needed to be cleared before any resettlement could commence for the protection of the people. We see the point he made and we understand that, but the people can’t remain in the IDP camp for a long time because by October we will have the advent of the rainy season. And matters will become worse. Therefore, bearing this situation in mind we thought of pleading for a speedy resettlement because we are of view that clearing the land mines in Vanni region will take considerable time. Therefore, people can’t be expected to remain in the IDP camps for a long time. Asian Tribune: Is it true that more than 25-30,000 IDPs with own houses in Jaffna are now in Vanni camps. N.Srikantha M.P: More than that Asian Tribune: Ok. We understand that another 50,000 plus IDPs from the East own houses are also in Vanni camps. Why can’t they be sent back to their own homes? N.Srikantha M.P: Very happy that you raised this issue. This is very logical. I have already raised this issue in Parliament and with Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services the other day when the war was in the final stage Asian Tribune: Even I spoke with the Minister Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen yesterday about this issue. N.Srikantha M.P: Very good! Very good! He is a very sensible man. Very conscious of the problem of the people and very much interested in bringing up a solution to the people. As you have rightly said there are thousands of people who own houses in Jaffna and certain other parts of the country; there are thousands and thousands people who can find alternate accommodations from their relatives and friends. Hence these people can be immediately released for resettlement. This will reduce pressure on the IDP camps; the government will also get some relief; once these people are out, the government can focus on the rest; that number will be very much manageable in the camps. Asian Tribune: I think more than one third of the IDP’s, about 100,000, can be resettled immediately but what minister Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen told me was – they the government is registering the IDPs, the registering process will be over soon, and once the registration was completed, may in another week, the government will k now who has houses, who donot have houses and where is their house. Then it will be possible to consider this type of resettlement. May be you like to take up the issue with the President when you meet him next. N.Srikantha M.P: In today’s meeting I have expressed our desire to meet with the President separately in order to discuss very many issues pertaining to these two matters; the president replying to the discussion said he will be meeting with the representative of various parties separately in the next few weeks. We will be making a formal request to meet the President in the next couple of days. And once that (meeting) comes through, as you rightly said, we will raise these matters and discuss with him. We will try to impress up on the President the feasibility of releasing these people without any further delay so that they can stand on their own feet or with the assistance of their kith and kin. Asian Tribune: The government can also assist them and give them all the support. The international community wants them to be resettled as early as possible. N.Srikantha M.P: You see there are thousands of public servants who are also lodged there. They were working for the people in the war zone area when the war was taking place. And the government asked these people to come into the government controlled area and assured them they will resettle them. What has happened? We understand Government’s practical difficulties in dealing with such a large population, but now that all have been housed in transit camps, a system is put in place to look after them, the government logically move to the next step to see whoever could be released without any further delay is released.You know, there are so many social organizations among the Tamils who are willing to help these people but the problem is they should have the clearance from the government.We are getting calls from abroad expressing willingness to help our people. There are a number of people who are asking us repeatedly that they are willing to help.We plan to raise this matter when we meet the President next time and see how far we can help…..Furthermore, there are so many social organizations among the Tamils who are willing to help these people and the problem is that they should have the clearance from the government.We plan to raise this matter when we meet the President next time and see how far we can help in solving this issue.We can organize a massive assistance programme from the civilian population in the North and from those who are residing in Colombo.Some of them organize some materials to be send by lorries and even then there were some practical difficulties. The Hon. Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen was very helpful.We encourage social organization to give all the assistance in getting all the necessary clearance and arranging transport.Minister Douglas Devananda was also helping in that direction. Asian Tribune: Only thing is that you to be vigilant and cautious that some of the unwanted elements should not get in the way. N.Sri Kantha M.P: Yes, that is true, the type of elements who gain by using the miseries of the people. There are even calls from abroad from people indicating willingness to help this people. We haven’t finalized on these requests. Asian Tribune: Who are the organizations which wanted to get involved? N.Srikantha M.P: Well, there are number of people who are known to us, who are repeatedly asking us that they are willing to help through various NGOs in Europe and individual capacity. We will connect them directly with people once we take it up with the President. Asian Tribune: There are some big local NGOs who cook and feed thousands of people on a daily basis. N.Srikantha M.P: Yes, I think that they are all doing commendable service to our people. Asian Tribune: Why can’t you link your people and organizations with these local NGOs? N.Srikantha M.P: Yes, that is a good suggestion. We will raise this issue with the President. One important issue we wanted to raise is, as you rightly said, whoever are confident of going out of the camp and are able to manage their day to day life from among the IDPs, they should be permitted to do so after the government verified their claim.If someone wants to come forward to take charge of their relatives who are in the IDP camp, then the government can take the person’s details and can always check on them if necessary to make sure what they are doing and should be allow the particular relative(s) with them, till they are settled in their place of choice.That maybe most probably in the case of the people who are mainly coming from Vanni region, but as you rightly said there are thousands of Tamil who were forced to leave the Jaffna Peninsula when LTTE moved out of Jaffna in 1995 December. Number of my relatives went to Vanni and now they are now in the IDP camps. But majority of them have their own houses and want to go back to Jaffna and restart their lives. Asian Tribune: When are you going to meet the Sri Lanka President? N.Srikantha M.P: I think as Mr. Sampanther – Our Parliamentary group leader, has returned and now in Trincomalee. Now that he has come, we will all be meeting tomorrow or day after and then in the next working day probably on Tuesday our request will be on the table of the President. I think he will invite us as quickly as possible. UNP asks govt. to send deserters to north The UNP yesterday called on the government to give an amnesty to over 4000 imprisoned deserters and use them for post -war operations and development work in the Northern and Eastern Provinces immediately.UNP MP for the Kurunegala district Dayasiri Jayasekara told journalists yesterday that there were around 40,000 army deserters, but the government was able to arrest only 4000 of them. “If the government can give an amnesty to former LTTE leaders like Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan, why can’t they give an amnesty to these deserters?” he asked. He said these deserters had been imprisoned along with those convicted of crimes. “We should not treat these soldiers as criminals,” he said. Mr. Jayasekara also said that the government should declare an amnesty period for the remaining deserters to surrender as well and send them for active duty in the liberated areas now. “It is true that these soldiers did not participate in the war against the LTTE for very long. Yet, we should get them involved in the post-war duty,” he said. Wives & children of Swarnam & Thevan arrested while staying with IDPs The wife and the three children of Swarnam, the LTTE leader of the Trincomalai Eastern Province and the wife and two children of Thevan, the military leader of the LTTE for the Eastern Province have been arrested by a special team from Colombo Crimes Division.They have said they had been displaced and had come to Vavuniya as refugees after the tiger organization was completely defeated. The Police say the two women and the children have been brought to Colombo and are being interrogated.Swarnam has died in confrontations with Security Forces and Thevan’s wife is being questioned to find out his whereabouts. Recovered gold jewellery were those pawned to LTTE bank The Army looking for the owners of gold jewellery recovered from the Puthukudiruppu area has established those valuables had been pawned to the so-called former "LTTE Eelam Bank" in that area. Task Force 8 troops engaged in clearing and mopping up operations in the area on June 23 had come across 8,709 packets containing an assortment of gold jewellery, including necklaces, bangles, ear-rings, chains, etc, in a demolished building, the Army Media Unit said yesterday. Each packet carried a duplicate receipt with names and other details of the pawning party. The army has forwarded a list of the names found on the receipts to the Vanni headquarters with instructions to trace the owners. JVP sends good to IDPs The essential items collected by members of the JVP to be sent to IDPs in camps were taken to camps in Vavuniya yesterday (3rd). The convoy of lorries carrying goods left JVP District office at Anuradhapura yesterday at 10.30 a.m. JVP Parliamentarians Lal Kanthe and Ranaweera Pathirana were present. Speaking to the gathering Parliamentarian and Central Committee Member of the JVP Lal Kanthe said, “Innocent masses who were tormented due to Prabakaran’s moves are in refugee camps at present. The government should act in a more responsible manner regarding them. The gravity of the situation should be recognized. It is the responsibility of everybody to take measures to incorporate them in the society. Such mediation should be carried out with a suitable programme. We are prepared to fulfill our share of this process. However, the government doesn’t allow us to do so. We don’t believe that all issues of IDPs would be solved by distributing these goods. What we are doing by taking these goods to the IDPs is to display symbolically our readiness to mediate on their behalf.,” he pointed out. Two crew members of Captain Ali left in the lurch Britain relaxes travel restrictions British High Commissioner Dr. Peter Hayes said the UK Government has relaxed several restrictions on travel to Sri Lanka. “We no longer discourage British holidaymakers from enjoying leopard-spotting at Yala National Park, surfing at Arugam Bay or admiring the Trincomalee harbour, one of the world’s deepest natural ports,” he said. “This decision was based on our assessment of the improving security situation in these parts of Sri Lanka,”the British High Commissioner said. In light of the uncertain security situation in areas recently affected by conflict, we continue to discourage British tourists from traveling to other parts of the Eastern Province and continue to advise against all travel to northern Sri Lanka,” he said. “Now, we encourage Britons planning to travel around Sri Lanka to read our full travel advisories,” he noted. Court rejects SLMC Rights petition The Supreme Court yesterday refused to grant leave to proceed on a fundamental rights Petition filed by the SLMC challenging the rejection of its nomination list for the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council elections. The Bench comprised Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justices K. Sripavan and Chandra Ekanayake. The petitioners – the SLMC, acting secretary general M. Nizam Kariappar, M.I.M. Shariff – cited as respondents the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, Jaffna Municipal Council Returning Officer P. Kuganathan, the Attorney General and seven others. Mr. Kuganathan had informed the party’s general secretary the nomination list tendered by him on behalf of the SLMC to contest the Jaffna Municipal Council election had been rejected due to the failure to produce the birth certificate or an affidavit of youth candidate M.A. Rajab. President’s Counsel Dr Jayampathy Wickremaratne with M.U.M. Faiz instructed by M.C.M. Nawas appeared for the Petitioners. Senior State Counsel Nerin Pulle appeared for the Elections Commissioner and the Attorney General. TNA wants to meet Sri Lanka President alone The Tamil National Alliance, (TELO,TULF,EPRLF and ACTC) the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka has asked a opportunity to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa.TELO Central Committee member Sri Kantha, a Jaffna District parliamentarian told the media that he has asked this opportunity from the President after the conclusion of the multi party summit held yesterday.He said that he expects to send a letter too to the President seeking an audience.However, Tamil National Alliance earlier rejected several invitations made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to meet him for discussions over the situation in North.At all the times TNA stressed that they will not attend any kind of talks until the military operations in the North are suspended. 03 July 2009 TNA urges for speedy rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people in DRC meeting The Tamil National Alliance (TELO,TULF,EPRLF and ACTC) which participated in the DRC meeting chaired by the Rajapaksa, said there was a positive atmosphere, and they could look forward to future progress. Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday told the Development and Reconciliation Committee (DRC) meeting that all the parties should leave the past aside and unite to rebuild the nation without racial and other differences. TELO and TNA MP N. Sri Kantha who led the party delegation said that the outcome was positive at the meeting apart from a few exceptions. He said that his party was ready to join hands for development and reconciliation leaving aside petty politics. “We all are partners in progress. At the meeting, I pleaded that the utmost importance should be given to the speedy rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people to be followed by a just and viable political solution,” he said. LTTE posters inside IDP camps UN Chief wants Sri Lankan government to give priority to rehabilitate child soldiers The United Nations Secretary-General wants the Government of Sri Lanka to give priority to the rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers into the community.The Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon in his report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict in Sri Lanka, has urged the Government of Sri Lanka to build on the progress achieved to date with the support of the U.N. and other parties, his spokesperson Ms. Michele Montas said at the UN press briefing on Thursday.The UN Chief urged the government to ensure that the identification, release, and rehabilitation of all children leaving armed groups and their successful reintegration into the communities is given priority and implemented in accordance with international standards.According to the spokesperson Mr. Ban has asked the Sri Lankan government to ensure that children released by armed groups have access to care, protection and reintegration programmes, including other appropriate assistance to those recruited as children who are now over 18 years of age.While urging the Sri Lankan Government to allow the humanitarian workers more access and delivery of assistance to internally displaced persons, the Secretary-General wanted to ensure relevant care and protection for children separated from their families, and to address the high rates of malnutrition among internally displaced children.The Secretary-General also urges the Government to ensure effective implementation of its "zero tolerance" position on child recruitment, including systematic and vigorous investigations for every reported case, followed by prosecutions and convictions of responsible perpetrators, the spokesperson said.Sri Lankan government has established separate camps for child soldiers where they receive vocational training and psychological counseling in addition to humanitarian care. Sri Lanka’s terrorist problem, that claimed 100,000 lives, including 1,500 Indian soldiers, could have been nipped in the bud three decades ago, if only Colombo had heeded a warning by a Tamil police officer in 1970, writes Gen Cyril Ranatunga, a former Army Commander and Defence Secretary. Lanka ignored warning of Tamil separatism in 1970' In his just released book From Peace to War, Insurgency to Terrorism Ranatunga says that in a letter dated November 16, 1970, the Superintendent of Police of Jaffna district, R Suntheralingam, had told the then Inspector General of Police at Colombo that smugglers operating between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu were bringing in magazines propagating Tamil nationalism.The free flow of Tamil magazines propagating Tamil Nadu ideals into Northern Ceylon via VVT (Velvettithurai) during the DMK regime in 1967 contributed to the illicit trade between Ceylon and South India, the letter said. “Unfortuntely, his (Suntharalingam’s) advice and warning went unheeded. The report was duly filed and forgotten,” Ranatunga writes.“From the late 1970s, the items smuggled changed to a gun running movement of the Tamil armed youth, injured Tamil combatants, arms, explosives and ammunition, detonators and drug. The traditional trade and movement in illicit immigration and sarees disappeared,” he says, having tackled illicit immigration from India in the 1960s and 1970s as a junior army officer.Though in 1960s, the Lankan army had Coast Watching Points and Search Light Points that helped locate illicit immigrants, smugglers of civilian goods and armaments with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurgency rearing its head in south Sri Lanka in 1971, the army was withdawn. The government had made a “serious mistake” by withdrawing the army, he said.As the rot set in, smuggling increased and on March 31, 1973, the navy intercepted boats carrying 20,000 detonators. JVP warn, If camp life continues, another Prabakaran will be born. Among Tamils, Tamil Eelam may bloom. JVP has insisted a normal life should be expedited to the Vanni people who had been displaced due to confrontation and are now being detained in the camps. If Vanni people continuously live in these camps for a longer period by facing hardships, there would be possibilities of another Prabakaran to get born was cautioned by General Secretary Tilwin Silva. It is much essential as the first step, to rehabilitate the displaced people from the camps to their native places which would originate racial harmony. He said, there are possibilities of International governments pressure if these people are sheltered in camps. If International force is used towards Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka government cannot resist, and if it increase the government would face crisis. Tilwin Silva stated, people in the camps are not provided with adequate facilities. If these displaced people live continuously as refugees, the Tamil people would believe, the only solution is Tamil Eelam. If the camp life continues, another prabakaran would be borne was cautioned by Tilwin Silva, and such situation was created by the government was mentioned by him. Army commander visits Jaffna Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, yesterday made his first visit to Jaffna Security Forces Headquarters after the successful completion of military operations to eliminate LTTE terrorism, the Army Headquarters announced yesterday. The Army Commander was received by Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe and was accorded a Guard Turnout and Guard of Honour at the Security Forces Headquarters, according to military traditions. Both honours were accorded to their visiting military chief by 8 Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (8 SLSR) troops. General Sarath Fonseka after inspection of the parade received the salute from the special dais, erected for the purpose. He also addressed both officers and other ranks separately and spoke high of their contribution, dedication and commitment during the peak of LTTE terrorism and its culmination. Highlighting the importance of all-time preparedness, conduct of humanitarian services, de-mining, continued training for soldiers, etc General Fonseka reminded that better training sessions would now remain available in the future and it would, in his opinion enormously help soldiers receive their career promotions. During his meeting with 51,52,55 Division General Officers Commanding, field officers and Task Force Commanders, General Sarath Fonseka received a comprehensive update on the prevailing security concerns in the peninsula. He also assessed possible future scenarios and stressed the need to maintain surveillance at all times. He also gave instructions on several lines of thought before he left for Colombo, the same evening. Pulikalin Kural – Voice of Tigers – Back LIVE on July 5th Pulikalin Kural – The Voice of Tigers, will be back LIVE on 5th July 2009, commemorating the 22nd year of the Black Tigers, says the official confirmation In 1990, the Pulikalin Kural started in Jaffna, whereas it withstand from various attacks over it. 23 times it get attacted but still to serve again. When the people last their lives on May 16 the voice of tigers had also stopped its service. Again now, it is going to start its service through Internet and later it will get expanded, said Voice of Tigers officials. India to send a delegation to visit IDP camps in Sri Lanka India is planning to send a delegation to visit the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps in the North soon, Sri Lanka government said. The visit would be follow-up on an invitation from the Sri Lanka government. This was revealed during a meeting between the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi and visiting Sri Lanka Minister of Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development Arumugam Thondaman in Chennai.The main priority of the Indian team is to visit the IDP camps and look into the welfare and development of the IDPs. Will Madhu feast be celebrated this year? The Bishop of Mannar Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph yesterday told The Island that he would meet Vanni Security Forces Commander Major General Jagath Jayasuriya on Tuesday (June 7) to discuss the possibility of celebrating this year’s feast of Our Lady of Madhu in August.He said though the government had said that the annual flag hoisting ceremony would take place on August 6 ahead of the feast scheduled for August 15, they weren’t in a position to make arrangements unless the government lifted restrictions imposed on the Church.Responding to our queries, he said that a government delegation recently visited the shrine to review the situation. "I have explained the difficulty in having the feast without improving the ground situation." According to him, there was only one priest, three nuns and six civilians at the shrine. The 57 Division which launched offensive operations in March, 2007 captured Madhu on April 24, last year, thereby setting the stage for an all out campaign on the Vanni front. The LTTE resisted the army advance on Madhu for over a year before retreating northwards.The Bishop said that Catholics should be allowed to come in their vehicles. He said though devotees from the South could participate at the feast, over 300,000 Tamils now held in welfare centres would be denied the opportunity. He emphasised the importance of allowing people from all parts of the country to join the celebrations.Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, UNP Gampaha District MP, yesterday told The Island that as large crowds were expected at Madhu adequate arrangements had to be made.The Defence Ministry in a statement posted on its website yesterday (July 2) quoted the Religious Affairs Ministry as saying that all arrangements had been made for the convenience of the pilgrims. The ministry also quoted Rev. Father Desmond Kulas, who is in charge of the administration of the shrine as saying that arrangements had been made to hold this year’s feast on a grand scale. Major General Jayasuriya told a top level security conference in Vavuniya on June 29 that as the Madhu church area had been cleared of mines and other booby traps the feast could go ahead without any hindrance.The Bishop said that though the Church had discussed the entire gamut of issues with a government delegation comprising ministers Sarath Kumara Gunaratne and Dayasritha Tissera on June 18, there had been no consensus on the arrangements. He said that the church wanted the government to allow vehicles coming to Madhu to proceed without being stopped at Madawachchiya. According to him, the government last year provided transport from Medawachchiya to Madhu and back and that arrangement had caused severe hardships. 02 July 2009 Sri Lanka Urged to Probe the Murder of Tamil MPs MR won’t tolerate dissent, vows to implement political solutionby Shamindra President Mahinda Rajapaksa wouldn’t tolerate any dissent within his government to proposed devolution of power to the provinces on the basis of 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said at a press conference at the Information Department. The President had emphasised that he wouldn’t give in to pressure from any party, he said.Minister Yapa said the President had received an assurance from coalition parties, at a special meeting held at Temple Trees, on Tuesday (June 30) that they wouldn’t hinder his efforts.Recently the UNP and JVP challenged the President to reveal his position on the 13th Amendment against the backdrop of JHU and National Freedom Front (NFF) declaring war on devolution of power. The JVP, too, has vowed to oppose the 13th Amendment. The President has told his ministers that this could be tackled the way he had handled opposition to the country’s war against LTTE terrorism. Responding to The Island query whether the President had told the JHU and National Freedom Front (NFF) led by Wimal Weerawassa, MP, not to cause trouble, the minister said that none of coalition partners had challenged the President’s position.The President has assured that he wouldn’t do anything detrimental to the country while seeking an opportunity to overcome what he had categorised as the second major problem confronted by his government.Responding to another query also raised by The Island, Yapa advised this writer to be cautious in reporting the issue but when challenged to prove any previous instances of him being misreported, if any, the minister acknowledged there had been none.He said that though a political solution to the national issue would definitely be placed before the people at a referendum as promised in Mahinda Chintanaya, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution could be implemented without being referred to the people.He said that a government controlled daily had recently misquoted him as having said that implementation of the 13th Amendment would be preceded by a referendum. He said though the 13th Amendment had been forced on Sri Lanka by the then government of India there couldn’t be any legal obstacle to its full implementation.The President was confident that his government could successfully overcome political issues, too, now that the LTTE had been militarily defeated, the Minister said. Commenting on the APRC (All Party Representative Committee) process, Yapa said that any of its recommendations beyond the ambit of the 13th Amendment would require a referendum.Yapa said that though some of coalition members didn’t approve of the way the President had executed the war against the LTTE, they didn’t cause any trouble. Similarly, those who opposed the current efforts to work out a political settlement could remain silent, he said. Tamil govt will be formed in Lanka: MK Maoists note causes for LTTE failure TNA(TELO,TULF,EPRLF and ACTC)will participate in Multi Party meeting today The first meeting of the Multi-Party Committee for Development and Reconciliation Activities will meet today under the patronage of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa. According to the President's media unit, the main focus of the meeting is to discuss the development issues and timely political issues. The committee is to meet once a month under the chairmanship of President Rajapaksa. It said that steps had been taken to invite recognized political parties for the inaugural session. President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the Development and Reconciliation All Party Committee Tuesday to examine development activities and current political crises. TNA announced the parliament member of their party had invited to the meeting individually and under the head of TELO Jaffna MP Srikantha the TNA members are going to participate in the meeting. The participating members includes Kanagasabai, Sivanathan Kishore,TELO Vannei MP Vinotharalingam and Durairatnasingham. S.Lanka shares slip on IMF loan delay, low foreign funds Sri Lanka's stock market edged down for a third straight session on Wednesday, led by retail profit-taking amid concerns over an IMF loan delay and lack of foreign interest in the post-war bourse. The bourse fell 0.55 percent or 13.42 points to 2418.73. It hit a one-year high on June 22. 'The market is down on retail profit-taking,' said Hussain Gani, associate director at Asia Securities in Colombo. 'Now there are concerns over IMF loan delay and lack of foreign investments into the market.' Net foreign inflows, which were at 1.4 billion rupees before the government declared an end to a 25-year war on May 18, have now turned to a net outflow of 437.6 million rupees so far for the year, a bourse official said. Other analysts said that retailers were cashing out their stakes on low foreign interest and very little institutional buying, bringing the turnover to a low level. The daily turnover was 304 million Sri Lankan rupees ($2.65 million), its lowest level since June 8 and well below last year's daily average of 464 million. The 2009 daily average turnover has jumped 63.6 percent to 426.4 million since the end of the war. The bourse rose 10.08 percent in June, the best performance by an Asian market after China, Reuters data showed. The bourse is still up 60.9 percent in 2009 and 26.8 percent since the government declared victory in the war on May 18. Market heavyweight Sri Lanka Telecom closed 1.54 percent weaker at 48.00 rupees a share, calculated on a weighted average, while conglomerate Bukit Darah Company fell 4.5 percent to 1,050.50 rupees a share, bourse data showed. Sri Lanka revised up its 2009 economic growth target for 2009 to 3.5-4.5 percent owing to optimism following the end of the separatist war. Data issued on Tuesday showed annual inflation grew at its slowest rate ever in June, rising only 0.9 percent year-on-year and slowing from 3.3 percent in May. The benchmark 91-day Treasury bill rate fell 13 basis points to a 33-month low of 11.29 percent while 182-day T-bill fell to a 32-moth low of 11.94 percent at a weekly auction. The rupee closed unchanged at 114.90/95 a dollar. It hit a record low of 120.80/121.10 on April 23, after the central bank stopped preventing depreciation, amid discussions over the IMF loan. 'It was a sluggish market,' said a currency dealer. 'low import demand for dollars were met by exporter conversions.' The central bank on Friday said the loan delay is because the IMF wants a reassessment of post-war economic projections. But Western diplomats have privately said it has gotten tied up in post-war wrangling, after Sri Lanka angered Western nations by rejecting their calls to slow its final offensive and also beat back an effort to probe possible war crimes. The interbank lending rate or call money rate edged up to 9.585 percent from Tuesday's 9.530 percent. For secondary market rates, please see. Sri Lanka Interested in learning about Conflict Resolution from Aceh No Tamil regiment says Gotabaya The defence secretrary Gothabaya said there is no idea of forming separate tamil regiment in Sri Lanka army. In response to the BBC news quoting Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan as saying that the army commander is to set up a Tamil regiment in the Sri Lanka army, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa denied such a claim adding that it is baseless and false. India should lift the ban imposed on LTTE - S.Padmanathan The LTTE’s elusive and self-proclaimed International Relations Chief Selvaraja Padmanathan alias KP has squarely blamed India for the humiliating defeat of the Tamil Tigers in the hands of the Sri Lankan security forces in the jungles of Vanni last month. "In the recent war, India sided with Sri Lanka firmly and provided full support to them," he claimed in a statement emailed to, and broadcast by, an Indian television channel "Headlines Today" and published in "Mail Today" on Friday. Padmanathan said: "Our organization and the Tamil people have become victims of this Indian position." "Even though we are fully aware how India has contributed for the military victory of Sri Lanka, we do not hate India," he claimed. He went on: "We consider Tamil people would be the true and reliable friends of India in its geo-political struggle with other countries, especially with China. "We firmly believe India would realize this one day and support Eelam Tamils’ struggle for self-determination." Padmanathan said he will initiate "direct contact" with the Indian government and seek its support for Eelam Tamils’ political aspirations. He appealed to India to lift the ban it imposed on the LTTE. Tamil refugees forced into sex rackets CONDITIONS for about 300,000 refugees forcibly detained in camps across Sri Lanka remain dire, with reports of a prostitution racket run by officials in a remote camp.Aid workers told The Australian yesterday officials at the internally displaced people's camp in Pulmoddai, a remote northeast region, are running the prostitution ring using women kept in the camp. The Australian understands the allegations are the subject of a joint investigation between the Sri Lankan government and an aid organisation. "It's been brought to the attention of senior government officials but no one seems to be doing anything about it," said an aid worker, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. "It's hard to know whether it's coercive or not, but there is an average of three families living to a tent and it can be extremely difficult trying to get privacy. You can imagine the military coming in and asking for something in return for more space or more favours." Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Palitha Kohona described the claims as "absolute rubbish", but confirmed the government was investigating the reports. "These (the military) are the guys who were winning the war - they could have raped every single woman on the way if they wanted to. Not one single woman was raped," he told The Australian last night. "I am sure in a mass of people there may be individuals who want to make a quick buck one way or another, but you have to remember the tents are so close together you can't do anything without the entire neighbourhood knowing. If you had a racket going, thousands of people would know about it." A UN official said yesterday many families remained separated in the camps and that men and women believed to be Tamil Tiger fighters were being removed with "no due process or proper documentation, like arrest receipts, given to parents or guardians". "These issues are of huge concern for us," the official said. "The lack of freedom of movement is a violation of human rights under Sri Lanka's own constitution." The restrictions have heightened tensions in the camps, including a mass protest in the Ramanathan camp in the northern town of Vavuniya on Sunday in which IDPs tried to break down barbed-wire fences separating one camp zone - and many relatives - from another. Tamilnet.com claimed two people were killed and at least two were injured when troops opened fire on the refugees. But reports from aid workers in the camp suggested troops fired only into the air, causing no casualties, and that camp officials reached a compromise that allowed the IDPs movement between the two camps. UN Sri Lanka co-ordinator Neil Buhne said camp conditions were slowly improving, thanks to better water and sanitation facilities. "But the main thing is people are still inside these camps and they can't go anywhere. The government has made public commitments to get 80 per cent of people back to their homes by the end of the year (after separating civilians from the fighters) but that's going to be a difficult target to meet." The Sri Lankan military crushed the Tamil Tiger rebel forces in May after a 26-year civil war. President Mahinda Rajapakse has committed to reaching a political settlement with the Tamil leaders that goes some way to addressing their grievances. This week he gave the All Parties Committee, established some years ago to find a compromise solution, until next month to submit its report. The Man Who Destroyed Eelam-Source Tehelka Magazine Prabakaran had everything: territory, international support and committed fighters. Senior journalist SHYAM TEKWANI, who has covered the LTTE and Sri Lanka for almost three decades tracks the alarming rise and astonishing fall of a man who sought to live to fight another day, but found only death at the hands of his nemesis. MORE VIVIDLY THAN anything that came afterwards in the Sri Lanka war, I remember his first handshake. The hand was soft, the grip delicate and limp. On that occasion in Madras, as he contentedly claimed credit for assassinating the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna and later, the slaughter of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers that ignited the conflict following the anti-Tamil riots of 1983, Velupillai Prabakaran’s dainty handshake seemed in harmony with his soft voice.A few more meetings and a couple of years later in 1987 — after successfully evading a media ban to reach the frontlines in Jaffna — I found myself reporting in the company of Prabakaran’s ragtag troops in their war against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). In the bougainvillea-lined mud tracks, while attempting to photograph his boys gunning down the Indian soldiers in an ambush, I was transfixed by the memory of that handshake as I watched the blood seep from an ill-fated jawan’s head and mingle with the Jaffna dirt.The other memory is his startled expression when I congratulated him on his newborn towards the end of a long discourse on Eelam. Soon after his fleeting pause, it became clear that he had lost interest in going on and on with his vision of Eelam. He was less voluble, withdrawn and then abruptly left the room. It was left to the master’s voice, Anton Balasingham, to cautiously quiz me on how and what I knew of the addition to his leader’s family.These two memories define, at any rate for me through all my experiences over the last 25 years in Sri Lanka, the man who has finally destroyed the dream he almost made true. Both the memories give a certain insight into the mind of the man. First, deceive all into believing the contrary about your capabilities — deception is the core of all his strategy. Second, never trust your own shadow — paranoia dictates his behaviour. These traits contributed to the amazing rise — and eventually the astonishing fall — of the leader of the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world.To suggest that Prabakaran worked to a master plan in building and shaping his image of invincibility and developing the organisation from a ragtag bunch of boys into the outfit that inspired awe and envy would be to bestow upon him the title of a genius — which he is not. From the beginning, he adopted a twofold strategy — consisting on the one hand of an ‘international political campaign’ by galvanising the diaspora and international opinion in his favour and on the other by bleeding the economy and weakening the state through acts of terror. His success in sustaining the conflict for over a quarter century came from a combination of his own cunning and the lack of purpose, unity and determination in his enemies. THE PROPAGANDA CARPET BOMB “Today we're engaged in the first war in history — unconventional and irregular as it may be — in an era of e-mails, blogs, cell phones, Blackberries, instant messaging, digital cameras, a global internet with no inhibitions, cell phones, hand-held video cameras, talk radio, 24-hour news broadcasts, satellite television. There's never been a war fought in this environment before.” That was former US Secretary of State, Donald Rumsfeld in 2005 referring, of course, to his woes stemming from the unnecessary war in Iraq.If propaganda wins wars, then the IPKF, which saved Sri Lanka from becoming another Lebanon, fell victim to a weapon far more effective than the deadliest conventional weapon in Prabakaran’s jungle arsenal — his propaganda tool, the media.Central to Prabakaran’s guerilla strategy — over two decades before Rumsfeld made his observation — was a powerful communications network and a sympathetic media. Hence, his exclusive interviews to handpicked influential publications while he was enjoying the hospitality of the Indian government in Madras during the mid-80s, when I first got to shake his hand. From the outset, it was not difficult to win the support of the media, particularly in the West. Prabakaran played his underdog cards adroitly with the help of his advisor Anton Balasingham and his Australianborn wife, Adele and the LTTE’s media headquarters in London.In November 1986, on the eve of the SAARC summit in Bangalore, the police under instructions from the Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, raided and seized arms and sophisticated communications gear from the assorted Eelam groups operating out of Tamil Nadu. Prabakaran went on a much publicised fast-untodeath in Madras quoting Mahatma Gandhi, whom he said he was emulating in peaceful protest for the return of the equipment. He demanded the immediate return of – not his rocket launchers, SAM missiles and AK-47s — but his lifeline to the world, his wireless sets. By this time, he had the media eating out of his hands and the romanticisation of Prabakaran - already in motion — now entered the process of deification. Everything was returned to him in good order along with a glass of fruit juice that he sipped to declare his victory.Less than a year later, I walked into a scoop in the Jaffna peninsula. IPKF Mi-24 helicopter gunships were on the attack in Chavakachcheri, an LTTE stronghold. People around me were killed, most of them civilians. And my cameras were the only media instruments witnessing the deaths. A week later, when I surfaced in Colombo and rushed to the phone in my hotel room to break the exclusive story, I was dismayed to find that the attack was already the big story in the media. Prabakaran had already beaten me to it — even though there was no electricity to light up his bases in the jungles. Even as the body count in the damaged market area was in progress, his ‘boys’ had radioed their souped-up version of the ‘bombing’ from their jungle hideouts to their ‘media’ headquarters in London from where a telex was sent out to every major international publication. Photographs of death and destruction from an assault during Operation Liberation (or Vadamarachchi Operation) by Sri Lankan gunships six months earlier were circulated as evidence of the Chavakachcheri attack.The LTTE’s powerful communications network transmitted daily situation reports (sitreps) from Jaffna to its media headquarters in a Western capital where the sitreps were distributed as press releases though telex machines (later with the introduction of fax machines and the internet, it was able to readjust its media budget) to media and governments in Western capitals. Printed material was was a prime means of LTTE propaganda till the early 1990s, when the group went to great expense to publish multilingual and expensively produced four-colour booklets and pamphlets with profuse illustrations. These publications were distributed to the local and international media and select government organisations.The LTTE’s high degree of familiarity with modern telecommunications enabled it to occupy a very definitive niche in the international public eye, in spite of the fact that it is party to a conflict in a small south Asian nation, largely ignored by the West, and the fact that its acts of violence have impacted only Sri Lanka and occasionally India.The reason counter-terrorism practitioners began to focus their attention, after 9/11, to Sri Lanka is Prabakaran’s global reach. His group is an integral part of the international terror network. Tactical and technical contagion is a fact of terrorist tactics. From hostage-taking, to hijacking to car-bombs, new methods have been quickly absorbed and copied among terrorist groups worldwide. Witness the Taliban’s use of civilians as human shields during the Pakistani-led assault in Buner district last week.Years before the world heard of Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda, Prabakaran was pioneering a new method of guerrilla warfare — the suicide bomber. Innovations in the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and the rampant use of child soldiers and new media technologies — were quickly copied as regular methods of warfare following the invasion of Iraq in 2002.Prabakaran has successfully operated in volatile environments where his ability to change has been the group’s linchpin not only of effectiveness, but also of survival. While Prabakaran has had ample motivations for change — technological developments, counterterrorism measures, and shifts in people’s reactions to terror attacks — the change has not occurred automatically. AS ADAPTIVE AS A CHAMELEON Prabakaran’s ambition to sever the island in two has been the only constant in his life. Sustaining that for 30 years required a continuous evolution and a firm hand. The practices he adopted were based on selectively chosen models appropriated from a range of religious and political traditions and rituals for a variety of political and publicity goals. The flavor of the 1980s, for him, was Marxist rhetoric. When his oft-repeated desire for a single party socialist government in his imagined Eelam drew gasps of horror, the Lenin portrait in his den was summarily removed and Marx was forsaken in all conversation. He then abandoned ideology to aggressively build the cult around his persona. An adoring media lent as zealous a hand as his followers to help build his cult to mythical proportions — tales of his marksmanship, valour and genius became commonplace. Soon, taking an oath in his name by his cadres, celebrating his birthday, and displaying his portrait everywhere became mandatory. Adele introduced the concept of feminism to recruit girls. In her words, “Nowhere in the world has male chauvinism been eradicated and it certainly has not disappeared from the Tamil society. However the male cadres show a great deal of respect, appreciation and pride in the women combatants’ achievements.” From Hinduism, he borrowed the practice of deifying his martyrs and erecting shrines where people were expected to make offerings and pray on a day designated as holy. Western military traditions provided him a model to build his army while Hollywood, apart from inspiring movies of bravery and heroism, taught him to produce slickly produced audio-visual presentations for profit and for goodwill. IN HIS OWN IMAGE Acutely conscious of the power of propaganda and his image as the most lethal weapon in his arsenal, Prabakaran ensured that everybody in his group understood how to use it. Cadres were not to interact with anyone outside the fold. His photograph — and only his — would be the single image that hung on the walls of all denizens in his territory. Every street corner would have his speeches or Eelam national songs playing from the loudspeakers at all hours every day. Every offer of a ride in the Balasingham’s air-conditioned SUV, with Adele at the wheel, in the Jaffna peninsula perforce meant listening to Prabakaran blaring from the only cassette she would insert into the music player.Calendars, posters, CDs, DVDs, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations — he had them all out years before the world had heard of the al Qaeda propaganda machinery. And while the word ‘web’, at any rate for most of us in south Asia in 1993, triggered images of the common house spider, the LTTE had its first website running on the server of a university in the United States. This conveniently coincided with an increasingly unfriendly media following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. A computer academy funded and run by professionals from among the diaspora in the Vanni region ensured that the ‘brains trust’ of the LTTE kept abreast with the latest know-how.A wing of the group (Internet Black Tigers) is credited with the first ever cyber attack (1997) known to the world when it downed the networks of Sri Lankan embassies across the world for a fortnight. In the same year, it was able to hack into a university in the United Kingdom, steal legitimate email IDs and solicit funds for a fictitious hospital in Colombo. And as recently as last week, a group calling itself Kalai Amman Electronic Warfare Unit hacked into the Sri Lanka Army website and defaced its home page. Social network sites were quickly adopted and a search on YouTube yields several hundred videos of the group.During one of our initial photo sessions (in the early 1980s), Prabakaran was awkward, uncertain of what was expected of him and very receptive to being directed. When it was suggested he change into combat fatigues, he went one further and emerged from the room with his pistol fully loaded. Within seconds, framed by his bodyguards and a huge cut out of a Tiger, with a huge portrait of Lenin in the background, he was in his elements and an hour later eagerly asked for copies of his performance. Several photo sessions later and in Jaffna while fighting for his supremacy against the IPKF, he reveled in playing the role of actor and director with consummate ease. He would tease a twinkle into his eyes with as much ease as a flash of fury. There was bluster in his voice, preparedness in dealing with questions and animation in his conversations but his grip had lost none of its daintiness.He would play to the gallery with sardonic witticisms, refrain from any response in English, ponder a bit to deliver a quotable quote and strike the pose that struck him as just right for the occasion. In one of his hideouts during the IPKF operations, he called for his leopard cub and while bantering with his friend and deputy, Yogaratnam Yogi, posed gleefully for the camera stroking his pet — much like a prosperous zamindar back from a hunt.It was essential to his strategy to get the message across that he had a committed following — and that this commitment came from man, woman and child. The cyanide pill was the emblem of commitment — which he generously arranged for me to photograph as his boys gamely posed with them around their necks. (It is another story that while every instance of a cadre biting into the vial during the course of assorted battles captured headlines, there was barely any mention of the many more who threw the vial away for safety).While Prabakaran majestically posed for the camera with his ‘cubs’ (as he called the children he recruited), there were a few restrictions: He did not like being photographed while satiating his enormous appetite for food. No photographs of his female cadres and none of his dead and dying. These sanctions were lifted after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.Prabakaran quickly developed a media unit – photographers and videographers – which documented every battle and assassination that the group conducted. This served two purposes — as a teaching aid, it came closest to the real thing next to classroom simulations. Besides, it provided archival material for the history books that would be written once Eelam became a reality. This obsession for a visual record proved disastrous for the LTTE — it led the investigators of Rajiv Gandhi’s murder right to its doorstep.Visiting the group’s training camps in the peninsula after Rajiv Gandhi’s murder, the first thing I noticed were the baby-faced boys, some not even in their teens. Their field training began with an oath on their leader: “To achieve Tamil Eelam, my life and soul, all this, I sacrifice. We’ll be very faithful and trustworthy to our elder brother, Mr Prabakaran, the leader of our revolutionary organisation. I now begin my training. The thirst of Tigers is Tamil Eelam.” This was also repeated at the end of the day when their flag was lowered down the mast.Their history lessons were an endless litany of hatred against the enemy — only comprising rapists, butchers and racists — and the glories of ancient Tamil kingdoms and kings. Classic indoctrination. The classroom instructions centred around battlefield strategies (on a blackboard with a piece of chalk and some war movies), case studies (reconstructed with videos and photographs) from their previous battles and assassinations and finally a film from an extraordinary video collection of B-grade Hollywood action movies. Rambo was the popular choice.In the prevailing environment of anxiety and hopelessness, Prabakaran was crafty enough to whip up hatred and give a machine gun to his potential recruits among the boys and girls. The romance of the gun, for a teenager fed on a limitless diet of action movies, hatred for the identified enemy, a sense of purpose and an assurance of immortality, is an aphrodisiac far more potent than the promise of seventy-two virgins in paradise.The thrill of adventure for a 12-year old Rambo-in-the-making is a mesmerising experience. It invests in him power he could never dream of. The only occasion when I accepted their offer of testing a Kalashnikov was instructive. I fired into the horizon across the sea. As we sauntered away feeling like real men after a few rounds, I suddenly froze in horror. I became aware of my posture and swagger, feeling invincible and indestructible — and realized that, despite the stiffness in my shoulder caused by the weapon’s recoil — my arms and legs moved exactly like Rambo, like in the movie I had watched with them in their classroom. If I, a 30-something man of the world, could feel this magical glow of indestructibility shield me from death, it was not difficult to imagine the effect on a 12-year old who knows no other life than the one under Prabakaran’s incantations. The added incentive was that as a cadre, bed and board were provided for on a priority basis in any hamlet that one walked into, brandishing the gun.If this was not motivation enough, there was then the promise of immortality. Poems and shrines were built in the memory of those who submitted their lives for the cause. BEHIND THE LINES One of the essential experiences of embedding yourself with the LTTE was the interaction with the wild-looking boys, bare-footed and ragged. They were your mates, guides and guardians during the tour of the frontlines and combat zones. When you lived alongside them, shared food and experiences under fire, you tended to bond with them. Survival often depended upon this sense of comradeship. Camaraderie, which relaxed their adherence to the strict code of discipline they were sworn to as they pulled out a deck of cards to kill time between attacks, could lead to bias — however much one guarded oneself against it – especially when in skirmishes in the jungle your camera kit and their Kalashnikovs got entangled.But you never met the same lot ever again. They were either killed before your next trip or rotated to another location. It was rare to learn anything about them through querying the new batch — since each of them operated under a nom de guerre. One looked for a familiar face on the sea of posters and cutouts of martyrs scattered across the peninsula. Likewise, the innumerable shrines that kept multiplying between visits — shrines in honour of the valorous and where people went to pray with their incense sticks and flowers. There would be an odd sighting or two or a rare letter from some family member sharing their grief of their dead son.Occasionally, a smartly dressed, wellfed stranger would approach you on the street in New York, a wedding in London, a restaurant in Paris or in the shadows of a temple corridor in Thanjavur and identify himself as being a member of the party you accompanied on such and such a trip. Or you would recognise a face in the papers — making the wrong kind of news in a country which had granted him citizenship.On guard LTTE cadre guarding the waterfront from the ramparts of the destroyed Dutch fort Civil control Cadre at their checkpost controlling civilian movements in their territory in Kilinochchi Killing time Cadre with a deck of cards— a rare anomaly in a group famed for its iron discipline The Freedom Birds — as the girls were now called — were the ace up Prabakaran’s sleeve. With the IPKF steadily depleting his manpower among the rank and file, Prabakaran had to turn even more to the girls and children to replenish his forces. The task of inducting the girls was assigned to “Auntie” Adele Balasingham. Girls, at this point, were banded together as the Students Organisation of Liberation Tigers (SOLT) and were used in peripheral roles as befitted their status in Jaffna society – in servitude, ushering in crowds at an event, distributing pamphlets, reciting poems extolling the greatness of their National Leader or singing paeans in honour of a recent suicide bomber. Adele’s task was made easy by the prevailing oppressive caste and class system and the alleged atrocities of the IPKF. She offered the guarantee of emancipating the girls from the traditional role of Tamil women by fighting shoulder to shoulder with the boys in pursuit of their freedom. A few months after the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, during a conversation in Jaffna, she would proudly claim: “The most historic development for the Jaffna woman in recent years is her confidence.”Following the death, by cancer in 2007, of her husband Anton Balasingham, the self-described theoretician, chief negotiator and political advisor to Prabakaran, Adele continues to actively work for her leader quietly and away from the media glare from her base in London. THE DEPUTIES Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja, better known by his nom de guerre Mahathaya, Prabakaran’s extremely popular deputy, could have easily been mistaken for Prabakaran by anyone whose only awareness of the LTTE leaders was based on a perfunctory glance at media photographs. They were built alike and sprouted thick moustaches. In Prabakaran’s presence, Mahathaya was almost hunched in servility, respectful and barely uttering a word until spoken to. His transformation on the battlefield, however, was amazing.Mahathaya’s silence was compensated by Yogi‘s loud voice. It was with Yogi that Prabakaran seemed to share an easy relationship. Laughing and joking over a Chinese lunch, the two seemed to be best buddies. Yogi strutted with his convent-educated English — much in the manner of a subordinate who wants to appear as an equal in the presence of people he seeks to impress; Mahathaya was diffident and respectful in the presence of authority, his leader. On the battlefield, as I joined the motley bunch Mahathaya led against the advancing army, I could barely associate him with the deputy who almost scraped in servility in the presence of his boss. Yogi was the well-scrubbed, smooth and oily politician, Mahathaya the dutiful and popular army commander.When Mahathaya marched into Trincomalee at the head of a big army of freshly uniformed cadres along with Yogi to watch the back of the last IPKF soldier disappear from view in March 1990, they took to the podium to thank the big crowds the LTTE had corralled at the town’s stadium. Yogi included the media in his thanksgiving and singled out a couple of us by name as those who had fought as much as they for their struggle. Barely over a year later, with Rajiv murdered and the investigation clearly pointing to the LTTE as his killers, Yogi’s first reaction upon greeting me in Jaffna was a bitter utterance of “yellow journalist” accompanied by a ferocious mouthful of spit at me, while Balasingham and Adele watched in grim silence. World opinion was beginning to weigh heavily against them. Their nerves were clearly on edge.Prabakaran denied any role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and instead set into motion an elaborate exercise to disprove Dhanu’s (Rajiv Gandhi’s killer) link with the LTTE. Meetings were set up with her ‘parents’, neighbours, and ‘friends’ all over the peninsula. At the end of the long day, after a snack of hot vadas at their thatched roof headquarters near Jaffna town, when my increasing skepticism of their charade began to get the better of their gentle persuasiveness, Balasingham and Yogi pushed back their chairs and declared the meeting over. The parting shot was as astounding as it was petty — pay for the vadas you just ate. When I awoke the next morning, the bicycle I depended on to traverse the peninsula was gone. Their fabled public relations machinery was beginning to crack and yet unknown to the world, trouble was brewing within.A year later, in a move that stunned his followers, Prabakaran struck against Mahathaya who he had anointed as his deputy during the war against the IPKF in 1987. Accusing him of treachery and collaborating with the Indians against him, Prabakaran placed Mahathaya in custody, liquidated most of Mahathaya’s troops and decisively crushed a potential rival to his supremacy as leader. Mahathaya was executed after a prolonged period of torture in December 1994. Yogi, whose loyalty too came under suspicion, was consigned to the doghouse to expect a similar fate. After years in anxious oblivion, he reappeared as head of the LTTE’s History Division on Black Tigers Day, the commemoration of suicide bombers, in July 2006. He spoke on the occasion and asked, “Weren't bombs made to blow up and kill men? So why is there such a cry when only a man becomes a human bomb?” He was subsequently rehabilitated to his current position as military advisor in the Vanni. Balasingham and his wife Adele rose even more higher in their leader’s estimate. The Balasinghams — who posed no threat of any sort to their master — became the face of the organisation across Western capitals and were an essential part of all negotiating teams at various times. THE TAMIL ‘STATE’ Prabakaran’s moment of triumph in ejecting the IPKF (March 1990) out of his domain, powered him with greater confidence. He felt vindicated in his belief that Eelam was a reality within his grasp. His surviving boys had gained invaluable experience during the thirty months of ‘vanquishing the fourth-largest army in the world’; the girls had proved their worth and were now battle-hardened; recruiting was never easier, his stock with his donors, the Tamil diaspora, was at its peak; and the media doted on him as their new darling.It was at this point that he tightened the security around him and set about the task of constructing a state within a state. He reintroduced taxation on his population, decreed the LTTE flag as the Tamil national flag, set up courts, police stations and ‘ministries’ that oversaw agriculture, education, rehabilitation and economic development. But his main preoccupation was in developing a conventional armed force. Military traditions — a formal ranking system, uniforms, gun salutes, parades, ceremonial funerals of flagdraped cadres killed in action — became the norm. Sarongs and flip-flops gave way to smartly pressed uniforms and spit-andpolish boots. Twenty years before he acquired the half-a-dozen ZLIN-143 aircraft to boast of being the only terrorist group in the world to possess an air wing, I was led to the LTTE’s “ordnance factory” in Manipay in 1985 to witness and photograph the aircraft his “aeronautical engineers” were assembling. The fact that it had a 200cc motorcycle engine to power it did not mask his intent to attempt building a conventional Armed Force, with its land, air and sea wings. “Geographically”, he stressed at the very beginning, “the security of Tamil Eelam is interlinked with that of its seas."He then turned against his benefactor, the Sri Lankan president, Ranasinghe. Premadasa, who had colluded with him to evict the IPKF and kept him on his toes until Prabakaran had him killed by a suicide bomber three years later in1993. THE DIASPORA In his annual Heroes Day speech — that he delivers a day after his birthday — Prabakaran, in November 2006 made his first direct appeal to the diaspora in funding the ‘Final War’ he had launched in July after the European Union joined a growing list of countries that had proscribed the group. Funds were drying up. “We express our gratitude to the Tamil Diaspora, our displaced brethren living all around the world, for their contribution to our struggle and ask them to maintain their unwavering participation and support.” This was in marked contrast to rebuking them for being “quitters” and “losers” in the late 1980s. Donations, however, have not always been voluntary.Following the crackdown on the LTTE by Canada and The European Union in 2006, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police released a report on their 4-year investigation (Operation Osaluki) into the Canadian fundraising efforts of the Tamil Tigers. The report revealed that the LTTE subjects Sri Lankan Tamils living in Canada and other Western countries to intimidation, extortion and even violence to ensure a steady flow of funds for its operations. COSTLY MISTAKE When Rajiv Gandhi was on the political comeback trail in May 1991, Prabakaran wasted no time in executing a pre-emptive strike. He dispatched his homegrown poet, Kasi Anandan — who had only a year ago thrilled the victorious LTTE cadres at a gathering in Trincomalee with his description of the IPKF as the Italian-Parsi Killing Force — to lull any apprehensions that anyone might have about the former Prime Minister’s security. The ruse, clearly, worked.Except that Prabakaran’s fool-proof plan did not count on having his photographer killed with the evidence against him intact on his body. The murder of Rajiv Gandhi by the world’s first woman suicide bomber set in motion a process that has finally come to destroy his ambition. India proscribed the group and though it took the United States six years to follow the lead and the 9/11 attacks to give the proscription some teeth, the new security climate induced other passive supporters of the LTTE in Western capitals to ban the outfit in their countries.With international opinion against him, Prabakaran retreated into his hideouts, eased himself out of the media spotlight, only granting even rarer access to international media to lamely deny any hand in his dastardly act. He now began wearing the black thread of his cyanide vial outside his shirt in an ostentatious display of his commitment to the cause. The holster with his pistol now found place outside his camouflage shirt signaling that he was no more ‘Thambi’ (younger brother) or ‘Anna’ (elder brother) to his followers nor merely the National Leader of Tamil Eelam but the Supreme Commander of the LTTE.The recently released photographs from the treasure trove of albums that the Sri Lankan troops found in the fleeing Prabakaran’s house are very instructive. The black string holding the vial of cyanide has disappeared in a number of images where he is with his family. Neither is his son, equally portly, seen to be wearing one even with his combat fatigues. HUMAN SHIELDS From the very beginning it was apparent that he would make ‘people’ his buzz word. First, declare he was on the path he had chosen for their sake, to liberate them. Second, attack the enemy over the shoulders of civilians to provoke an enraged counterattack that would kill innocents and garner him publicity at low cost. Finally, shield himself from attacks by closing all their exits at the point of his guns.The bulk of LTTE’s attacks against the IPKF were initiated around the core strategy of using civilians as shields. The IPKF helicopter gunship attack in Chavakachcheri was one such classic example. The LTTE positioned its gunmen in the most crowded part of the town — the market — to fire provocatively in the directions of the choppers that were flying at a safe distance from ground fire. At the Chavakachcheri morgue where families of victims were hurling anti-Indian abuses at me, a middle-aged woman took me aside. Apologising for the hostility of the mourners, she muttered, “Hitler killed not his own people, but Jews. But Prabakaran is killing Tamil people.” Civilians as human shields clearly appears to be a central part of Prabakaran’s strategy to escape from his present entrapment.How then did an insurgency, that seized legitimate political grievances as a foundation for terrorism and sustained martyrdom by quasi-religious zealotry, fail in its objective? From being credited as the world’s most successful and ruthless terrorist to losing nearly all of 15,000 sq.kms of territory in two years requires some doing. Both Prabakaran and the government of Sri Lanka have had their turns grabbing and then losing territory.In July 2001, marking the anniversary of Black July of 1983, Prabakaran staged stunning attacks on the Sri Lankan Air Force base and the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, wiping out half the country’s civil aviation fleet, in addition to a few military aircraft. With Sri Lanka’s army in a deadlock, the navy restrained and the air fleet neutralized, the success of this attack, once again, placed Prabakaran at the upper end of the plank that Colombo and he had been see-sawing upon for two decades.Barely two months later, the planes that brought the twin towers crashing down in New York on September 9, laid the ground for the emergence of a new world order where the world was divided into the good guys rooting for a global war on terrorism and the bad guys who attacked governments in pursuit of their evil goals. The seed was thus sown for Prabakaran’s decline and the slow destruction of Eelam. He was beginning to get undone by an event thousands of miles away and over which he had no control.It was not that Prabakaran did not attempt to adapt to the new world order. To shift the spotlight away from himself, he declared a ceasefire, came out of hiding, without his moustache and his falling hair dyed brilliantly black, sued for peace under Norwegian facilitation and announced his first press conference in a dozen years. His many websites removed all material that would be deemed offensive (virtual training camps where one could learn to forge a passport or make a bomb, for example) in the new environment, and wore safari suits to mould himself in the image of Nelson Mandela, the statesman he was quoting profusely on his sites and in his conversations.His first and only international press conference (April 2002) at his administrative headquarters in Killinochchi was a disaster. His experience with the media, confined to a few one-on-one interviews with select journalists, had not prepared him for this. He seemed bewildered and clearly out of his depth facing a mixed pack of journalists whose two-day uncomfortable wait was alleviated only by the non-stop screening of LTTE propaganda videos. His image makeover, as a clean-shaven, safari-suited statesman, failed to impress anyone. Announcing his idea of peace involving the Norwegians as peacemakers, he first fumbled and then chose the safer option of avoiding all questions — mostly related to the murder of Rajiv Gandhi and his own demand for a separate state - and passed on the microphone to his interpreter Balasingham. Balasingham declared that his leader was the President and Prime Minister of Tamil Eelam and that he and Mr Prabakaran were the "same'' and that he was the LTTE leader's “voice.” This set the tone for what was to follow.After six rounds of talks for peace between September 2002 to March 2003 across four countries, Prabakaran was back to what he had perfected over the years since the Thimpu talks in 1985 — stonewall, provoke and renege on an agreement and fully lay the blame for the breakdown of talks on the other party.The from-the-very-beginning futile exercise took its toll on three of the four LTTE delegates. Balasingham, the “chief negotiator” was gravely ill and had to remain in Europe along with Adele for his prolonged treatment. Karuna Amman (Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan), Prabakaran’s commander in the East, was being wooed by peacemakers to part ways with his leader. Meanwhile, the global war on terrorism was increasingly being read as the global war on Islamic terror, which meant the international community was too preoccupied to bother about non- Islamic outfits like the LTTE.The CFA (Ceasefire Agreement) went into cold limbo. Skirmishes broke out and violations of the agreement accumulated. The Scandinavian countries comprising the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission recorded 3,830 violations by the LTTE against 351 by the Government of Sri Lanka between 20 February 2002 and 30 April 2007.In March 2004, Prabakaran tried averting the crisis he saw coming his way by summoning Karuna to Jaffna on an official pretext. Karuna had learnt his lessons from the Mahathaya experience. He ignored the summons and split the seemingly monolithic outfit, taking with him a big chunk of the battle-hardened fighters he had trained. With the East in turmoil, Prabakaran saw his Eelam beginning to shrink. Months later, the tsunami further breached the LTTE’s wall of impregnability, damaging its bases along the northeastern coast.Chandrika Kumaratunga, then heading the government after having survived a suicide bomber attack, quickly learnt from Prabakaran’s successful diplomatic offensives. She dispatched her Tamil Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, to world capitals on a mission to get the international community to act against the LTTE’s interests in their respective countries. Kadirgamar was beginning to notch up diplomatic successes, having got the United Kingdom to proscribe the group in 2001. He was killed by a LTTE sniper in August 2005 just when he seemed on the verge of getting some more countries to proscribe the group.And when the elections came the following year (2005), Prabakaran compounded his earlier mistakes. He ensured — by forbidding Tamils to cast their vote — the victory of somebody who, he believed, was yet another politician even more infirm of purpose than his predecessors and therefore of immense value to his plans, little realising that he would finally be meeting his nemesis in the Rajapakse administration. Peace is inimical to Prabakaran’s existence. The new government started office, as all new governments in Colombo were wont to do, with a call for peace. After one round of ceasefire talks in 2006, Prabakaran was back to business. His woes of the three previous years in his new avatar of ‘statesmanpolitician’ were proving to him that he just was not cut out to be a man of peace.In his 2006 November annual speech, after his attempts to assassinate the Chief of the Army and the Secretary of Defence in Colombo, he rued, “We postponed our plan to advance our freedom struggle twice to give even more chances to the peace efforts, once when the tsunami disaster struck and again when President Rajapakse was elected.”He set out to reassert his authority over the East — and faced an army that was well-armed and well-trained and motivated as never before and one that was working with unprecedented intelligence provided by his breakaway commander, Karuna. Prabakaran lost the East — and from there on, he lorded over an unending series of military defeats.From among the many reasons being attributed to his incredulously rapid downfall, the one that would without any trouble resonate with those who have dealt with Prabakaran would be his sense of supreme self-importance. He is seen as a megalomaniac who hijacked the legitimate grievances of the Tamils to gratify his vision of himself and failed to see that the switch from guerilla band to conventional army would be disastrous.For the sanguinary among us — the chief reason for his downfall was the failure of his legendary Black Tiger suicide bombers and his celebrated Intelligence chief, Pottu Amman.For someone who pioneered the use — and masterminded remarkable innovations — of suicide bombers, Prabakaran’s Black Tigers seemed to have reached a dead-end. President Chandrika Kumaratunga was the first miracle of the Eelam war — as the first ever survivor of a Black Tiger attack, at an election rally in December 1999.Then came the failures in 2006 that cost him everything — General Sarath Fonseka, Commander of the Sri Lanka Army became the second survivor of a suicide attack in April. Prabakaran’s trusted tool of political persuasion, the Black Tiger, was beginning to let him down. And when Gotabaya Rajapkse, the Secretary of the Defence and the brother of the President escaped a suicide attack in December, it was curtains for Prabakaran. The last two failures led to his destruction. Clearly, Prabakaran was facing a short supply of efficient Black Tigers. He was desperate enough to use recruits whose mental aptitude didn’t match their ferocious commitment. A woman bomber sent to kill the Tamil Cabinet Minister, Douglas Devananda, in his Colombo office in November 2007, triggered her bra bomb when she discovered her target was not available for the day, killing herself and the Minister’s secretary. MEETING HIS MATCH The other factor that led to his precipitous defeat is that Prabakaran did not count on the troika (the President, the Army Chief and the Defence Secretary) calling his bluff. His elaborate deceptions of invincibility had begun cracking — first, with the exit of Karuna and then by the steady inroads that the specially trained units of the Sri Lankan Army’s commandos were making. The chronic political oneupmanship in Colombo over the Eelam war between the two national parties — the UNP and the SLFP — which had contributed largely to the growth of the LTTE and the prolongation of the war, was contained by the Rajapakse administration. The Rajapakse brothers pulled out a page from the Bush counter-terrorism doctrine — niceties be damned.With international assistance — material and moral — for the war on terror pouring in from China, Pakistan and the US, the defence budget was increased dramatically; state of the art equipment procured, and counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency training enhanced. By mid-2006, Canada and the European Union joined the growing list of countries proscribing the LTTE. This clogged Prabakaran’s supply lines and fund collection and contributed to diminishing his ability to fight back the surge of a newly professionalised force. In the Rajapakse brothers, Prabakaran finally met with an enemy as ruthless and unswervingly committed in their goal as he.As he presides over the destruction of his dream, Prabakaran must already be plotting his next move even as he plans his escape from the ever-shrinking space he is left with to hide in. Staying alive, going back to the basics and brushing up on Sun Tzu. His financially formidable supporters among the diaspora will be told that it is only territory that has been lost and as long as they are behind him he will deliver unto them the dream he has been promising them. Until then, Eelam will, like Khalistan, continue to live on in the virtual world.His long-term objective, however, will be to foil every effort made by Colombo to redress Tamil grievances and also ensure that he, and only he, remains the sole leader of the Tamils. No moderate Tamil leader or group will be allowed to take his place. Any attempt to nurture a new leadership will be foiled by assassinations and acts of terror — just as he had, in the mid-80s, done the biggest disservice to the Tamil cause by systematically wiping out the leaders of the other militant Tamil groups that existed and decimating their organisations in a move to emerge as the sole representative of the Tamil cause. Elections will be prevented by violence. Prabakaran will patiently wait for complacency on Colombo’s part and any ensuing security lapses to stage devastating acts of terror. In essence, he will start all over again and could potentially claw his way back if allowed to.The key to ensuring that Prabakaran goes down the same road and fades away as Idi Amin did lies in the sincerity, determination and tenacity of the Rajapakse government (and every other that follows it). Rolling back every discriminatory law and practice against the Tamils and guaranteeing them equal rights and opportunities would need to be its first priority. Ignoring the Tamil diaspora, however much it may rankle, would not be beneficial for Colombo. Colombo only has to remember that the rise and dominance of Prabakaran was largely dependent on Colombo’s policies and attitudes.As an immediate goal, Prabakaran will be counting on the few Black Tigers lurking in Colombo to blow up at least one of the troika. This would give him a respite, however brief, and save him from biting into the vial he sometimes carries around his neck.And should he be forced to feed on the cyanide, it would mean the absolute destruction of his fantasy and the organisation he has so brutally cultivated around himself. His death would splinter the group, leaving his surviving lieutenants scrambling for the throne and the vast financial empire Prabakaran has industriously built across three score countries. His son and heir apparent, Charles Anthony, is not considered a serious contender for the top job.In this hour of unprecedented defeat, the bluster and the belief in his personal immortalitywill not have dimmed. IwonderifPrabakaran’shandshakehaschanged. For an answer to that, over to the friendly Arakan rebel inMyanmar or the sympathetic politician in Europe, whose extendedhandwelcomesPrabakaranashore as he searches for a sanctuary. In all likelihood, Prabakaran — with all his chips down—would impress his saviour with a firm, masculine shake of the hand. 01 July 2009 Angry MR refuses to bow down to JHU An angry President yesterday warned Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka not to hinder his efforts to implement 13th Amendment to the Constitution and guarantee devolution of power to the provinces. Now that a 30-year war had been brought to an end, the aspirations of the people of the North and East should be met, he told a group of government ministers at Temple Trees yesterday, according to highly placed sources.Referring to Ranawaka’s threat to quit his government over the proposed full implementation of the 13th Amendment, the President said that he would do his job. "I’ll look after the rest, too," he said, urging leaders of constituent parties to have faith in him. He said that if they did their job, the government could go ahead with its programme. Political sources said that the President had reacted angrily to Ranawaka’s threat to quit the government. President indicated that he wouldn’t give in to pressure from any party.JHU spokesman Nishantha Sri Waranasinghe on Monday night told TNL that although the LTTE had been defeated, a section of the government wanted to implement the 13th Amendment at the behest of New Delhi. He accused the government of succumbing to Indian pressure.The JHU warning came close on the heels of the President reassuring India that Sri Lanka would implement the 13th Amendment. A three-member delegation comprising Basil Rajapaksa, MP, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, early this month visited New Delhi, where the two parties discussed the entire gamut of issues.Recently, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told an Information department briefing that the government would go ahead with the 13th Amendment though NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa had strongly objected to it. UK approves more funds for Lanka Nirupama Rao to be next Indian foreign secretary India's Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao was on Tuesday named as the next foreign secretary to succeed Shivshankar Menon who will be retiring on July 31 after an eventful three-year stint as the top diplomat. Rao, a 1973-batch IFS officer who has served in a number of key positions, will be the second woman foreign secretary of India after Chokila Iyer. Prior to her posting in Beijing as Ambassador in October 2006, the 58-year-old seasoned diplomat had served as Indian envoy to Sri Lanka and the country's first woman spokesperson. Earlier, she had served in the Indian Missions in Washington and Moscow besides having a stint in the Ministry of External Affairs as Joint Secretary (East Asia). She will be taking over as the top diplomat at a time when India's relations with Pakistan are going through tough times in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks. SL military shoots dead 2 detainees in Vavuniyaa internment camp Sri Lanka military personnel opened fire Sunday morning on detainees in an attempt to stop them making way through the barbed wire fence separating Ramanathan camp and Anandakumarasamy camp located in Cheddikulam, killing two of them and injuring more than two, in a confrontation that developed Sunday morning, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The killers had taken the two bodies away and their identities are not available at the moment, the sources added. In the beginning when a fence was erected separating Ramanathan camp and Anandakumaraswamy camp it was constructed with barbed wires running straight, parallel to the ground. The detainees from both camps had made a stile through the said barbed wire fence so that they could visit their family members held separately in these camps. Whenever such a stile was made it was hastily patched up preventing the detainees passing between the camps and when this fence failed to keep them off it was constructed into a regular fence with posts. But the detainees continued to make a stile through the regular fence and the authorities strengthened the regular fence by running barbed wires crosswise, both horizontal and perpendicular. The detainees, in a frustrated state of mind due to resentment and anger, did manage to get through even the strengthened barbed wire fence separating them from their near and dear ones Sunday morning when the military personnel opened fire on them. APRC gets one month The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) set up to work out proposals to resolve the ethnic conflict now faces an uncertain future after the Peace Secretariat which functioned as the APRC secretariat was asked to wind up its affairs by the end of this month. However when contacted by Daily Mirror the chief of the government peace secretariat Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha said the APRC would be given one month’s time to complete its deliberations and submit a final document but other alternatives would be looked at in case the APRC failed to complete its work within the stipulated deadline. The Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) co-ordinated the APRC sessions while also providing translators and interpreters.Nizam Kariapper who represents the SLMC at the APRC told Daily Mirror yesterday that in the absence of SCOPP the APRC too could no longer function. He said it was SCOPP Director General Rajiva Wijesinha or someone on his behalf who convened the APRC meetings.JHU front-liner and Western Provincial Minister Udaya Gammanpila said the government had now realized the the work of the APRC was a time-wasting exercise. “Without SCOPP, the APRC is like a dancer without a stage,” he said and added that the APRC was created to function in tandem with the military operations against the LTTE.“Even parties such as the UNP, the JVP, the JHU and the MEP are not represented in the All Party Representative Committee,” Mr. Gamanpila said.The All Party Conference constituted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa formed the APRC in June 2006 with a mandate to evolve a consensus with all political parties in resolving the national question. But subsequently the main opposition UNP broke away from the Committee stating that the parties in the ruling coalition should first reach a consensus on how best to resolve the longstanding conflict prior to getting the other political parties to agree to a solution. The JVP too boycotted the APRC soon after participating in a few sessions.Last year, the JHU and the MEP kept away from the APRC while at present the only opposition parties represented in the APRC are the SLMC and the Democratic People’s Front. The Committee has held 120 sessions so far, but has failed to work out a comprehensive power devolution formula. APRC Chairman Tissa Vitharana could not be contacted for his comments. Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to appoint an all party committee to look into issues pertaining to development and reconciliation and to recommend measures to be taken to deal with them.The Government Information Department said in a statement yesterday that this committee would meet for the first time tomorrow, in the Presidential Secretariat, with President Rajapaksa in the chair.It added that all political parties would be invited for this meeting and issues pertaining to development and politics would be taken up. Two torpedoes and launcher recovered in search operation The troops engaged in search operations in the east Vanni region, recovered two torpedoes and a Torpedo launcher designed for launching from a large vessel. "The length of the Torpedo was 26 feet and its circumference 5.7 feet. The launcher was 28 feet long. Task Force 8 also found a 130 mm artillery piece and seven damaged 130mm artillery parts hidden by the LTTE," Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.He said that the LTTE had imported the torpedo, but never had an opportunity to deploy them. The technical details of the bomb would be released later, he said.Navy Spokesman Captain D. K. P. Dassanayake said that they knew about the LTTE having torpedoes. He said but torpedoes could be effective only against large vessels. AIADMK Evicted from Tamil Nadu Assembly Legislators of the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) were on Tuesday evicted en masse from the Tamil Nadu Assembly when they disrupted its proceedings by raising slogans to demand the passage of a resolution on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Assembly Speaker R Avudaiyappan ordered the eviction following a request from Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, who said raising slogans inside the House was "uncultured". It all started after the Question Hour, when the AIADMK members demanded that the House adopt a resolution urging India to file a case against Sri Lanka in the International Court of Justice in view of allegations that many innocent Tamils were killed during the recent military offensive against the LTTE. When the Speaker rejected their demand and wanted to proceed with the listed business, the AIADMK members stood up and raised slogans demanding the passage of their resolution. At this point, Karunanidhi intervened and said raising slogans inside the House was "uncultured," and requested the Speaker to evict them. AIADMK’s allies MDMK and PMK staged a walkout on the issue. Security Forces to be strengthened by 50,000 Another 50,000 personnel will be recruited to the Security Forces to maintain the administrative areas liberated from the LTTE. Addressing the media at the Media Centre for National Security yesterday, Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the LTTE had been holding and controlling over 600 sq km in the North and the Vanni, as well as 2/3 of the coast. “All these areas were liberated and the LTTE administration has collapsed. Now these areas have to be maintained and administrated by troops. We need the Security Forces and Police to be in action to safeguard our country.” he said. ”Therefore, around 50,000 personnel are to be recruited to the Security Forces to maintain a presence on the ground and the sea coast liberated from the Tiger cadres”, he added. Meanwhile, Minister Rambukwella said that the Government’s first and foremost priority is to help the Internally Displaced People to get back on their feet and ensure for them a prosperous future. “The Government’s first, second and third priorities are to ensure that we are focussed on around 300,000 IDPs who were liberated from the LTTE clutches and living in the IDP centres are returned to a normal life. “The Government had taken this issue as a priority concern resettling and rehabilitating the IDPs”, he added. He reiterated that the Government’s goal is not only to resettle the IDPs in their original dwellings but also to restore livelihoods. He said that while the whole world accepts terrorism as a cancer that is spreading round the globe some have also at the same time called for a negotiated settlement with the LTTE and claimed that the LTTE can’t be defeated militarily. ”The government had embarked on its humanitarian operation to liberate the innocent civilians trapped under the LTTE. The mission was successful. We not only defeated the LTTE militarily but also dismantled their infrastructure and weakened their fighting capability. The LTTE leader and his cadres were dealt a humiliating defeat. The LTTE had completely lost its power”, he added. In the process of eliminating terrorism around 300,000 civilians have become IDPs. “They are our brothers and sisters. They are part of our society. The entire focus of the government is to make sure that these people were looked after and provided with all the facilities while restoring their livelihoods. The government is going beyond sheltering the IDPs into counselling, family reunion, education of children and to give them the feeling that they are part of the country. He noted that some political parties ignoring the realities are trying to make political capital. Some of them are talking about the 13th Amendments, devolution of power and some others are quering what the Government plans to do with the massive defence expenditure which will now be saved with the end of the war. These are not the issues to be discussed at the moment. The priority is to resettle the IDPs and provide them a better livlihood. The Government’s main geal is to ensure the country gots back to normal,” he added. CID questions Kilinochchi hospital director on LTTE involvement The CID informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate that the director of the Kilinochchi hospital who fled to the LTTE controlled area during the final count down attack on the LTTE had been directly involved with the LTTE.The CID filing a report on their investigations in court informed the magistrate that the Director of the Kilinochchi hospital Dr. Thangamoorthi Satyamoorthy, LTTE doctor Kandasamy Thurainathan and nurse Arumugam Jeyaluxmy had fled to the LTTE controlled area when the forces captured the Kilinochchi hospital.The CID alleged that the director had taken the drugs and other medical equipment with him when he fled to the LTTE area and had treated the injured LTTE cadres in the Ponnambalam area. Subsequently the three suspects had come to the government controlled area with the civilians who were arrested by the forces. The CID said Satyamoorthy who was born in Nawalapitiya and had later gone to reside in Kilinochchi. He had entered the Medical Faculty of the Jaffna University from where he obtained his MBBS in medicine.Subsequently he had been the Medical Director of the Kilinochchi hospital. During his term of office as director he had sent drugs and other medical equipment received from the government to treat civilians, to the LTTE movement. The CID said he was directly involved with the LTTE movement. Kandasamy Thurainathan who had been a soldier in the LTTE Sea tiger force had undergone training as a doctor in the Medical Unit of the LTTE.Thereafter he had practised as a doctor in the LTTE movement. The nurse Jeyaluxmy had assisted the first and the second suspects to treat the injured LTTE cadres.The CID said they were further investigating the suspects on their involvement with the LTTE.When questioned by the magistrate whether the suspects had any complaints to make they answered in the negative and the Magistrate ordered the CID to produce the suspects in Court on July17. Prasanna says 13th Amendment must be implemented Western Province Chief Minster Prasanna Ranatunga dismissing the Jathika Hela Urumaya threat of pulling out of the Government if the 13th Amendment to the Constitution is implemented, said that this was an Amendment passed by Parliament and legally valid and had to be implemented."Why should the JHU oppose this while being a partner in the Government," he queried. He said that except for a handful, the whole country had endorsed this. "The President only wanted to make matters easy for everyone and that was foremost in his mind in preparing to implement the 13th Amendment," Ranatunga said.Even those who contemplated earlier to oppose the move had now given their wholehearted support. Sri Lanka’s Peace Endangered by Judicial System, Group Says Sri Lanka’s return to peace after a 26-year war with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is threatened by a judicial system that has raised ethnic tensions, the International Crisis Group said. “Rather than assuaging the conflict, the courts have corroded the rule of law,” the group said in a report. “An overhaul of counterproductive emergency laws is essential if the military defeat of the LTTE is to lead to a lasting peace that has the support of all ethnic communities.” Changes in the judicial system should include an independent mechanism for choosing judges, the Brussels-based ICG said. Magistrates should use their powers to monitor the conditions of an estimated 10,000 LTTE fighters or suspected members held since the end of the conflict, it said. Sri Lanka’s army defeated the LTTE in May, ending its fight for a separate homeland for Tamils in the north and east of the island nation. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an address last month marking the victory, said the end to LTTE terrorism will allow the Tamil community to live “without fear and mistrust.” Judges and magistrates have failed to “provide remedies” for illegal or abusive detention under emergency laws and the criminal code, said the Crisis Group, which aims to prevent and resolve conflicts. The appointment of a new attorney general last month is an opportunity to depoliticize the system. “The judiciary has not acted as a check on presidential and legislative power, but instead has contributed to the political alienation of Tamils,” Robert Templer, the group’s Asia program director, said in an e-mailed statement. The emergency laws should be changed as they are used disproportionately against Tamils, the ICG said. Reconciliation Rajapaksa yesterday created an all-party committee to discuss development and reconciliation in the country now the war has ended, according to the government’s Web site. Tamils make up almost 12 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 20 million, while Sinhalese account for 74 percent, according to a 2001 census. Sri Lanka’s army stepped up its offensive on the LTTE’s bases in the north when the government formally banned the group in January. It scrapped a 2002 cease-fire with the group a year earlier. The Tamil Tigers said that accord recognized the de facto existence of a Tamil homeland with its own civil administration, defense force and judiciary. A political settlement in Sri Lanka won’t include “space for racism and separatism,” Rajapaksa said at last month’s victory parade. Travel Alerts The end to terrorism has allowed the country to lift travel alerts, Rajapaksa said last week in an address to promote a new program to attract tourists to the South Asian island. The U.S. on June 26 issued a new travel advisory saying its nationals should evaluate the risks of traveling to Sri Lanka. “Despite the Sri Lankan government’s announcement of a military defeat of the LTTE, remnants of the insurgency group still remain, and thus there is a lingering potential for continued instability,” the State Department said. The LTTE is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and India. The U.S. statement is part of a strategy to undermine the country, Sri Lanka’s government said on its Web site two days ago. The alert “demonstrates the sheer lack of understanding of the ground situation” and the fact that the LTTE has been comprehensively defeated, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said. Army, Navy, Air Force geared for new role The Army, Navy and Air Force will carry out their future operations to provide security and development of the country following its tremendous contribution to defeat terrorism and liberate civilians from the LTTE control. Addressing the media at the MCNS yesterday, Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said over 22,000 LTTE cadres were killed including LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran and his senior cadres and over 10,000 Tiger cadres were arrested and surrendered to the Security Forces. During humanitarian operation around 6,000 soldiers sacrificed their lives and another 20,000 were wounded in action. He said Task Force VIII have recovered a torpedo launcher, two torpedoes and a 130mm Artillery gun buried by the LTTE cadres during a search operation conducted in Puthukudi-yiruppu area on Monday. . Brigadier Nanayakkara said since January to-date 22,130 soldiers were recruited to the Army. Speaking to the media Navy spokesman Captain D.K.P. Dassanayake said the Navy has a much bigger responsibility in the future after eradicating terrorism in the country. “Sri Lanka is an Island and the sea level has increased in seven folds and it will be increased to 21 in the future. Meanwhile, the sea has many resources such as fish, oil etc. These resources should be protected from predators in an expanding sea coast,” he added. Meanwhile, Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said that the Air Force had made numerous contributions during the humanitarian operation to liberate the trapped civilians and free the country from terrorism. The Air Force will carry out its activities for the development of the North. ”The Air Force are capable of covering both ground and sea. We will continue in this vein for the development of the country,” he added. Elie Wiesel: Sri Lanka's victimization of Tamil people must stop Holocaust surviver, Jewish icon, and Nobel laureate, Professor Elie Wiesel, in a message posted on his website said: "Wherever minorities are being persecuted we must raise our voices to protest. According to reliable sources, the Tamil people are being disenfranchised and victimized by the Sri Lanka authorities. This injustice must stop. The Tamil people must be allowed to live in peace and flourish in their homeland." In 1986, Prof. Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for Peace, and soon after, Marion and Elie Wiesel established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.For his literary and human rights activities, Prof. Wiesel has received numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Liberty Award, and the rank of Grand-Croix in the French Legion of Honor.Dr Elyn Shander, a Connecticut physician and a member of US-activist group, Tamils Against Genocide, has been working with the Elie Wiesel Foundation, updating the organization on the ground situation in the NorthEast. The Elie Wiesel Foundation has been receiving regular updates of the condition of the 300,000 Tamil civilians in the internment camps., Dr Shander said."We are very grateful that he [Prof. Wiesel] has responded to our request to support the Tamil people. Now that it is official on his website, we are certain that other institutions that are involved in holocaust and war-crime research will take up Sri Lanka case," Dr Shander told TamilNet. Shander is also the vice president of a new organization USTPAC (United States Tamil Political Action Committee), an independent democratic organization dedicated to lawful means to restore Tamil Peoples right to self-determination and democratic self rule in their traditional homeland.In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel as Chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust. In 1980, he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. He is also the Founding President of the Paris-based Universal Academy of Cultures and the Chairman of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization he and his wife created to fight indifference, intolerance and injustice. Elie Wiesel has received more than 100 honorary degrees from institutions of higher learning.
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