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30 November 2005 Clinton
warns Sri Lanka over war Last year's tsunami killed nearly 31,000 people in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile the aid agency, Oxfam, has criticised the pace of rebuilding in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, saying that it is too slow. Oxfam said that both countries - the worst-hit by the tsunami - had to provide more appropriate land on which to build permanent shelters for the tsunami survivors. The Asian tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in 13 countries - 130,000 in Indonesia and 31,000 in Sri Lanka. 'Civil conflict' Mr Clinton toured parts of the eastern and north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Earlier, speaking in Colombo, Mr Clinton said the country had achieved "real progress" since the 26 December disaster. "Ninety per cent of children are back in school, epidemics have been prevented and transitional shelter has been provided to almost all internally displaced people," he said. But Mr Clinton emphasised that all this work would be "reversed" if the ceasefire between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the government failed to hold. "Any recovery progress achieved this year will be quickly reversed if Sri Lanka returns to civil conflict." Mr Clinton held talks with the country's new President, Mahinda Rajapakse. Mr Rajapakse took office having pledged to take a hard line against the Tigers. Mr Rajapakse praised Mr Clinton for his involvement in tsunami recovery. "Your personal involvement in the post-tsunami reconstruction efforts of our country has been a great source of strength to all of us," Mr Rajapakse said, his spokesman told reporters. This is Mr Clinton's third visit to the country since last December's tsunami. 'Buffer zones' Oxfam has criticised the slow pace of work in tsunami
recovery in Sri Lanka. Along the Sri Lankan shoreline many destroyed homes have not been rebuilt because they were in areas now deemed to be 'buffer zones' where building is prohibited. "Thousands of permanent houses have already been built for tsunami survivors but until new land is provided for those made landless, the rebuilding process will be too slow," Oxfam's director, Barbara Stocking, said. As for Indonesia, the group said the government had not got policies in place to provide new land to the landless. Mr Clinton is due to tour Indonesia on Wednesday. 7 billion spent to keep Ranil UNP leader Ranil Wickrmesinghe has agreed to hold discussions with the two factions of the party - the one which says that he should step down from the party leadership and the other that says he should remain as the party leader in the aftermath of presidential election defeat, a parliamentarian of the faction calling for his resignation told 'Lanka e News'. The meeting is to be convened within a week. Meanwhile issuing a statement Deputy UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya said that he would extend his fullest co-operation if the majority of the party believes a major overhaul is necessary in the party in order to find a way out of the present crisis. Sri Lanka warned over cyclonic storm The Meteorological Department today warned the public that a cyclonic storm named 'Baaz', now in the Bay of Bengal, will hit Sri Lanka in a few hours' time, causing intermittent showers or thundershowers with strong winds. It said ‘Baaz’ was about 500 km northeast of Jaffna at 9:00 AM today. It is moving northwestward and is likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm. There will be intermittent showers or thundershowers with strong winds in the Northern, North Western and North Central Provinces. Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces and the Galle and Matara districts will also feel these weather conditions after midnight today. Rain or thundershowers will occur in the sea areas off the coast extending from Mannar to Pottuvil via Jaffna and Trincomalee. Scattered showers or thundershowers will be experienced elsewhere. The fishing and naval communities are strongly advised to refrain from their activities in the northern, eastern and northwestern seas, as the seas are expected to be very rough with winds and rain. The winds will be between northerly and northwesterly at speeds of 20-40 kmph. They will rise up to 60-100 kmph at times in the seas off the coast extending from Mannar to Pottuvil via Jaffna and Trincomalee. Clinton meets TRO Executive Director TRO Executive Director Mr. K P Regi told the United Nations
Special Envoy President Bill Clinton the problems that have led to the
disappointing progress made thus far in Phase III of the Tsunami recovery
programme in the NorthEast when he talked to Mr Clinton during the Sri
Lankan Civil Society organization meeting in Colombo Tuesday. President
Clinton had mentioned to Mr. Regi that he is aware of the problems facing
the NorthEast and that he will endeavour to address these issues. Mr Regi handed President Clinton a letter on behalf of TRO which highlighted the problems that the people of the NorthEast face and explained the problems that TRO has encountered working in the NorthEast. “TRO’s work is funded through partnerships
with 35 international NGOs, UN agencies, bilateral donors and the Tamil
Diaspora, who contribute through our 14 overseas offices. NGO’s
and individuals from the USA, such as Operation USA and CitiHope, have
provided funds and other aid that has vastly increased our ability to
serve the affected populations” the TRO letter stated. The letter outlined some of the false allegations that have been directed towards TRO in an attempt to distract the organization from its commitment. “TRO is being victimised and our organisation is being maligned by concerted and malicious propaganda campaigns and physical assault, both in Sri Lanka and in the international community, making it difficult for us to serve the affected populations.” “The continuing attacks upon the TRO Batticaloa office, which has been attacked by unknown parties 5 times, are an example of this. During these attacks hand grenades and automatic machine gun fire have been directed at the office. Numerous staff members have been injured and one staff member was killed during one of these attacks.” “Our main support base, the Tamil Diaspora community, has experienced intimidation by parties which wish to politicize our work in the NorthEast”. The letter also highlighted that TRO has recently published its audited financial statement for the post-tsunami period, “We are very proud to inform you that TRO Sri Lanka is the only organization among those that are involved in post tsunami relief and rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka, both national and international, to have published audited accounts of the tsunami funding (January - June 2005). These audited accounts were sent in August to the Sri Lankan President, the Prime Minister, all Members of Parliament and to the international development community.” The letter also cited the lack of an acceptable institutional mechanism for the delivery of tsunami aid to be a crucial problem. “It is very distressing to note that the humanitarian needs of the NorthEast keep growing with each successive disaster and yet there continues to be an absence of an institutional mechanism for the delivery of relief, rehabilitation and development that is acceptable to all parties to the current conflict. This has made it even more difficult for organizations such as ours to fulfil our mandate." “TRO is committed to providing humanitarian service which is NON-POLITICAL. TRO works in the GoSL and LTTE areas with ALL 3 ethnic groups (Sinhala, Muslim & Tamil). Phase I & II were successful because INGOs came and worked with local NGOs like TRO.” The letter pointed out that in Phase III, the needs of the NorthEast are being addressed slower due to the lack of a structure to channel the funds to the beneficiaries to rebuild the communities and that this is attributable to failure of the PTOMs. The letter also highlighted some of the significant equity issues that arise as a result of the different approaches INGOs, other agencies and governments take when working in the GoSL versus. LTTE controlled areas. Inequity in treatment of war affected versus tsunami affected was mentioned as another major concern in the post tsunami period TRO’s letter further said: “Tsunami has lead to a recentralization of the few powers that were devolved to the provinces. All decisions are made in Colombo without much consultation with the local authorities. Centralised controls of all flow Tsunami funds and assistance by the government of Sri Lanka, including the funds and the endeavours of civil society is ensuring the perpetuation of some of the embedded problems. The lack of competency, excessive control, corruption and politicisation in the government bureaucracy are problems that are entrenched in Sri Lanka. These have become significant detractors to the progress of Tsunami recovery, particularly in the NorthEast. This compulsion to control progress from Colombo is significantly affecting TROs ability to respond to the challenges it faces." Un-publicised security related controls by Colombo are also limiting the smooth flow of construction and other relief materials to Tamil areas, the letter said. Policemen in Tiger custody ‘re-remanded’ The three police offices of the National Child Protection Authority arrested by the LTTE were re-remanded yesterday till 20 December, by the Tiger ‘court’ in Kilinochchi. This was for the fourth time since the officers’ arrest while persuing a foreigner, accused of child abuse, to Arippu, Murunkan in Mannar. The police officers in Tiger custody are Reserve SI Bandujeewa Bopitigama, PCs Diluk Hemantha and R.D. Sarath. The Kilinochchi Tiger ‘police’ produced them before ‘magistrate’ Selvi and requested them to be re-remanded as inquiries were pending. The ‘magistrate’ who considered the request ordered them to be re-remanded. Supreme Court
to consider UN ruling The chief justice has decided to once again hear an appeal after the Geneva based United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) requested the government of Sri Lanka to release Sinharasa. Sinharasa accuses the government of Sri Lanka for not abiding with the (UNHRC) ruling. He points out that the government is bound by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights to which Sri lanka is a signatory. In his petition Sinharasa has requested the Supreme Court to order the government of Sri lanka to release him from prison. Speaking to journalist K S Udayakumar, a spokesman of
the supreme court said that this is the first time such petition is taken
up for hearing. Mano Ganeshan speaks out on Ranil's failure Extract from a statement made by Mano Ganeshan in the
Tamil Daily Virakesari of 23/11/2005 It is not correct to accuse the LTTE for the debacle of Ranil of the UNP in the Presidential election, but the blame should be taken by UNP's Mallik Samarawickrema and messrs Milinda Moragoda M.P. Navin Disanayake M.P and Upcountry Peoples Front President P. Chandrasekeran. Since Moragoda and Dissanayake did not control their tongue when addressing the public and Mr. Samarawickrema and Chandrasekera by their childish activities, Ranil lost the Presidential election. In the circumstances thousands of votes cast to Ranil on the appeal of the other UNP leaders, the CWC and Mr. Hakeem's S.L.M.C and others have gone for waste. Outgoing Samarawickrema, Mr. Ganeshan had allied to enlist the co-operation of some unknown people to canvass the support for Ranil from the LTTE. Mr. Samarawickrema was of opinion that the UNP could tame the LTTE to get votes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Mr. Chandrasekeran, who now criticises the LTTE and TNA, earlier promised that he could easily convince the LTTE. It was a false and misleading promise he made to Ranil and the UNP. Mr. Ganeshan had said that negotiators should have given a convincing guarantee to LTTE Demands. Mesrs. Samarawickrema and Chandrasekeran should have convinced the UNP hierarchy when the LTTE discussed their problem with the UNP. Mr. Ganeshan had said that their front had no link with LTTE and their front had no opportunity to discuss problems with the LTTE using their goodwill with them. He had said that their front was of opinion that Messrs. Samarawickrema and Chandrasekaran would have convinced the need for Northern and Eastern Province Tamils to vote for Ranil through the LTTE. It is a few days earlier to the Election that their Front came to know that concrete steps have not been taken to lure N.E. Tamil Votes. Further, he (Ganeshan) had said that the utterances of Mesrs. Milinda Moragoda and Navin Dissanayake also contributed to the failure of Ranil. Their talks, Mr. Gameshan said was communal minded, and the UNP failed to investigate into it. A political scene conducive to them was enacted. The LTTE, Mr. Ganeshan says not a political party seeking seats in parliament but a national struggle movement aimed at seeking consolation for Tamils. Is it possible for the LTTE to read Ranil's election Manifesto, his speech and utterances of UNP leaders and appeal to Tamils in the North and East to vote for Ranil without an assurance that their demands would be met asked Ganeshan? The people who guaranteed 6 lakhs of votes from the North and Eastern Tamils failed to convince what Ranil would do to them after he assumes the Presidency. It was the duty of the negotiators to tell Ranil that without any grantee the LTTE will not appeal to Tamils to vote for him. Did the negotiators explain this to Ranil. If so what was his reaction? Mr. Ganeshan asked did Chandrasekeran give any grantee to the LTTE and did they reveal it publicly? Mr. Ganeshan asked did the LTTE agree to his Guarantee or they rejected it? Mr. Ganeshan had said that upcountry Tamils were adviced by the LTTE to act according to what their leaders said in regard to Southern Sinhalese. Therefore Northern Tamils and Southern Tamils cannot agree to a common understanding. It is high time Mr. Ganeshan says leaders of the LTTE understand this situation but it is timely that leaders of political parties studied the situation which they are not aware or have not studied the history of Sri Lanka. Tamil-link lecturer in ASIO probe-The Australian A SRI Lankan Australian whose home was raided by police last week was earlier investigated by ASIO agents on suspicion of supplying hang-gliders to Tamil Tiger guerillas. Melbourne TAFE lecturer Thillai Jeyakumar sparked the interest of ASIO officers when he ordered hang-gliders from a NSW business and then shipped them to Malaysia. Mr Jeyakumar, also known as Jay Jeyakumar, is a member of the Melbourne-based charity the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee, whose members were raided by Australian Federal Police last week. An annual statement that the TCC provided to Consumer Affairs Victoria and obtained by The Australian shows that in 2003 more than half of the donations forwarded by the charity were sent to a fund in Malaysia described by security sources as "the leading Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) front organisation in Malaysia". The annual statement said TCC's total income in the year to June 2003 was $269,838. Of that, $183,290 was sent directly to orphanages and hospitals in LTTE-controlled northeast Sri Lanka but most of that amount - $95,000 - went to the World Tamil Relief Fund in Malaysia. Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation executive director Rajan Rasiah yesterday described Mr Jeyakumar, a computing studies lecturer at Melbourne's Chisholm Institute of TAFE, as "a very nice person" and "a very responsible person". The Australian was unable to contact Mr Jeyakumar, despite repeated attempts. But Dr Rasiah sought to distance his charity from the TCC yesterday after Sri Lanka's deputy high commissioner, Asoka Girihagama, revealed that his Government had warned Australian authorities that TRO fundraising was suspect. Dr Rasiah said that although the Sri Lankan Tamil community was tight-knit, there were no formal links between the TRO and the TCC. But Dr Rasiah said TRO funds were also occasionally channelled through Malaysia. Security sources said yesterday that LTTE front organisations were widespread in Australia. "Of all the terrorist support networks, the network of the Tamil Tigers is the most extensive in Australia and New Zealand," one security source said. According to another source, Australian LTTE supporters had sent speedboats and light aircraft parts to Tamil Tiger guerillas, who are waging a bloody and long-running struggle for an independent homeland in Sri Lanka's northeast. The source said the boats and microlight planes could be used in suicide attacks. "Australia has been traditionally an important market for them to procure boat designs, for their speedboats, and also their air vehicles. Their initial spate of air vehicles were purchased in Australia," the source said. In the past month, Tamil Sri Lankans were under pressure to donate large amounts of money to the TCC in the lead-up to last Sunday's "Heroes Day" celebration, where Tigers leader Velupillai Pirabaharan gave his annual address - delivered at Elephant Pass in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. A spokesperson for the Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka, an Australian group that opposes the Tigers' battle, said there was a backlash in the Australian Tamil community this month when TCC members called regular donors and asked them to give $10,000 each in the lead-up to Heroes Day. Businesses had been asked to donate $25,000. ITRO responds to allegations by SL Highcommission in Australia The International Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation
(ITRO London), the representative body of the overseas offices of the
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, in a letter addressed to Mr. Asoka
Girihagama, the deputy high commissioner of Sri Lanka in Australia, requested
to provide details of the grounds for his recent allegations in Australian
media that the TRO Australia had allocated Tsunami relief and rehabilitation
funds to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). TRO Sri Lanka is the only organisation among those that are involved in post tsunami relief and rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka, both national and international, to have published audited accounts of the tsunami funding (January - June 2005), Director of ITRO, Mr. Naga Narendran, observed in his letter to the Sri Lankan High Commission. He further said that the TRO Family is apolitical in its mission. Copies of the letter, dated on 26th of November, were addressed to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Foreign Missions in Sri Lanka and the Executive Director of TRO, Mr. K. P. Regi. Full text of the letter sent by the the Diector of ITRO follows: Your allegation to the Australian Media “TRO Australia used donations to fund terrorist group” International Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (ITRO London) is the representative body of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) overseas offices (TRO family). You have alleged in the Australian media that TRO Australia is funding terrorism and may have allocated the funds raised for post Tsunami relief and rehabilitation work to the LTTE. ITRO’s mandate requires us to ensure that processes and procedures adopted in the administration of our member organisations are well above board, legal and transparent. Hence, we are anxious to ensure that your fears and suspicions, as alleged in the media by you, are addressed to the satisfaction of all concerned. We kindly request your cooperation and to provide us with the details of the grounds for your accusation enabling us to carry out a full investigation and to respond appropriately. We assure you that it is in the interest of what TRO family stands for and of the dignity of its respected professional volunteers, who have dedicated themselves to address humanitarian needs of the people of the North-East of Sri Lanka that we wish to investigate such serious allegations. TRO Australia is registered in Australia and is being administered by a committee of highly qualified independent professionals and its president Dr Rasiah has confirmed that “its funds were audited by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian tax office has full details of where its money was directed”. TRO Australia’s contribution to the Tsunami affected people, drawn from the very substantial funds donated to them by the Australian nationals, has been truly commendable and has assisted immensely in ameliorating the devastation suffered by the Tsunami affected people and their villages of the North-East of Sri Lanka. You are probably aware that the efforts of TRO Sri Lanka, assisted by the TRO family, including TRO Australia, helped secure an award from the President of Sri Lanka for its Tsunami response. As you are very well aware that the people affected by the war and then the Tsunami and now the floods, nearly seven to eight hundred thousand, are languishing in refugee camps, temporary shelters and with friends and relatives. This excludes those not evacuated but affected by the attendant poverty, deterioration of health, education and other social deprivation resulting from these disasters. There are over 150,000 people affected by last weeks floods in the Tamil dominated Northern district alone, of which at least 87,250 are in the Mullaithivu district which is controlled by the LTTE. These figures are not our own but were reported by the Hindu, a leading Indian newspaper of the 25th November 2005. Your government has allocated a sum of Rs 7.0 million (approx A$100,000) to address the immediate needs for the entire flood affected area. Just TRO Canada alone, on the other hand, has allocated US 50,000 to address the immediate needs of the North-East. We are apolitical in our mission, and in Australia we are subject to national law and also make significant difference in the lives of hapless civilian people of the North-East of Sri Lanka. We also like to remind you that there have been similar accusations in the past by members of your Government through the media. These were much harsher and one such accusation, among many others, was that “TRO Sri Lanka was directly involved in terrorism by importing bomb making items”. Later it was found that the items in question were “enamel vessels used for religious and cultural activities by Hindu Tamils and a donation from overseas to help Tsunami victims”. Whilst no apology was issued no charges were ever laid even though you had the benefit of even the emergency rule. We also like to highlight, TRO Sri Lanka is the only organisation among those that are involved in post tsunami relief and rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka, both national and international, to have published audited accounts of the tsunami funding (January - June 2005). The accounts were sent in August to the Sri Lankan President, the Prime Minister and his concerned Ministries / Departments and also to the international development community. ITRO would like to ensure that the well recognised capacity of the TRO family to address the humanitarian needs of the people of the North-East is not compromised by the types of allegations made by you. We await your early response. 29 November 2005 Sri Lanka President invites Tigers for talks Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today invited the LTTE for peace talks and vowed to maintain the country's Ceasefire Agreement. During a meeting with Colombo-based diplomatic missions today, the President said, “We can resume work immediately on reviewing the operation of the Ceasefire, whilst we prepare ourselves for eventual substantive talks leading to a lasting solution. These processes can work in. parallel and not necessarily sequentially.” “I reaffirm my government’s commitment to continue the Ceasefire,” he said. “I hope the LTTE will heed the call of the people in Sri Lanka and the international community by fully complying with the Ceasefire, especially those provisions relating to observance of human rights, such as refraining from the recruitment of child soldiers, political killings, abductions, and other illegal activities.” He also said he has already directed the Foreign Minister and the Peace Secretariat to initiate consultations with the donor co-chairs - Japan, the United States, the EU and Norway - to resume the peace talks. “My agenda is very clear; the process of achieving peace must be founded on trust and confidence. Most importantly, peace must be built on commitments that can be delivered in full. It is towards this end that I build consensus within the political landscape, so that the agreements that we reach at peace talks are fully deliverable.” The President also welcomed Prabhakaran’s remarks yesterday and said, “Recognizing my pragmatic approach and my invitation to talks as extending the hand of friendship, let me use this occasion to reiterate my invitation to Prabhakaran for talks.” Mr. Rajapaksa also appreciated the international assistance provided throughout recent years. “We also need international assistance to ensure that peace-making is not at the cost of democracy and pluralism for the people of the North and East. These are inalienable rights,” he said. LTTE virtually
pushed to war: SLMC Party’s General Secretary Hasan Ali told the Daily Mirror that his speech was disturbing because he vowed to reject the concepts of self-determination when working out a solution to the problem. “He has rejected the long-standing concepts regarding the problem. There is no reference to the federal solution. Then, how is he going to talk to the Tamil Tigers?,” he queried. However, he welcomed the President’s assurance to ensure a separate representation for Muslims in future peace talks with the LTTE. He said Muslims were for a federal solution to the problem, as it had been widely accepted. TNA parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham also ruled out the possibility of peace talks being resumed due to the government’s rejection of the Tamils’ demand for a homeland and self-determination. Mr.Pararajasingham said that the LTTE which fought for a separate state had now agreed to explore the possibility of a federal solution to the problem under the Oslo declaration. “The unitary character of government was rejected by Tamils about 60 years back. If the President tries to solve it under a unitary form of government only, he is trying to take the country back to 1950s,” he said. The TNA Parliamentarian said the government could not expect the LTTE to come to the negotiating table under such pre-conditions. Asked for his comment on the failure on the part of the President to make a specific reference to the facilitator role played by Norway in his address to Parliament, Mr. Parajasingham said: “We wonder whether the government has a hidden agenda about the peace process.” Indian Tamils need strong representation, says Agri Association Lanka Agriculturists Association in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday urged to establish a strong representation from the plantation and Indian Tamil Community. Deputy President of the Association R. Kokilavanan in the letter states that as there is no Indian Tamil representation from the plantation sector the impression created is that the present President too will neglect the Indian Tamil community. He states that the plantation Indian Tamil community appreciate the “Mahinda Chinthanaya” proposals. “However, we are disappointed that the Plantation Ministry has been given to a person belonging to the majority community.” Although a separate Ministry for Plantation and Indian Tamil community was established in 1994 he alleged that there was no progress in the community. During the Presidential Election the Tamil people in the plantation sector was told that UPFA had an alliance with communal parties such as the JVP and Hela Urumaya and that would lead to communal riots. Despite that charge, certain Tamil parties in the hill country supported Mahinda Rajapakse. The Association hopes that President Rajapakse will consider the decision and facilitate representation from the plantation and Indian Tamil community. Chandrika-Ranil consensus improbable even now Contrary to reports, claims and speculation, a political pact between former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was unlikely, political sources said. Reports on the possibility of Kumaratunga entering Parliament, to fill in the vacancy created through the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, have fuelled speculation that a political marriage of convenience was in the offing, the sources said. Kumaratunga may enter Parliament through the National List but a pact with Wickremesinghe was implausible, the sources said. However, it would not be easy to undermine President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, the sources said. Rajapakse wants ex-Matara District MP Dallas Allapperuma to fill Kadirgamar’s vacancy. Party sources said that the Rajapakse camp was confident of facing a possible threat. Acknowledging the impossibility of the CBK-Wickremesinghe pact now, a veteran politician yesterday revealed that they almost succeeded in forming a Government of National Reconciliation in August 2001. But Wickremesinghe scuttled the proposal, he said. According to him SLFP and UNP delegations discussed the issue on August 25 and 27, 1991 and agreed that Kumaratunga should invite Wickremesinghe to be the Prime Minister. The SLFP delegation had included Mahinda Rajapakse, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Mangala Samaraweera, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Anuruddha Ratwatte and D.M.Jayaratne. Karu Jayasuriya, Tyronne Fernando, Charitha Ratwatte and K.N.Choksy had represented the UNP. The two parties were to divide 30 Cabinet portfolios equally. This was to be a three-year arrangement with the focus on the national issue (peace process) and the economy. SLMC leader MHM Ashraff and TULF MP Neelan Tiruchelvam are believed to have backed the move. But Ranil had discarded the proposal by demanding the impossible. "He wanted absolute power in a country with an executive presidential system and did not give much thought to the proposal as his aim was to be the President in 2005." Wickremesinghe is believed to have refused to acknowledge reality until just before the presidential polls nominations when he urged Kumaratunga to "seek a platform of consensus." The sources further said that Wickremesinghe could have avoided defeat if he agreed to work with Kumaratunga. The Island learns that Kumaratunga sent a message to Wickremesinghe shortly after taking over the ministries of Defence, Police and Media in November 2003 that she did not want another election. She had also spoken against a fresh alliance with the JVP. She is believed to have said, "Please work with me during the next few years. You can be the President after that." This message is believed to have been carried by the then Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando. Despite Kumaratunga signalling that she was prepared to restore police and media portfolios and a part of defence, Wickremesinghe failed to grab the opportunity. A workable agreement at that time could have easily pre-empted the inevitable SLFP-JVP coalition that inflicted a heavy defeat at the April 2004 general elections, the sources said. Meanwhile Wickremesinghe appears to have overcome the imminent challenge to his position with the majority of the parliamentary group backing his leadership. Wickremesinghe’s defeat, at the closely contested presidential polls, triggered speculation that there would be a challenge to his leadership. Five bullet-proof vehicles taken home It is reported that Chandrika Kumaraunga who retired from the Presidency has reserved five bullet proof vehicles, five Defender jeeps and several other vehicles. She has reserved these vehicles through a memorandum presented by her to the Cabinet. On the orders of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a special probe is to be conducted to Kumaratunga hastily issuing cheques to the tune of 200 million rupees to various organizations and a cultural fund just days prior to her retirement and the reservation of the bullet-proof vehicles. The President has already ordered the relevant banks to stop payment for the cheques. Cabinet sources said that the issue would be taken up as a priority matter for discussion at next week's cabinet meeting. The President who is to leave the President's House on the 30th has chosen the official residence of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. According to well informed sources she has chose an office of the Ranaviru Seva Authority at Torrington Place as her office. She has handpicked 49 for her official staff. On the approval of the cabinet a two and a half acre land from Sri Jayawardanepura was donated to her in recognition of her services. Dalles as Deputy Defense Minister ? it is reported that former Deputy Minister Dalles Alahapperuma, who played a major 'behind the scene' role in Rajapaksa's election campaign is to be nominated to Parliament and appointed as Deputy Defense Minister. Even though moves were underway to appoint him to the national list slot fell vacant with the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar, it is being held up as retired President intends to enter Parliament as a backbencher for the vacant post. She has already made her intention clear to SLFP General Secretary Maithreepala Sirisena and Alliance General Secretary D.M.Jayaratne. However it is suspected whether the new President would give way to the former President's request. During the recent Cabinet reshuffle, a deputy Defense Minister was not appointed and it is reported that the Prime Minister has been asked to oversee Defense Ministry affairs in Parliament. Men who stole goods from Jaffna bound lorries nabbed Three men who stealthily got into vehicles carrying goods to Jaffna and robbed goods were taken into custody by Karuwalagaswewa Police and were remanded till December 7 after being produced before Puttalam District Judge Amal Tilakaratne. The suspects are Hettiarachchilage Ariyaratne of Puttalam Sirambiadiya, Dehiwattage Christopher Perera and Warnakulasooriya Arachchige Surendra Perera, of Kurugama. Goods to the value of six hundred and forty six thousand rupees (Rs. 646,000) had been robbed on October. 22 from a lorry bound for Jaffna. Robberies of this nature had been taking place often and even last week-end such a robber had been nabbed while attempting to rob. Robbers get into lorries plying the Puttalam - Anuradhapura highway at night. In an operation conducted by OIC Karuwalayaswewa Police with a team of police officers the three who were remanded had been taken into custody while they were committing the offence. Heroes day celebrations conclude in Trincomalee district Trincomalee district military commander of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Colonel Sornam, lit the common flame of
sacrifice in martyr's mausoleum at Alankulam in Muttur east Sunday evening
bringing the Heroes Day celebrations in the district to a conclusion.
Parents of LTTE martyrs, Tamil people and LTTE activists in large number
participated in the event, sources said. Mr.Suthakar, another LTTE commander in Trincomalee lit the common flame of sacrifice at the newly opened mausoleum in Othiyadichcholai in Nilaveli division, north of Trincomalee town. Parents, close relatives and friends of LTTE martyrs paid homage to their departed loved ones at these mausoleums by offering flowers and lighting candles, sources said. In Trincomalee town the final event of Heroes Day celebration was held at the Hindu Cultural Hall located along the Inner Harbor Road. Mr.Sivakumar of the LTTE political division lit the common flame of sacrifice. Tamils in large number attended the event, sources said. Karuna wants India and UK to mediate Sri Lanka peace process Breakaway eastern LTTE leader V. Muralitharan, known as 'Col. Karuna', in his Heroes' Day speech yesterday said his group would welcome only the mediation of India and the United Kingdom in the Sri Lankan peace process. “Only Indian and the UK countries understand our problems very well,” he said. “In particular, India is the country which should come forward to settle our problem.” The former eastern Tiger leader also wanted the Sri Lankan government to “immediately revise the Ceasefire Agreement that had paved the way for the LTTE to kill Tamils, Muslims and the armed forces. “The Sri Lankan government should also reconsider the role of Norway, which had facilitated the agreement,” he said. Mr. Muralitharan added that LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran was “preventing” India and the UK from “intervening in our problem”. “If there is to be true peace in this country, the LTTE should be disarmed before commencing any talks with them,” he also said. Oxfam urges Clinton to ask Sri Lanka to allocate more land for tsunami victims Oxfam International, the global anti-poverty agency, has urged the United Nations Envoy for Tsunami Relief, former United States President Bill Clinton, to ask the Sri Lankan government to allocate more land to house tens of thousands displaced by last year's tsunami. The request was made on the eve of Clinton’s visit to Sri Lanka. “Thousands of permanent houses have already been built for tsunami survivors, but until new land is provided for those made landless, the rebuilding process will be too slow,” Oxfam said. Oxfam-Great Britain's Executive Director Barbara Stocking said in a statement, “Oxfam is supporting ... Clinton’s efforts to ensure that appropriate land is made available for permanent housing. “Some Sri Lankans feel that land the government has made available is inappropriate because it is not near the sea, and many of its would-be occupants make their living from fishing. This means rebuilding is delayed as it is unclear about whether the communities would move into any new houses built in these areas.” LTTE 'did not
declare war' Haukland said that he does not believe LTTE Leader's statement as a declaration of war. "Both the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE are aware that Military solution is not the answer to this conflict, it has to be solved in political way" added Haukland. "According to the Ceasefire Agreement, if a party to Ceasefire Agreement wants to declare war that party has to give a notice fourteen days in advance and has to acknowledge the facilitator - The Norwegian Government". When questioned whether LTTE has informed the Norwegian Government Haukland said "I do not have any knowledge of LTTE informing the Norwegian Government on this regard" The importance of monitoring the Ceasefire agreement
has reiterated by the President Mahinda Rajapaksha in his policy statement
presented to the Parliament on Friday (26th November). "The only way to alter the existing Ceasefire Agreement is through a dialogue between both parties" added Haukland. "In order to implement the Ceasefire Agreement properly both parties must get into the discussion table without a delay", he insisted. 27 November 2005 LTTE
TO INTENSIFY STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION IF REASONABLE POLITICAL SOLUTION
IS NOT OFFERED SOON The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in his annual Heroes’ Day statement made an urgent appeal to the new Sri Lanka Government of Mr Mahinda Rajapakse to offer a reasonable political solution to the ethnic conflict without further delay. The Tamil Tiger leader cautioned the government that his liberation organisation would intensify the struggle for self-determination and political independence if the new regime adopts a hard-line position and fails to resolve the problems of his people. The LTTE leader said that a critical elucidation of President Rajapakse’s policy statement revealed that he has failed to grasp the fundamentals, or rather, the basic concepts underlying the Tamil national question. ‘In terms of policy, the distance between him and us is vast. Since President Rajapakse is considered to be a realist, committed to pragmatic politics we wish to find out, first of all, how he is going to handle the peace process and whether he will offer justice to our people. Therefore we have decided to wait and observe, for sometime, his political manoeuvres and actions’, the Tiger leader commented. ‘The past four years of the peace process have miserably failed to address the most urgent humanitarian needs faced by hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees displaced by war and by the recent tsunami giving rise to hopelessness and disillusionment among our people’, Mr Pirapaharan observed. ‘Our people have lost patience, hope and reached the brink of utter frustration. They are not prepared to tolerate and wait any longer. The new government should come forward soon with a reasonable political framework that will satisfy the political aspirations of the Tamil people’, the LTTE leader declared. ‘If the new government rejects our urgent appeal, opts for a hard-line position and adopts delaying tactics, we will, next year, in solidarity with our people, intensify our struggle for self-determination, our struggle for national liberation to establish self-government in our own homeland’, Mr Pirapaharan asserted. The Tamil Tiger leader also revealed that to date nearly eighteen thousand LTTE cadres have died in the national liberation war and several times that number of Tamil civilians have been wiped out by the Sri Lankan armed forces. ‘We are deeply disappointed to note that neither the Sinhala nation nor the international community has understood the spiritual significance, the historical importance of the immense sacrifice made by the Tamil people for the liberation of their nation’, the LTTE leader lamented. The following is the translated version of the full text of Mr Pirapaharan’s statement. ‘The Sinhala nation continues to be entrapped in the Mahavamsa mindset, in that mythical ideology. The Sinhalese people are still caught up in the legendary fiction that the island of Sri Lanka is a divine gift to Theravada Buddhism, a holy land entitled to the Sinhala race. The Sinhala nation has not redeemed itself from this mythological idea that is buried deep and has become fossilised in their collective unconscious. It is because of this ideological blindness the Sinhalese people and their political and religious leaders are unable to grasp the authentic history of the island and the social realities prevailing here. They are unable to comprehend and accept the very existence of a historically constituted nation of Tamil people living in their traditional homeland in north-eastern Sri Lanka, entitled to fundamental political rights and freedoms. It is because of the refusal by the Sinhala nation to perceive the existential reality of the Tamils and their political aspirations the Tamil national question persists as an unresolved complex issue. We do not expect a radical transformation in the social consciousness, in the political ideology, in the Mahavamsa mental structure of the Sinhalese people. The scope and power of Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony has not receded, rather, it has revived and taken new forms, exerting a powerful dominance on the southern political arena. In these objective conditions we do not believe that we can gain a reasonable solution from the Sinhala nation. We have to fight and win our rights. We have never entertained the idea that we could obtain justice from the compassion of the Sinhala politicians. This has always been the view of our liberation organisation. Even though we are deeply convinced that we cannot obtain justice from the Sinhala political leadership, but rather have to fight and win our rights, we were compelled by unprecedented historical circumstances to participate in peace talks with the Sinhala state. We were compelled to engage in the negotiating process by the intervention of the Indian regional superpower at a particular historical period and by the pressure of the international community at a later period. There were other reasons also that encouraged us to engage in the peace process. Constructive engagement in the peace process is a viable means to secure legitimacy for our liberation organisation as the representative organ of our people. We also wanted to internationalise our struggle and win the support and sympathy of the international community. Furthermore, there is a need to convince the world community that we are not war-mongers addicted to armed violence, but rather, firmly and sincerely committed to non-violent peace process. Finally and most importantly, we wanted to demonstrate beyond doubt that the Sinhala racist ruling elites would not accept the fundamental demands of the Tamils and offer a reasonable political solution. It was with these objectives we participated in the peace process. Over the last three decades of our national liberation struggle we have observed ceasefires and participated in peace talks at different periods of time in different historical circumstances. We knew that our enemy was dishonest and devious. We knew that these peace talks would not produce any positive results. We knew that there would be peace traps. Yet we participated in the peace talks with sincere commitment and dedication. In the course of our engagement we encountered pressures and complex challenges. There were traps to undermine our liberation struggle. We acted prudently and avoided pitfalls. We vehemently opposed all subversive strategies that were detrimental to the interests of our people. The Tamil people are fully aware of the fact that during the time of Indian intervention, when we encountered a serious threat to our freedom struggle and to the interests of our people, our liberation organisation was bold enough to oppose the Indian superpower and fight its military machine. From the Thimpu talks, we have participated in several peace negotiations, at different times, at different places. Unprecedented in the history of our struggle, it is only now, we have devoted a lengthy period of four years for the peace effort. However, despite this protracted period of time our sincere and persistent efforts to reach a settlement to the problems of our people have become futile. The recent peace talks have been significant and essentially different. They have been held with the facilitation of a third country, with the supervision of the international community. There were sessions of negotiations with Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe’s administration and later with Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government. The decisions, resolutions and Agreements reached during these negotiations were never fulfilled. During this process of negotiations we were extremely tolerant and even compromised on several issues. Nevertheless, the Sinhala political leadership refused to offer justice to our people. On the 24 December 2001 we unilaterally declared cessation of hostilities and opened the doors for peace. At that time, when we extended our hand of friendship to the Sinhala nation, we stood on a strong foundation. Having liberated the Vanni region and over run the Elephant Pass military complex, we had firmly established the balance of military power in our favour. I need not go into the details of the peace negotiations we had with Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe’s government in various world capitals under Norwegian facilitation. It is suffice to say that Mr Wickremasinghe’s administration was unable to resolve even the basic existential hardships and urgent humanitarian needs of our people. Adopting delaying tactics, Ranil’s government was primarily focusing on setting up an international safety net aiming at decommissioning our weapons. An international aid conference was organised in Tokyo in June 2003 as an essential element of this subversive scheme. Having realised the implications of the international safety net we decided to boycott the Tokyo conference and eventually to suspend the peace talks. Having failed to achieve anything, Ranil’s regime came to an end. In the meantime President Kumaratunga formed a new government with the alliance of racist forces opposed to peace. Chandrika refused to initiate the peace talks even though our organisation was willing to negotiate on the basis of our proposal for an interim self-government authority. Time began to elapse in a political vacuum without an interim settlement or a permanent solution. We realised that the aim of the Sinhala chauvinistic political leadership was to misdirect and undermine our liberation struggle by entrapping us in the uncertainty of a political vacuum. Faced with the meaningless absurdity of living in the illusion of peace we decided to resume our national liberation struggle. It was at that conjuncture, during the latter part of last year, when we were charting our action plan, that the horrendous natural disaster struck. Suddenly, unexpectedly the tsunami waves struck at the villages and settlements along the eastern coastal belt of our homeland causing an unprecedented catastrophe. In this cataclysmic disaster unleashed by nature, twenty thousand Tamil and Muslim people perished and about three hundred thousand people lost their homes, properties and were reduced to conditions of refugees. As nature inflicted further calamity on the Tamil nation, which had already suffered monumental destruction by war, our people were burdened with unbearable suffering. In these circumstances, our liberation movement was geared to confront the crisis. Our fighting formations, as well as our cadres belonging to various social and administrative services, were immediately engaged in the tasks of relief and rehabilitation. As the tsunami catastrophe shook the conscience of the world, the international governments volunteered to provide huge sums of money in aid for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people. In the meantime President Kumaratunga expressed her willingness to form a joint administrative mechanism in cooperation with the LTTE to implement the tasks of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction for the affected Tamil speaking people. We decided to talk to the Kumaratunga government since we had to give primacy to the extraordinary humanitarian tragedy faced by our people. Talks were conducted at the level of peace secretariats. Since we wanted to avoid delays in the negotiating process we adopted a flexible attitude, even compromised on crucial matters, and finally an agreement was reached to establish a joint administrative mechanism. The Accord was also signed by both parties. The international community expressed full support for the joint administrative structure worked out by both the Sri Lanka government and the LTTE. The international governments also expressed hope that a congenial environment for joint effort by warring parties had been created. But the Sinhala-Buddhist racist forces could not tolerate the emergence of a congenial environment of goodwill. Having registered their vehement protest to the joint administrative mechanism, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaja withdrew their support to the government. These parties also filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the joint administrative mechanism. The determination of the Supreme Court made the joint mechanism inoperative. With the demise of the tsunami mechanism the Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism killed the last hope of the Tamil people. Even the all-powerful President Kumaratunga could not provide a simple humanitarian project for the Tamils against the wishes of the Sinhala racist forces. The tsunami mechanism was not devolved with any political power nor was it to have any administrative authority. If there was so much opposition in southern Sri Lanka to a simple provisional arrangement then it is a daydream to expect to secure a regional self-governing authority in the Tamil homeland by negotiating with the Sinhala political leadership. This is the political truth that we have been able to learn from the four year period of the peace process. We hope that the international community, which has been intensively observing this political drama, similarly understands this truth. I wish to explain here a matter of crucial importance, which betrays the politics of duplicity of the Sinhala ruling elites. You would have heard about a secret shadow war being waged against our organisation behind the screen of peace. This subversive war has been unleashed with the aim of weakening our liberation organisation and to undermine our struggle. A large number of people consisting of our senior cadres, important members, supporters, Tamil politicians, journalists and educationists who were sympathetic to our cause, have been cowardly murdered. We know the real masterminds behind this shadow war. Though these violent acts were committed under the guidance and direction of the Sri Lankan military intelligence, we are aware that mysterious hands of some racist Sinhala politicians are behind these nefarious activities. This subversive war is being conducted in the government controlled territories, with the backing of the armed forces, utilising Tamil para-military elements as instruments. We expressed vehement protest to the Sri Lanka government when our unarmed political cadres were murdered and our political offices were bombed in the government controlled areas. Since the government ignored our protests we were compelled to withdraw our cadres to our controlled areas. A strange low intensity war has been unleashed against us taking advantage of the conditions of peace effected by the ceasefire. Disarming the Tamil para-military groups is an obligation of the state under terms of the Ceasefire Agreement. Having failed to fulfil this crucial obligation the Sri Lanka state has been utilising the Tamil para-militaries as instruments of this subversive war against our liberation organisation. This is a serious war offence. This is similar to a treacherous act in which one stabs you in the back with one hand while pretending to embrace you with the other. This behaviour clearly demonstrates that the Sinhala ruling elites have no genuine interest in peace and ethnic reconciliation. The Sri Lanka state has not given up the military option but rather transformed the war into a new mode of state terror under conditions of peace. We hope that the international community will discern the real mode of this shadow war and perceive its ugly face and ulterior motives. As far as the Tamil people are concerned, the concepts of peace, ceasefire and negotiations have become meaningless; concepts that do not correspond to or reflect reality. A shadow war conducted under conditions of peace, military occupation perpetrated in violation of the terms of ceasefire, an international subversive network woven during political negotiations, are the distorted ways the peace process has been abused. Because of these factors our people have lost faith in everything. Our people have lost faith in a peace process that has failed to secure them a real, peaceful life; they have lost faith in a ceasefire that has failed to remove the occupation army from their homes; they have lost faith in the talks that have failed to resolve their long standing problems. Our people can no longer tolerate an unstable life and an uncertain future. The waves of popular upsurgence erupting in the Tamil homeland are manifestations of the discontent and despair of our people; they are fierce demonstrations of their political aspirations. The multitude of Tamil masses, who converged at recent Tamil resurgence conventions, have publicly proclaimed their demands. The international community cannot ignore these proclamations of a unified nation calling for the recognition of their right to self-determination, of their right to rule themselves. Our people aspire to determine their own political status. Having been subjected to decades of systematic state repression, they call upon the international community to recognise their political aspirations. We have now reached a significant historic turning point in our struggle for self-determination. The ruling elites of southern Sri Lanka will never recognise our people’s right to self-determination. The Tamil right to self-determination will never find space in the entrenched majoritarian constitution and in the political system built on that constitutional structure. Our people have, therefore, realised that they have no alternative other than to fight and win their right to self-determination. Self-determination entails the right to freely choose, without external interference, our political life. The Sinhala nation has been refusing to embrace our people, to recognise their national identity and to share political power. This political alienation has continued since the independence of the island 57 years ago. Frustrated by years of alienation, oppression and ill-treatment as an unwanted people, the Tamils have finally decided to exclude and boycott the Sri Lankan polity and its power system. The boycott of the presidential elections by the vast majority of Tamil people was a concrete expression of this perspective. Our people did not participate in the election even though they had the voting power to determine the election of a new president. The non-participation of the Tamils should not be construed as a judgement of the personalities or policies of the presidential candidates. Rather, this political boycott was an expression of deep distrust and disillusionment of the Tamil people with the Sinhala political system. This event symbolises a serious turning point in the political history of the Tamils. It signifies that the Tamil people may choose their own path and freely determine their own political destiny. The Sinhala nation has chosen a new national leader. A new administration has assumed power under his leadership. This new government has been elected by the Sinhala majority specifically with their voting power. The national minorities are not represented in this government. It is essentially a Sinhala-Buddhist regime. Therefore Mahinda Rajapakse does not represent all the social formations of this country. He has assumed power as a president to protect and promote the interests of the Sinhala-Buddhist community. We are all aware of Mahinda Rajapaske’s thoughts and policies. We are also aware of the incompatible gaps and the irreconcilable contradictions that exist between Mr Rajapakse’s political vision and the Tamils’ struggle for self-determination. I do not wish to engage myself in a comparative analysis of this issue. The recent presidential elections and the change in governance effected by the Tamil boycott have created a wide rift, politically, between the Tamil and Sinhala nations. While Sinhala-Buddhist hegemony has assumed predominance in the south, Tamil nationalism has emerged as a powerful force and consolidating itself in the Tamil homeland. While a new government under Mahinda Rajapkse has assumed power in the Sinhala nation, LTTE’s administration is expanding and gaining strength as a concrete embodiment of Tamil nationalism. The international community is fully aware of the fact that we are running an efficient, self-governing administrative structure in the majority areas of the Tamil homeland, which were liberated from Sinhala military occupation by our organisation. Our administrative structure is formidable, consisting of our controlled territories with huge civilian populations, protected by a powerful military force. We have a police force and a judicial system to maintain law and order. We have also developed a complex administrative infra-structure of a shadow government. Though a large number of Tamils are still living in the military occupied Tamil region, their allegiance is with our liberation movement. The Sinhalese ruling class refuses to accept this ground reality, this political truth and attempts to belittle our liberation organisation as a ‘terrorist group’. We are disappointed and sad to note that some international governments, having been influenced by this false propaganda, continue to retain our organisation on their terrorist list. Biased positions taken by powerful nations acting as guardians of the peace process, in excluding and alienating our liberation organisation as a ‘terrorist outfit’ and supporting the interests of the Sri Lankan state, severely affected the balance of power relations between the parties in conflict at the peace negotiations. This pro-state bias constrained our liberty to choose our own political status. This partiality finally became one of the causes for the collapse of the peace talks. There is no clear, coherent, globally acceptable definition of the concept of terrorism. As such, just and reasonable political struggles fought for righteous causes are also branded as terrorism. Even authentic liberation movements struggling against racist oppression are denounced as terrorist outfits. In the current global campaign against terror, state terrorism always finds its escape route and those who fight against state terror are condemned as terrorists. Our liberation organisation is also facing a similar plight. We have now reached the critical time to decide on our approach to achieve the objective of our struggle. At this crucial historical turning point a new government under a new leader has assumed power in the Sinhala nation. This new government is extending its hand of friendship towards us and is calling our organisation for peace talks. It claims that it is going to adopt a new approach towards the peace process. Having carefully examined his policy statement in depth, we have come to a conclusion that President Rajapkse has not grasped the fundamentals, the basic concepts underlying the Tamil national question. In terms of policy, the distance between him and us is vast. However, President Rajapakse is considered a realist committed to pragmatic politics, we wish to find out, first of all, how he is going to handle the peace process and whether he will offer justice to our people. We have, therefore, decided to wait and observe, for sometime, his political manoeuvres and actions. Our people have lost patience, hope and reached the brink of utter frustration. They are not prepared to be tolerant any longer. The new government should come forward soon with a reasonable political framework that will satisfy the political aspirations of the Tamil people. This is our urgent and final appeal. If the new government rejects our urgent appeal, we will, next year, in solidarity with our people, intensify our struggle for self-determination, our struggle for national liberation to establish self-government in our homeland.’ NE should never be demerged - TNA The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has cautioned that any attempt by the government to bisect the temporarily merged north and east would lead to 'unwanted' destruction. TNA Parliamentarian and Batticaloa District MP, Joseph Pararajasingham told The Sunday Leader that the Tamils would not at any cost let any government separate these two provinces that are already merged. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) on Thursday demanded that the north and east provinces be broken into two. The JVP also said that the north and east where nearly 3.2 million Tamils predominantly live was merged by force. JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe also told a news conference in Colombo that the east was annexed to the north by force and against the law and this should be reversed. He also said the North and East Provinces were merged through India's intervention and a Tamil-majority provincial administration was created in an effort to address Sri Lanka's separatist conflict in 1987. Meanwhile countering this, Pararajasingham said the north and east have been a contiguous habitation of the Tamils and these two provinces should not be demerged. "We would not allow any Sinhalese politician to do so," he warned. He further said that almost all the pacts signed since independence, have given due recognition to the fact that the north and east are part of the traditional land for the Tamils. Pararajasingham said the Banda-Chelva Pact indicated that any part of the east could merge with the north. He further said that the Dudley-Chelva Pact indicated that first the land must be given for occupation for the Tamils and then only consider other 'foreigners.' The TNA MP said the Indo-Lanka Pact also recognised the merger and added for the past 23 years the north and east have been merged and there was no necessity for it to be demerged. "It could only be merged permanently and never could it be demerged," he said. He further said that the international community has accepted that the north-east that is predominantly inhabited by the Tamils should be merged. "With this understanding only even the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) was signed between the former UNF government and the LTTE in 2002. "There are many other valid reasons as to why these two provinces should not be de-merged. Therefore we will not let anybody do this," Pararajasingham observed. Youth shot in Valaichenai after bungled abduction attempt Unidentified gunmen riding in a white van in Valaichenai shot and injured Suganthakumar Selvaratnam, 24, a Tamil youth when he tried to escape after the gunmen attempted to abduct him around 12:45 p.m. Saturday, police said. Selvaratnam, a civilian, was rushed to Valaichenai Hospital with serious gunshot wounds to his chest and head. He was later transferred to Batticaloa Hospital at 1:30 p.m., medical sources said. The gunmen used T-56 type of rifle, sources added.The assailants had taken the motorbike of the youth in their white van, according to eyewitnesses. Stop torture call to Lanka A United Nations human rights panel yesterday said it was deeply concerned about torture in Sri Lanka and urged authorities to do more to halt it. The UN Committee Against Torture expressed "deep concern about continued well-documented allegations of widespread torture and ill-treatment as well as disappearances," which it said were mostly blamed on Sri Lankan police. Earlier this month, the committee reviewed a regular report from Sri Lanka, which must show what it is doing to abide by an international accord banning torture, like other states that have ratified the treaty. The committee said it was also concerned that violations are "not investigated properly and impartially" by Sri Lankan justice authorities. The committee also pointed to continued allegations of sexual violence and abuses of women and children in custody. In addition, it said it was concerned over the "undue delay" in trials of officials accused of torture, as well as allegations of reprisals and intimidation against witnesses and victims. The committee said it acknowledged the difficult situation in Sri Lanka, where the government has been battling Tamil rebels since the 1980s. However, it said, "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification of torture". Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels honoured 17,000 "heroes" killed in the movement's drive for independence amid fears of a return to ethnic civil war. The Tigers offered flowers and lit coconut oil lamps in front of photographs of the dead guerillas during Heroes' Week celebrations, which were due to conclude today with a key speech by rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said they were holding religious services in rebel-held territory as part of the memorial ceremonies. LTTE will not talk without Norway The LTTE yesterday said they will only commence peace talks with the government if Norway is involved in the peace process as facilitator. The LTTE made its position clear 24 hours after the government announced that the Norwegian facilitators would not be involved in any future peace talks that the UPFA government will be having with the LTTE. LTTE Spokesperson Daya Master told The Sunday Leader the organisation would talk to Mahinda Rajapakse's government only through the Norwegian facilitators. He said the Norwegians were agreed upon by both the government and the LTTE and if a decision is taken at all to drop them from facilitating it should come from both parties. "We are comfortable with the Norwegian facilitators and we do not see them as having any bias," he said. Daya Master also said the Norwegians had the blessings of India, the United States and the European countries and any changes to the system should be done with proper reason. A Colombo Norwegian Embassy spokesman when contacted said they would continue to mediate only under conditions where the Colombo government and the LTTE wants them to continue with the facilitation. "We would function as a facilitator only if we could play a constructive role in the talks. But we cannot play a role if the government of Sri Lanka does not want us to do so," he added. Sri Lanka’s security is India’s responsibility - Indian High Commissioner India would extend its fullest support to Sri Lanka to resolve its ethnic issue said Ms. Nirupama Rao, High Commissioner of India. She said India considered that National security of Sri Lanka was a responsibility of India and India would do everything possible to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. The Indian High Commissioner made these observations when she met Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake yesterday. Ms. Nirupama Rao praised Government of Sri Lanka for conducting a fair and free presidential election. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said he abhorred war and terrorism and the support given by India to defeat terrorism is highly acclaimed by him and the people of Sri Lanka. He also pointed out that the relations between Sri Lanka and India has not marred in any way. Mr. Wickremanayake said he hoped to continue the cordial relations between the two countries. Weather Monitoring Center opens in Kilinochchi Tamileelam administrative branch opened a weather monitoring
and forecasting center (WMC) in Bharathipuram, Kilinochchi Saturday celebrating
the fifty first birthday of Leader of the Liberation Tigers, Velupillai
Pirapaharan, sources in Kilinochchi said. Station will operate under the administration of The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), and NGO operating mainly in NorthEast and undertakes job generation projects. Executive Director of TECH, C Suhunan, lit the ceremonial lamp during the opening ceremony. Head of LTTE Political Wing, S P Thamilchelvan hoisted the Tamileelam flag. Tamil expatriate, Kugathasan Kannan, who was instrumental in establishing the Monitoring station, and Selvi Karthikeyan from the LTTE Peace Secretariat cut the ribbon ceremonially opening the office of the WMC. Thamilchelvan cut the ribbon for the operating building and started the equipment used for weather monitoring. Special Commissioner for Karaichi region, Pon Nithiyananthan and TECH's Suhunan spoke. "In addition to monitoring and forecasting weather conditions for the NorthEast, the WMC will also function as a central office to co-ordinate alerting NorthEast residents of impending calamitious weather conditions. Effort is in progress to setup automated facilities to receive tsunami alerts from Earth quake monitoring centers in US and from other key monitoring stations. We will also expanding the functions of this office to obtain satellite weather data and will be continually updating the facility with newer technologies as they become available," said Suhunan. Fraud halts Thonda's bid to join government The police have seized a stock of miscellaneous items worth millions of rupees hidden in two different locations in the plantations which have been donated to Arumugam Thondaman during his tenure as Minister of Estate Infrastructure Development by foreign organizations and funds to be distributed free of charge among estate schools and the plantation community. Among the items recovered by the police are 45 color
television sets, 13 computers, 38 bicycles, 86 sewing machines and a large
stock of sports and educational equipment. Two special police teams from Colombo carried out this
operation at Nuwara Eliya and Kotapola while Ceylon Congress Leader Thondaman
was holding talks with a leading Cabinet Minister to join the government.
According to reports the raid has been ordered by the President. There were no inventory records or any other relevant document for the items seized by the police. Sleuths from the Colombo Crime Division have grilled the Chairman of the Nuwara Eliya Pradeshiya Sabha, Sathyavale as to how he received these items and why they were not distributed among plantation workers. The police team probing the incident have received information that various items and equipment worth million of rupees, donated by foreign NGOs and other organizations to be given away among estate schools, sports clubs and the plantation community have been sold on the sly. The seized items are to be documented and produced before the court. Further investigations are being conducted by the OIC of the Colombo Crimes Division Nuwan Wedhasinghe under the supervision of the DIG in charge of the division, Asoka Wijethilake. Co-chairs seek meeting with Mahinda The four Co-chairs to the peace process have sought an urgent meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse to clarify his position on the future course of peace talks. The Co-chairs - EU, USA Japan and Norway - made the request to President Rajapakse early in the week but had not elicited a response upto Friday noon. The Sunday Leader learns, the President has however decided to extend an invitation to the entire diplomatic community for a meeting on tomorrow, November 28, at 3 p.m. The President's main allies, the JVP and JHU have already rejected Norway as a facilitator to the peace process while Rajapakse himself had decided against Norway. In his policy statement in parliament on Friday, President Rajapakse said the facilitation and mediation extended by the Untied Nations, other such organisations and the international community including India and the regional states will be properly organised and utilised to strengthen the peace process. Mahinda meets foreign envoys to discuss peace process President Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to meet heads of diplomatic missions based in Colombo tomorrow to discuss, essentially, the peace process with the LTTE. President Rajapakse's meeting follows his twin addresses
to the nation, soon after taking his oaths, and then to Parliament where
he outlined his approach to direct talks with the LTTE, but with the help
of foreign countries. During his first address, President Rajapakse said he would welcome the "friendly countries who have worked with us in the past" to reach an honourable peace by getting the stalled peace process re-started, but an official English translation referred to "India and other Asian countries together with the international community" assisting in the task. The Sunday Times learns that the original draft of the President's Sinhala language text contained flowery language to describe India, and explain why she should get involved in the peace process directly, a line adopted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), but senior officials of the Foreign Ministry had intervened and edited some of the references. However, the officials forgot to delete the references from the English text that was released to the media. Hours after the delivery of the address, the Foreign Ministry released an extract of the President's reference to "all countries that had worked in the past", but was careful not to make an issue of the reference to India in the English text. The reference to "all countries that had worked in the past", included the current Co-Chairs of the peace process, i.e. the US, the EU, Japan and especially Norway, the controversial peace facilitator since 2001. A few days later, however, the JVP told a news conference that its position was that it was opposed to Norway as the peace broker. It quickly added that the ultimate decision rested with the new President. Then, on Friday, in his address to Parliament, President Rajapakse came back to what he originally did not say, together with what he said, and in an all-embracing reference included "the United Nations and other such organisations that support peace in Sri Lanka, all friendly countries, the international community, India and other regional States" in strengthening the peace process. What was arguably significant was that the only country specifically named was India, and that Norway was specifically not mentioned. The Norwegian embassy in Colombo remained unmoved. Asked for a quote, a spokesman said "We do not want to comment on the policy statements". "From the Norwegian side what we have been saying that we will be ready to continue our role in the peace process, if both the LTTE and the government want us to continue and the Norwegian government thinks it could make a useful contribution." The Indian High Commission remained coy, refusing to make an official comment. All they would say is that they were "supportive"
of the peace process, and that they would need to understand and study
the role the different countries are supposed to play in the policy statement
enunciated by President Rajapakse read together with some of the other
aspects in the statement. India is currently without an External Affairs Minister following the removal of K. Natwar Singh, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is handling the Ministry. Fonseka is new Army Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka, to be promoted Lieutenant
General, will be Sri Lanka's new Commander of the Army, The Sunday Times
reported this week. Lt. Gen. Foneseka will become the 17th Commander of
the Army and will succeed Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda, against whom he
had unsuccessfully competed for the post in 2003. The Sunday Times reported last week that the new regulations, which President Mahinda Rajapakse termed as both "unfair and discriminatory" are to be annulled, probably next week, clearing the way for Maj. Gen. Fonseka who also turns 55 in December. Maj. Gen. Fonseka is regarded as one of the best battlefield commanders in the near two decades of war with the Tamil Tigers, the Sunday Times’ Defence correspondent, Iqbal Athas writes. He triggered a storm of controversy in December 2002 when he flatly refused to honour the Army’s obligations under the Ceasefire Agreement to withdraw from occupied civilian areas. Maj. Gen. Fonseka began his 35-year military career after he joined the Army on February 5, 1970, the Sunday Times reported. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on June 1, 1971. He rose in the ranks over the years and served in a number of important positions including Director General-General Staff at Army Headquarters, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters (Jaffna), Commandant of the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force and Deputy Chief of Staff. He is currently Chief of Staff. Maj. Gen Fonseka has undergone training stints in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The training included a Commando officers' course, Infantry Officers Advance Course, Senior Command course and a stint at Britain's prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS). "My party has conspired against me"- DM Posts and Telecommunications minister D.M.Jaya-ratne says a conspiracy against him is being engineered by his own party men, to ensure he is sidelined. He said most of the members of his party are junior to him and only wanted to see his retirement. He said even Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickrama-nayake was 11 years junior to him in politics. He said he was not disappointed as he was not appointed as the prime minister but added there could have been a consideration. "But the new President told me that he will appoint me later on. So I will wait," he said. Mahinda's statement provocative, says SLMC Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) General Secretary Hasan Ali says the throne speech delivered by President Mahinda Rajapakse in parliament on Friday was an 'invitation to war.' He said he feared for the Muslim community that is 'sandwiched' in between the two warring factions. "If a war breaks out, it is the Muslim community that would suffer along with others. The President should be careful in his policies," he said. He said the policy statement of the President indicated that there has to be a solution within a unitary status of government and that the 'homeland concept' of the Tamils would not be considered. Ali said this policy was 'provocative' and caused fear among all the communities. "Even if the president wanted to implement the policy, he should not have stated it at this juncture. This should have come out during negotiations," he said. However he commended the President for stressing that a Muslim delegation would be included in any future peace talks. "But the issue here is, what is the assurance that we have, peace talks could even take off the ground given the kind of policy statement the President has made already," the SLMC General Secretary lamented. He said the Muslim community has already faced immense incon- veniences due to war and the tsunami, and added the thought of another war might destroy their morale. "The President's speech may have pleased the south but I don't think it was appealing to the entire nation. We understood that he was catering to a section of society. But now that he is elected he is the president of all the communities. "Therefore the President should have chosen his words carefully on a special day like this," he said. Muttur East Volunteer Brigade passing out parade held The passing out parade of the second batch of 325 volunteers of the Rural Volunteers Special Brigade took place Friday evening at the Ganeshapuram Central College grounds in the Muttur east held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The passing out parade of the first Rural Volunteers Special Brigade was held in August this year. Colonel Sornam, LTTE Trincomalee District Military Commander, Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head, Trincomalee district military commander Mr.Vasanthan and LTTE leading activists participated in the event, sources said. Mr.Vasanthan lit the flame of sacrifice and Colonel Sornam hoisted the Thamileelam national flag. Later a meeting was held at the college hall where large number of villagers and new recruits participated, sources said. SLMM urges LTTE not to hoist its flags in govt. controlled areas The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has requested the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) not to hoist its Eelam flags in the army controlled areas during the Maveerar Day (Heroes Day) celebrations. The request is a sequel to an appeal made by the Sri Lanka Army to the SLMM after the LTTE hoisted its flag during the opening of an exhibition in Trincomalee last week. The exhibition took place at the Cultural Centre in Trincomalee under the patronage of the LTTE chief in the Trincomalee District. The exhibition coincided with the Maveerar Day celebrations scheduled for this week. During the exhibition it was revealed that an estimated 17,903 LTTE cadres were killed during the entire Eelam war. Of this number 263 were suicide cadres and 279 home guards. 26 November 2005 A Country has two leaders:Telo Muthalvar Sivajilingam MP A TNA parliamentarian yesterday told Parliament that there were two countries within Sri Lanka in which President Mahinda Rajapakse was the leader of the Sinhalese and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran remained the leader of the Tamils. Speaking during the emergency debate in Parliament, Telo’s Jaffna district parliamentarian M.K. Sivajilingam extended his congratulations to President Rajapakse and Prime Minister Ratanasiri Wickramanayake. He said his party would reject the government’s plan to enter into a dialogue on the peace process with the southern political parties without talking to the LTTE to identify its stance. Referring to the President’s plan to resume talks with the LTTE by leaving out the concepts of a Tamil homeland and self-determination, he asked on what grounds the President was going to discuss the issue by leaving out these key concepts. He said ‘the government had so far held talks with the Tigers with the mediation of a third party, but expressed concern over President Rajapakse’s silence regarding a third party involvement in resuming future talks with the LTTE. “Tomorrow, the leader of the Tamils celebrates his birthday. We wish him strength to gain self-determination rights for the Tamil community,” he said. He said President Rajapakse could not achieve peace by acting arbitrarily by giving into pressure from the JVP and JHU. Sri Lankan president to seek Indian support on peace process Sri Lanka’s newly installed President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday vowed to seek the support of India and other countries in the region to assist in re-starting the stalled peace process with Tamil rebels. Rajapakse, making his first address as president to Parliament, said his aim was to follow a new approach in the peace process. He said he would also seek the support of the United Nations and friendly countries in the peace process. The new president did not specifically name Norway, which is currently backing the country’s peace process and has renewed its offer to help in continuing the process. The Marxist JVP, which strongly backed Rajapakse in his victory in last week’s presidential election, has strongly opposed the Norwegian involvement in the peace process and reiterated on Thursday that it does not want Oslo to take part because it was biased towards the rebels. Rajapakse said that he would work towards reviewing and strengthening the current Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) with the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and said the monitoring process would be more transparent. The CFA agreement signed by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in February 2002 has been the longest lasting truce with the rebels during the 22-year-old ethnic conflict and continues to remain in force despite a few serious violations. The cease-fire is monitored by a Scandinavian team of over 50 monitors based in the north and eastern parts of the country. “We will follow a more transparent policy in the peace process. One of the reasons that the peace process by the opposition failed was that only the LTTE and the government was involved in the peace process”, Rajapakse said. As an initial step towards the peace process Rajapakse has decided to call all parties in Parliament for a discussion to reach consensus. He said he hopes to reach consensus with all parties including the rebels and wants to have direct talks with the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Analysts believe that reaching consensus to resolve the ethnic conflict would be a difficult process due to strong divisions among political parties on how the ethnic issue should be resolved. Wickremesinghe introduced the CFA without informing his own cabinet. Military strength, vigilance key to our freedom - Pottu Amman chief of LTTE Intelligence "The Tamil people, having dissociated themselves from the political choice of Sri Lankan nationalism, have unequivocally demonstrated their trust in their own leadership. They have categorically told the Sinhala people to take care of their own nationalism. Even this development is a manifestation of the might of the Tamil people," said LTTE senior commander and Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman, in a homage ceremony held at Elephant Pass (EPS), Thursday. The LTTE Intelligence Chief addressed a mausoleum gallery in Elephant Pass where, more than 3500 photographs of LTTE fighters who died in various battles, were venerated in an exhibition. “The Tamil nation gained unprecedented strength
through our military feats in the series of battles in Vanni against Sri
Lankan armed forces who were intent on annihilating us. This success was
made possible because our leaders never lost confidence and cadres believed
in our ability to confront the enemy even after the occupation of Jaffna
by the Sri Lankan Forces and the attempted rout by the Indian army. “The sacrifice of the lives of 600 martyrs during the first battle for Elephant Pass in 1991 should be gratefully remembered today, when we are speaking from this redeemed soil. The sacrifices of the 17,000 martyrs will be worth only when we are victorious in achieving unfettered sovereignty,” the senior LTTE commander said. “Let us remember that we are a nation forsaken by the international community in our struggle for freedom. It is in such situation that the fortitude of our fighters and their sacrifice gather momentous magnitude. When Tamils mature into a formidable military, political and economic force, the value of the lives sacrificed by our martyrs will attain fruition,” Pottu Amman told thousands of people gathered at the ceremony. Pottu Amman paying tribute to fallen Tiger fighters at
Elephant Pass “If we fail, our enemies will be the scribes of our history in which the lives of our martyrs will be tarnished and ridiculed. It becomes incumbent on us to give our martyrs, the glory they deserve,” added Pottu amman. Five years ago, on April 22nd, the Liberation Tigers hoisted their flag in the heart of what was once one of the most fortified military garrisons in South Asia. The fall of Elephant Pass, described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months earlier, established the Tigers as the only non-state military force in the world today capable of complex manoeuvre war fighting. Col Soosai also spoke at the event. Enlarged photographs depicting scenaries from the battlefield are also displayed at the venue. Commander of LTTE’s Sea Tigers, Col. Soosai, Commander of the LTTE’s northern front forces, Col. Theepan, LTTE’s Special Commander for Amparai, Col. Ram, Commander T. Ramesh, Commander of Sothiya Regiment Col. Durga, Head of LTTE’s Financial Division, Mr. Thamilkumaran, Senior LTTE member Mr. K. V. Balakumaran, Deputy Head of Political Division , Mr. S. Thangan, LTTE’s Political Head of the Women Wing, Thamilini, and several other commanders, officials, cadres and the public attended the event. Emergency passed: 84 for, 15 against The government extended the state of emergency by a further one month with a majority of 69 votes in Parliament yesterday. The extension of emergency regulations was taken up for debate in the House and 84 MPs voted for it while only 15 MPs opposed it being extended. The UNP, JVP and JHU voted for it along with the government members, CWC members and EPDP were not present at the vote while the TNA MPs voted against it along with Western Province People’s Front MP Mano Ganeshan and Upcountry People’s Front MP N. Radhakrishnan. The SLMC abstained from voting, and UNP Parliamentarian S. Maheshwaran was also among those who voted against the extension. Starting the debate Prime Minister Wickramanayake said that the government had | ||
