Govt reiterates stand on CFA : LTTE must disarm
The Government’s firm stand on the Ceasefire Agreement is unchanged, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said adding there will not be peace negotiations with the LTTE unless it lays down arms and surrenders.
Addressing the media yesterday on the weekly security situation at the MCNS, Government Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said during the last few days certain elements behind the LTTE proposed a CFA with the LTTE. “This was the normal practice of the LTTE when they were defeated militarily and weakened. They call for peace negotiation to halt the offensive and avoid the Security Forces’ humanitarian mission to liberate uncleared areas.
Our leaders experienced this during the last three decades,” he added. “Whenever the LTTE proposes a CFA, it always ends it with destruction and a calamity to the Government, public and sovereignty of the country,” Minister Rambukwella remarked.
Minister Rambukwella reiterated that the Government categorically rejects any peace negotiation settlement with the LTTE unless the Tigers lay down arms and surrender to Security Forces. “When President Mahinda Rajapaksa took office he immediately extended an invitation for peace negotiations with the LTTE. The President called the LTTE to the negotiation table in Geneva. The CFA was abused by the LTTE in many occasions since then,” the Minister said.
Minister Rambukwella said during the CFA the Jet Liner ship carrying unarmed forces on holiday and a Navy medical team had come under LTTE fire.
A vegetable market too was bombed in Jaffna. 17 Commandos were killed in an attack, then an attempt was made to assassinate the Army Commander finally and Mavilaru sluice gate was attacked to disrupt the daily life of people who depend on farming.
Following these abuses of the CFA by the LTTE, the Government had decided to erase terrorism and liberate civilians from the LTTE clutches. “The East was liberated and the democracy had been restored. The Easterners were allowed the franchise and their political rights restored, the Minister said.
Minister Rambukwella stressed that the North will be liberated and the humanitarian mission will be continued by the Security Forces. The Government has no any intention to negotiate with the LTTE unless it lays down arms and surrender. We embarked on an humanitarian mission in the North and troops are successfully marching forward and are now in the victory of Kilinochchi.
The entire North and our brothers and sisters entrapped in the Tigers’ grip will be liberated in near future. Democracy will be restored in the North as in the East,” he added.
Courtesy : Daily News
Govt reiterates stand on CFA : LTTE must disarm
The Government’s firm stand on the Ceasefire Agreement is unchanged, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said adding there will not be peace negotiations with the LTTE unless it lays down arms and surrenders.
Addressing the media yesterday on the weekly security situation at the MCNS, Government Defence Affairs spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said during the last few days certain elements behind the LTTE proposed a CFA with the LTTE. “This was the normal practice of the LTTE when they were defeated militarily and weakened. They call for peace negotiation to halt the offensive and avoid the Security Forces’ humanitarian mission to liberate uncleared areas.
Our leaders experienced this during the last three decades,” he added. “Whenever the LTTE proposes a CFA, it always ends it with destruction and a calamity to the Government, public and sovereignty of the country,” Minister Rambukwella remarked.
Minister Rambukwella reiterated that the Government categorically rejects any peace negotiation settlement with the LTTE unless the Tigers lay down arms and surrender to Security Forces. “When President Mahinda Rajapaksa took office he immediately extended an invitation for peace negotiations with the LTTE. The President called the LTTE to the negotiation table in Geneva. The CFA was abused by the LTTE in many occasions since then,” the Minister said.
Minister Rambukwella said during the CFA the Jet Liner ship carrying unarmed forces on holiday and a Navy medical team had come under LTTE fire.
A vegetable market too was bombed in Jaffna. 17 Commandos were killed in an attack, then an attempt was made to assassinate the Army Commander finally and Mavilaru sluice gate was attacked to disrupt the daily life of people who depend on farming.
Following these abuses of the CFA by the LTTE, the Government had decided to erase terrorism and liberate civilians from the LTTE clutches. “The East was liberated and the democracy had been restored. The Easterners were allowed the franchise and their political rights restored, the Minister said.
Minister Rambukwella stressed that the North will be liberated and the humanitarian mission will be continued by the Security Forces. The Government has no any intention to negotiate with the LTTE unless it lays down arms and surrender. We embarked on an humanitarian mission in the North and troops are successfully marching forward and are now in the victory of Kilinochchi.
The entire North and our brothers and sisters entrapped in the Tigers’ grip will be liberated in near future. Democracy will be restored in the North as in the East,” he added.
Courtesy : Daily News
Commander wants essentials dispatched in streamlined convoys
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, Commander of the Army during his routine visit to the Wanni Security Forces Headquarters today (13) morning, instructed Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters, Wanni (SFHQ-W), to explore possibilities of dispatch of essentials into un-cleared areas in single lined-up convoys, once or twice a week, instead of regular fleets of vehicles throughout the week in consultation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials.
The directive in this regard came subsequent upon ICRC officials’ reluctance to man the Omanthai Entry/Exit point as usual after the SFHQ-W decided to keep the Omanthai opening hours only between 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. from Wednesday (12) onwards, in view of several concerns and intensification of humanitarian operations, progressing away further north to the gateway.
The visiting Commander further advised his Wanni Commander Major General Jayasuriya to seek the valuable services of the ICRC escort for those lined-up food convoys to be taken in one fleet. Although the ICRC has not so far showed up for manning at the gateway, its ambulances and other vehicles executed their emergency medical services across the point in the past 48 hours, the Commander was told.
Lieutenant General Fonseka during the same meeting inquired about the ground realities as the heat on Wanni Tigers intensifies with the fall of their Kilinochchi bastions in a string, one by one.
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, was further curious to know the plight of besieged civilians in LTTE held areas, particularly after Tuesday (11) evening’s capture of an English lady teacher among fighting Tigers and also startling revelations made thereupon by her. He told his ground Commanders that all possible steps should also be taken to capture Tiger terrorists alive if any, who would really signal desperately in the battlefields.
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka with his entourage was met by Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander, Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni on arrival. Major General Jayasuriya at the beginning of the meeting gave a comprehensive update of the developments to the visiting Army Chief.
Commander upon receipt of updates from Divisional and Brigade Commanders who were present at the meeting discussed matters pertaining to ongoing operations and the progress made in their respective fronts and march towards Pooneryn.
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Teacher turned militant reveals horror stories of conscription
An LTTE cadre captured by the security forces during the humanitarian effort to liberate the Wanni from the clutches of terrorism has revealed horrendous crimes against humanity perpetrated by th terror outfit.A graduate from the Kopay College of Education (English Faculty), the captured teacher turned LTTE cadre, Ms Nilaveli (28) also revealed that more than 100 of her batchmates have been similarly forced to join the LTTE.
The other two captured female Tigers have been identified as Kilavedi (18) and Thuruveli (19). They were originally from the Kilinochchi, Paranthan and Mallavi areas.
In the same manner, almost all officials, clerks, lower grade employees of the Department of Agriculture, several other government agencies as well as officials of Kilinochchi- based Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), following the LTTE diktat have been forced to serve on the front lines whether they liked it or otherwise, she has disclosed.
Explaining ground realities and the plight of other Tigers, trapped desperately in the battlefields, she has further told the investigators that they barely survive with one meal per day and the LTTE has not left room for the disgusted to surrender or give up fighting and flee after pushing them as cannon-fodder while senior Tigers took cover behind them, the Ministry of Defence said on its website.
‘Of that striped trial balloon’ - The Island Editorial
“The LTTE’s latest truce ploy was aimed at preventing the fall of Pooneryn to the army and saving Kilinochchi. The LTTE may offer to consider ceasefires and talk peace but Prabhakaran has unequivocally told the world the solution he has in mind. He won’t settle for anything less than Eelam as he declared at a press conference in Kilinochchi in 2002″, says the Island in a reflective editorial today (Nov 12).
“However, the government has no alternative but to turn down such offers without falling into ceasefire traps. Every government that fell for the tigrine wiles emerged from peace traps with a bloody nose. The disastrous outcome of peace deals that President Premadasa and President Kumaratunga tried to strike with the LTTE is a case in point” the editorial further stated.
Following is the full text of The Island Editorial:
The Tigers have the habit of sending trial balloons. A few days ago, LTTE indicated its willingness to consider a ceasefire. The government promptly rejected the offer reiterating its position that no truce was possible unless the LTTE gave up arms.
The LTTE does not lose anything due to its ceasefire offers. Instead it gains a lot from them. If the government reciprocates, then it can have some respite, regroup and rearm for the next phase of war. Else, its propagandists can project the government as a hawkish regime not amenable to a truce and blame it for the humanitarian problems resulting from the continuation of war.
However, the government has no alternative but to turn down such offers without falling into ceasefire traps. Every government that fell for the tigrine wiles emerged from peace traps with a bloody nose. The disastrous outcome of peace deals that President Premadasa and President Kumaratunga tried to strike with the LTTE is a case in point.
The LTTE’s latest truce ploy was aimed at preventing the fall of Pooneryn to the army and saving Kilinochchi. In a recent interview with an Indian magazine Prabhakaran bragged that Kilinochchi would never fall. But, he himself is aware that he cannot hold out for a long time. The new front the army is going to open in the Wanni is a frightening proposition for the LTTE already overstretched and affected by a severe shortage of manpower.
Immediately after the government’s rejection of the truce offer, the LTTE, perhaps to save its face and prevent demoralisation of its cadres, got one of its proxies to say in Parliament that it would not lay down arms. Talking with a forked tongue is the LTTE’s forte. It has a remarkable ability to send two different messages to its support base and the international community simultaneously.
War is hell and it must end. The sooner, the better! But, experience shows us that no amount of ceasefires will lead to peace so long as the LTTE remains strong and intransigent. The last truce lasted for five years from 2002 to 2007 but nothing came of it. There was an absence of war but the LTTE did not desist from violence or work towards finding a solution. It used the fragile truce to replenish its supplies, recruit more combatants and gain legitimacy. In 2003, it walked away from peace talks with the UNF government, which to its credit, bent over backwards to keep the peace process on track. It is being claimed that an LTTE-instigated polls boycott brought about UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s defeat at the last presidential election. But, it was actually in 2003 that the LTTE destroyed the UNP leader’s political future by scuttling the peace process, upon which he was banking to win the presidency.
The LTTE may offer to consider ceasefires and talk peace but Prabhakaran has unequivocally told the world the solution he has in mind. He won’t settle for anything less than Eelam as he declared at a press conference in Kilinochchi in 2002. Asked if his order to his cadres to kill him if he accepted anything less than Eelam was still valid, he had no hesitation whatsoever in answering in the affirmative. In fact, he renewed that order! He has never ever given the slightest indication that he would settle for anything else.
One may argue that the LTTE made the setting up of an interim self-governing administration (ISGA) conditional to returning to the negotiating table in 2003. Yes, it did but the UNF government had the wisdom to avoid that trap. For, granting an ISGA would have been as good as giving Eelam. Among the critics of the ISGA was none other than the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who said the ISGA went beyond all known forms of federalism and it was therefore without a precedent.
The LTTE demand read: “The ISGA shall have plenary powers for the governance of the Northeast including powers in relation to resettlement, rehabilitation, and development, including improvement and upgrading of existing services and facilities, raising revenue including imposition of taxes, revenue, levies and duties, law and order and land.” Besides, the LTTE asked for powers in respect of maritime resources and direct foreign aid.
What more would the LTTE have needed if it had got the ISGA?
Armitage urged the LTTE to adhere to the Oslo declaration, which envisaged a federal solution. The European Parliament, it may be recalled, in its resolution on Sri Lanka on Sep.08, 2006 said: “[The EU] condemns the intransigence of the LTTE leadership over the years, which has successively rejected so many possible ways forward including devolution at the provincial level or Provincial Councils; devolution at the regional level or Regional Councils; as well as the concept of federalism with devolution at the national level.”
Thus, if any government agrees to a ceasefire with a view to talking peace with the LTTE, it must be prepared either to be taken for a ride like its predecessors or to grant the ISGA, which is nothing but a halfway house between federalism and Eelam.
There have been calls for the government to do as the EU says to retain the GSP Plus concession. Similarly, the government should be asked to heed what the aforesaid EU Parliament resolution says about the LTTE, in trying to evolve a political solution. In other words, it is futile to talk to the LTTE so long as it remains intransigent demanding something that goes beyond federalism.
So, if a political solution acceptable to all stakeholders is to be evolved through negotiations, then the international community and the peace lobby must wean the LTTE from violence, the ISGA and Eelam.
Or, they must stop protesting against the on-going efforts to neutralise the LTTE and pave the way for a political solution.
Courtesy: The Island
