President says Rajapakse Bros will take up the fight

Ministers oppose  ban on LTTE

Mangala calls on warmongers to send children to the battle front

Anura accuses ministers

of leaking secrets

President wants cabinet leaks plugged

Robert Blake, D.E.W. Gunasekera, 
Mangala Samaraweera and Mahinda Rajapakse

While President Mahinda Rajapakse laid the foundation for a dictatorial state by introducing draconian emergency regulations under the guise of combating terrorism last week, the All Party Conference (APC) initiative aimed at a southern consensus on the ethnic issue too went up in smoke with the Experts Committee hopelessly divided.

That Rajapakse is politically checkmated with regard to developing a southern consensus on the ethnic issue given the baggage he brought to the presidency from the 2005 November election campaign in the form of MoUs with the JVP and JHU it is now plain to see, and this point was driven home in all its ferocity with the 17-member expert panel submitting four separate reports.

Difficult task

That the 12 Sinhala members in the experts panel were split right in the middle on the form and content of the solution only went to underscore the need for the President to deal directly with the UNP if a serious attempt at power sharing is to be made.

But that task is now made all the more difficult for him with the pro-JVP and JHU line of thinkers on the ethnic issue in the experts panel, H.L. de Silva, Gomin Dayasiri, Manohara de Silva and Prof. G.L. Peiris opposing the decision of the majority to drop the word 'unitary' from the proposed solution. Two other experts M.D.D. Peiris and K.H.J. Wijedasa too were to submit dissenting reports.

Mind you, de Silva and Dayasiri were also in the government negotiation team in Geneva.

Thus any move by the President to now work a separate formula on the lines of federalism as proposed by the UNP would almost certainly place him at odds with the JVP and JHU, thereby seriously undermining the stability of his government.

True, evolving a federal package and submitting it for approval in parliament will see no hiccups given the UNP's support but what Rajapakse is worried about is losing the support of his allies and being at the mercy of the greens, a risk he is simply not prepared to take.

This became abundantly clear when the high-level committees of the two parties met in parliament last week with no sense of urgency or commitment shown by the SLFP.

In fact, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has made it known he will go with the Experts majority report and build on it through the SLFP-UNP MoU, but that will be nothing more than a pipe-dream given President Rajapakse's position that the majority report has gone too far, especially by calling for a 10-year merger of the north-east.

The end result is a state of inertia in government with no clear strategy to overcome the impass‚ other than fuel the forces of extremism in a bid to survive in office by introducing draconian legislation.

Heading nowhere

That the experts panel was heading nowhere as far as developing a consensus on the ethnic issue, the President knew well in advance and the ideal opportunity to put a lid on political dissent, which would necessarily follow given the security and economic hardships the people had to bear, not to mention rampant corruption, came in the form of the suicide attack on Defence Secretary and brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

And while the nation was treated to scenes of joy at Temple Trees with the Rajapakse brothers locked in embrace and the media invited to do the honours, there appeared to be little thought given to the sorrow of the security personnel who died in the brutal terrorist attack, they no doubt being lesser mortals whose job it is to do and die and not ask why.

It is soon after this attack the President decided to act with the initial thinking being to ban the LTTE, an idea he mooted at the cabinet meeting summoned that Friday, December 1, only to see fierce opposition from several ministers including Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Rohitha Bogollagama and Maithripala Sirisena with Mangala Samaraweera leading the way.

The President on that occasion only had the support of Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike as exclusively reported in last week's issue of The Sunday Leader. (See Pot Shots on pages 8 and 9)

Emergency regulations

But by the weekend the fight against the LTTE was taking a more dangerous turn with the powers that be at Temple Trees considering more far reaching emergency regulations which could be used in the south as well to stifle dissent in addition to removing the moratorium on the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that came into effect in February 2002 following the CFA.

What had the President particularly angered over the weekend was a report in a Sunday newspaper of an air force deal which smacked of impropriety to say the least and he was breathing fire. The President saw the report as a deliberate attempt to deflect from the suicide attack on his brother, completely oblivious to the damning facts in the report. That at least was his gripe to confidants.

However, apart from Gotabhaya as Defence Secretary having to take responsibility for the deal given the facts highlighted in The Sunday Times, not to mention the President as Defence Minister, the reference to a suave and diplomatic initiative also stung because a little known fact is that it is the Rajapakses' first cousin who is the Ambassador in Russia overlooking Ukraine.

Ukraine in fact was the country from which the MIGs in question were to be purchased and information has now surfaced, Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga who is the first cousin of the Rajapakse brothers had visited Ukraine on December 1 with one Perigudov, who is the director of Ukrinmarsh, the company involved in the deal and his advisor Shithism.

He had gone to Ukraine on an Aeroflot flight at 9:30 a.m. and taken the flight back to Moscow at 4:30 p.m., having discussed the issue at hand.

Calling for LTTE ban

Be that as it may, by December 2 the President had also sent word out to his allies and confidants to plaster the walls of Sri Lanka calling for the LTTE's ban, thereby hoping to condition public opinion on the new regulations being purely to combat terrorism in keeping with the people's demand. It was also intended to convey the message to the international community that despite calls for banning the LTTE, he was only introducing emergency regulations.

And by Wednesday morning when the cabinet of ministers met at the unusually early hour of 8 a.m, the President had with him the newly drafted emergency regulations, which apart from dealing with terrorists per se, also had all embracing provisions to deal with political dissent in general through provisions such as section 5.

That section said, "No personnel shall provide any information which is detrimental or prejudicial to national security to any person, group, group of persons or an organisation which acts in contravention of Regulation 2 of these Regulations." Regulation 2 of course deals with terrorism.

The question therefore would necessarily arise if for example the media were to expose a corrupt procurement, whether it would tantamount to a violation under the emergency regulations on the basis that detailing the goods procured would tantamount to providing information to terrorists?

While the emergency regulations were silent on many such aspects, the President was all gung-ho at the cabinet meeting, going so far as to tell the ministers at one point in typical Sinhala theatrical fashion, if they feared to advocate the new provisions, the "Rajapakse brothers" would take on that responsibility.

Before all that of course it was Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike who started the proceedings, having sought President Rajapakse's approval to make an opening statement on Friday's cabinet proceedings.

A visibly angry Bandaranaike told the ministers all details of Friday's meeting were published in a Sunday newspaper (The Sunday Leader) placing him at grave security risk since he was identified as one member who supported the President's move to ban the LTTE whereas several others were identified as opposing it.

The Minister went on to say due to all details of cabinet meetings getting into the newspaper he could no longer be in a position to air his views freely, a comment which saw at least two ministers stating they did not fear the LTTE.

Leaks

Exploded Bandaranaike: "You may not be scared, but I am. My father was shot dead and my sister escaped a suicide bomb attack. Those who say they have no fear can do so because the LTTE may not even know of their existence. Earlier I was number seven on the hit list, now I might be number three." Bandaranaike added it was not the newspaper that was to blame but those who leak the information.

Sensing Bandaranaike's outrage, Rajapakse who was once nicknamed "The Reporter" by then President Chandrika Kumaratunga too went ballistic and lambasted the ministers for giving out details of cabinet proceedings to the media.

The President said he has the power as Executive President to take decisions on his own without consulting the cabinet and he would do so if the leaking trend continues. "I want all leaks to stop immediately," he thundered.

It was after disposing of that issue the President dealt with the new measures to be taken though the ministers were not given individual copies of the regulations. With the city plastered by this time calling for the LTTE's ban, Rajapakse said given the current situation, the country at large was expecting the government to act decisively and therefore some significant steps needed to be taken.

Said the President "Before I do what I have to do, I would like to get the opinion of the cabinet. If any of you don't want to say anything, I won't hold it against you. I will take personal responsibility for what is to be done as Executive President and Defence Minister. That is the mandate I have received. If none of you want to say anything, you can leave it to the Rajapakse brothers."

But there were plenty of opinions to be expressed and expressed they were, though the President occasionally tried to put down the likes of Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi from developing an argument.

It was Constitutional Affairs Minister and Communist Party stalwart, D.E.W. Gunasekera who spoke out first, strongly opposing any move to ban the LTTE, charging it would be completely counter productive.

Said he, "We had discussed that issue at the party politburo and I am now speaking for the party. My party position is that there is no substitute for a political solution. A political solution is not possible if the two main parties don't get together. Don't lose sight of that." (See Pot Shots on page 8 and 9)

Continuing, Minister Gunasekera said banning the LTTE will only strengthen it and send a negative signal to the people.

Following suit was LSSP veteran and Science Minister Tissa Vitharana who too expressed much the same opinion on behalf of his party and insisted the LTTE not be banned.

Likewise, Minister Arumugam Thondaman said the CWC also discussed the issue and was of the firm opinion the LTTE should not be banned but that the search for a political solution be pursued vigorously.

Striking a different note was MEP Leader, Urban Development Minister Dinesh Gunewardena who said his party would support any decision taken to combat the terrorist threat. Having said that, Gunawardena specifically called for a review of the CFA, which he said was no longer representative.

Attack on Hakeem

"The LTTE has been strengthened severely because of the CFA. This must be looked at or we will be operating only on the surface. There are some people who are going around internationally strengthening the LTTE," he said.

Gunawardena then launched a blistering attack on Muslim Congress Leader Rauf Hakeem stating he had gone to the House of Commons in England and held a brief for the LTTE.

Referring to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting in the Mother of All Parliaments, Gunawardena said he was in possession of the full report if any one cares to peruse it, and added none of the Sri Lankan diplomats in the UK who were present at the meeting countered Hakeem.

"This can't be tolerated," Gunawardena said, but Hakeem who was informed of the Minister's outbursts by a colleague had set the record straight stating he had not discussed any such issue at the PAC, but at the programme in the House of Commons on the plight of the northern Muslims wherein he had spoken on the steps that needed to be taken for them to return to their homes.

Having listened to Gunawardena, it was Up Country People's Front Leader Minister P. Chandrasekaran who spoke next, once again resisting any move to ban the LTTE and insisting on a political solution at the earliest.

At this point, the President looked at Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and asked what he had to say from the human rights perspective and pat came the reply on cue - "My concern is the use of the PTA. I know the PTA does not have to be reintroduced since it is already in existence, but there is a moratorium on its implementation since the CFA."

Added Samarasinghe "What we have to ensure is that if the moratorium is to be lifted, it must be ensured the President's directives on arrests and detentions are fully implemented."

Replied President Rajapakse "Yes, I intend calling all DIGs and SSPs and giving them instructions to see that these things are also done. The PTA is already there, we only have to implement it."

No doubt the decision to use the PTA given its draconian provisions was of concern to some ministers and Bandaranaike was the first to speak out. Said he "There is a reference to the PTA in Section 2.12 of the CFA. Would we not be violating it by implementing the PTA?"

Supporting Bandaranaike was Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who just the previous night was told by the US Ambassador Robert Blake not only the negative impact a ban on the LTTE would have but also the importance of ensuring civil liberties of the people.

No doubt, with Blake's words ringing in his ear, Samaraweera said a more cautious approach should be adopted in calling for the implementation of the PTA especially given the provision in the CFA.

PTA issue

But the President would have none of it and insisted the provisions in the CFA were meaningless. "All that has been looked at. The CFA in any case is being violated at every turn by the LTTE," Rajapakse said.

Having dismissed Samaraweera's caution, the President turned to Minister Sirisena and thereafter to Minister D.M. Jayaratne and inquired what the SLFP's position was, only to see he too voicing opposition on the possible banning of the LTTE.

"We are also of the view the LTTE should not be banned because it will close all doors for future negotiations. We must pursue a political solution while meeting the challenge of terrorism," Jayaratne said whilst Minister Sarath Amunugama proposed the introduction of legislation similar to the US Homeland Security Act.

More was to follow with the President asking EPDP Leader Minister Douglas Devananda to air his views after stating he should do so even though his views were well known. And true to form Devananda condemned the LTTE and said the Tigers will never agree to a political solution, however much efforts were made in that direction.

Like-minded was Minister M.L.M. Athaullah who called for the banning of the LTTE, which saw Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera breathing fire.

Said he, "How can you say that? Think with your head, not your heart."

Undeterred Athaullah carried on calling for LTTE's ban stating it is the Muslims living in the north-east who faced the brunt of the LTTE terror.

However, striking a more sober note was Minister Ferial Ashraff who earlier said banning the LTTE might lock the government into a position it will not be able to extricate itself from if the need arises to withdraw the ban to pave the way for talks.

Having listened to the Ministers, the President summarised the thinking of the cabinet stating the consensus clearly was to pursue a political solution without strengthening the LTTE through a ban.

"But we will bring in a set of regulations banning terrorist activities. I have had extensive discussions with the Attorney General's Department and the Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry. We have drafted a Gazette notification which will be signed by me after this meeting.

Banning terrorist activities

"What we propose to do without mentioning the LTTE by name is make it an offence for anyone to aid or abet the LTTE. Because as far I see, the country as a whole wants action taken against the LTTE. This has to be communicated to the public. I request the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, the SLFP General Secretary and the Leader of the House to do so at a press conference this afternoon," Rajapakse said.

The show, however, was far from over with Minister Samarasinghe interjecting with yet another query.

Asked he, "I would like to know whether there will be any exemptions to the regulations to be gazetted because even if we are not mentioning the LTTE by name, the definition will bring them in. For example, with regards to development activities in uncontrolled areas, since we are committed to a political solution, can organisations involved with such work have contact with the LTTE?"

Replied the President "This is something we have given thought to. No country or international organisation within the UN system or ICRC and INGOs will be prohibited from working in those areas. Anyone pursuing or facilitating a political solution will not be subject to the competent authority."

At this stage Samaraweera, who has to face the brunt of the questioning from the international community, made a pertinent point only to be scoffed at by the President, who possibly saw a ghost in the Minister's words. (See Pot Shots on page 8 and 9)

Said Samaraweera, "It is ironic that some people who are war mongers and agitating for war are not willing to send their children to the frontlines. In contrast by allowing your son to join the navy, you have set an example."

The President possibly thought mistakenly that Samaraweera was hinting that Rajapakse without making a show of his son joining the navy should have sent him to the frontlines, and his response reflected his ire.

Said the President to Samaraweera, the bachelor boy, "The problem is some people can't have children no."

On that note the discussion ended on the subject with the President declaring his intention of addressing the nation later in the day and reading the script for the benefit of the ministers.

Zero tolerance

Thus it was clear in the weeks and months to come there will be zero tolerance on the part of the government with regard to any dissent given the extent of the new regulations and the LTTE too no doubt will show its total disregard for the new laws by stepping up their campaign in the country.

These developments were also causing more than a few ripples within the international community, the fall-out of which will be known in the days to come.

As for Norwegian facilitation, Special Envoy Hanssen-Bauer together with Ambassador Hans Brattskar flew to Kilinochchi on Friday and met with LTTE Political Wing Leader S.P. Tamilselvan who made it clear the prospects of resuming talks in the current environment was not promising.

Thus the only certainty this festive season for the people of Sri Lanka is a blue, blue Christmas and an even gloomier New Year.

Civilians pay dearly, yet again

By Amantha Perera A GROUP of students of the Somadevi Vidyalaya  in Somapura, south of the Trincomalee bay had gathered under a Siyambala tree for a class as usual last Thursday morning. While they mingled  around with their teachers , at 11.30 a.m.  an artillery shell  landed in the vicinity with a loud thud. The explosion initially  left two teachers and nine students injured in the school located along the main Kantale-Somapura road. As the injured were rushed to the Kantale hospital, the school was closed.

The destroyed house in Kallar where three civilians died

Thirteen year old Sampath Kumara rushed home from school. His house is located opposite the Kallar camp south of the school and an hour after the first salvo, more artillery landed, this time on the house that Kumara shared with his family, there was no escape for the kid. It left him and two others dead, one of the diseased, Ajith Kumara was a soldier on leave from Jaffna.

One of the teachers injured in the first attack, V. A .Mangallika  died while undergoing an operation at the Kantale hospital. The military said that the Tigers had once again used the 152 mm artillery guns from camps in the Kadiraveli area, south east  of Kallar.

"The LTTE has the capacity to fire 152 mm and 120 mm artillery on Kallar from Kadiraveli and Echchilampattu areas. The distance from Kadiraveli to Kallar is around 18 km while the distance from Echchilampattu to Kallar is around 13 km," the Media Centre for National Security said.  Despite the attack on the school, more artillery fire was reported directed at the Kallar camp in the night as well.

Tigers deny

The Tigers denied that they were responsible for the artillery attack. "Sri Lankan military has been involved in an offensive towards the LTTE area of Echchilampattu north of Vaharai. LTTE has been taking retaliatory actions. The clashes that started in the morning (December 7)  are  continuing at present. These clashes are in the areas where the Sri Lankan troops are concentrated near the Echchilampattu area," it said.

The 152 gun had been first used on November 28, the day after LTTE Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan's annual speech, but on that occasion the target was the army defence lines at Mankerni south of Kadiraveli. The artillery fire resulted in aid convoys heading into Kadiraveli  being turned back.

The Somapura area, north of Mawilaru has just been returning to normal after suffering bouts of violence in August and September with the closure of the Mawilaru sluice gate and the subsequent operation by the security forces to gain control. Thousands fled the fighting, including those in Somapura, a predominantly Sinhala village.

After gaining control of the sluice gates, the army retook Sampur, the main Tiger base in the area. One of the objectives of the operation was to nullify the ability of the Tiger artillery from hitting the military installations on the northern side of the bay as well as ships using the harbour. While pulling out of Sampur, the Tiger political leader S. Ellilan said that the artillery pieces were undamaged and had been moved to safer areas. It is these artillery pieces that have now begun to target the Mawilaru area yet again.

Under threat

Ironically, thousands of Tamils who  fled the same fighting, into LTTE areas in Kadiraveli and are now under threat of being caught up in  fighting yet again. Over 30,000 still remain in Kadiraveli where supply lines have been severely hampered due to the tension and fighting in the Mankerni area.

It was only two weeks back that aid had finally reached the civilians in the area. The convoy of 85 vehicles had delivered supplies for a fortnight on November 30.  However the UN has been urging for wider and continuous access into the area.

Last week's attack prompted the government to renew its charges that the Tigers were holding the civilian population as human shields. The accusation has been made by UN agencies as well as human rights advocacy groups before.

The government last week said that it had informed international agencies including the UN to make it known to the Tigers to move out the civilians. The military said that the Tigers were using the civilians as cover for the artillery gun positions.

Minister Keheliya Rambukwella blamed the SLMM and ICRC for not taking pro-active measures after the attack. He said that neither party had visited Somapura while both had rushed to sites, when similar attacks were reported in LTTE held areas.

Artillery fire originating from the Kadiraveli area has been lethal on the civilians. On November 8, several dozens died when retaliatory fire from the army landed in the Vigneswaran Maha Vidyalaya in Kathiraveli.

Military blames Tigers

Soon after the attack, the military said that the Tigers had moved the guns into areas where the civilians were staying after firing.

"On (November 8)  around 7.15 a.m. the Tigers directed artillery and mortar fire towards the Mahindapura army camp (located north of Kadiraveli)  and the village. According to the field commanders, the Mortar Locating Radar was switched on and security forces' observation points located the Tiger gun positions at two kilometres North West of Kadiraveli jungle area. Vital information received by the Mortar Locating Radars was fed to the field commanders but they did not retaliate as they needed confirmation from the radar.

"Ground commanders who positioned observation points in the vicinity gave specific instructions to troops to precisely identify the Tiger gun positions if they fire again. Two guns around 11.25 a.m. were  fired from the same location where they fired earlier  in the morning. Troops didn't suffer injuries since they were under cover expecting the attack. Radars were operational at that time and it confirmed the target position said the field commanders.

Radar confirmation

According to field commanders, Security Forces' artillery guns countered Tiger bombardment following confirmation from the radar and reconfirmation from the observation points which were in the vicinity of Tiger gun positions.

"Two MBRL salvos and 130 mm artillery guns of the security forces engaged the target. Security forces believe that the LTTE had relocated their gun positions closer to the civilian settlements which the security forces never expected," MCNS said after the November attack. 

The Tigers have denied the claim but conflicting reports have originated from the civilians who fled the area. Nevertheless, the civilians appear to be in a hopeless situation.

The growing tension in the north east is likely to worsen the civilian situation that has come under international scrutiny but not received the same attention in the local media.

"Let me just mention the countries that must concern us because they are the ones where we see the re-emergence of concern for the protection of civilians. I have already expressed my concerns over the serious threats to civilian protection in Sri Lanka," UN Under Secretary General of Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland told the Security Council on December 1.

UN's main concern

The UN's main concerns have been the humanitarian situation in the north east as well as the human rights situation. Agency reports last week quoted relief groups in Paris as saying that it was almost impossible to work in the country.

"Zones under LTTE control are inaccessible. Authorities don't want NGOs to get through." Eric Fort of the French aid agency Action Against Hunger was quoted as saying. AAH recommenced work last week after a four month suspension following the murders of 17 local workers in Muttur on August 6.

"The management of access to humanitarian aid is obviously part of Colombo's strategy in the conflict," Gabriel Trujillo of  Doctors Without Borders added.

During the week, at the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Sri Lanka's human rights record  was once again under the microscope. The newly set up Presidential Commission to inquire into abuse including the murders of the AAH workers was welcomed but most advocates were of the view that it's teeth had been pulled even before the commission got underway.

Amnesty International told the  council that the interntional observers assisting the commission were limited by the terms of reference. AI representative Patricia Zanella said that the government had cut too many corners.

Terms of IIGEP

"The terms of reference of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) provide that the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice will be the head of its secretariat and similarly that representatives of the President, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, the Attorney General and the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be attached to the Secretariat of the IIGEP. Amnesty International is deeply concerned that these provisions, which give the government control of the administrative functions of the IIGEP, will undermine its independence and consequently that of the Commission of Inquiry, and create the impression, if not the reality, that the group's movements and actions are closely monitored by, if not under the supervision of, government officials."

The publication of the final report of the IIGEP will, according to its present terms of reference, be subject to the exclusion by the President of "any material which in His Excellency's opinion may be prejudicial to or absolutely necessary for the protection of national security and public order." While Amnesty International recognises that in certain instances security issues may arise, the organisation is concerned that this provision is excessively broad and allows for censorship of the group's report or parts of it, AI later said.

AAH too felt that the commission and observers would have to prove with their action that they could change the status quo. Beniot Miribel of AAH told the council that the commission should guarantee witness protection and the international observers should be allowed the freedom and independence.

Ensure transparency

"Such an initiative could demonstrate a will to ensure transparency while respecting the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan state, at least if  the commission's independence and freedom  of action is effectively guaranteed, the witnesses' protection is ensured,  the terms of reference of the international observers are made public and they guarantee their freedom of action and of expression regarding the way investigations are conducted," AAH said, and added that the Geneva based UN Human Rights Council should be kept informed of the commission's work.

The government denied that it had restricted the work of the commission. Shalindra Fernando making a statement to the council said that the terms of reference had been finalised after wide interntional consultation followed by consensus.

UN attention also made Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna to directly get in touch with the UN General Secretray's Special Rapporteur for Children in Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy.

Karuna denies recruitment

Speaking on the phone on December 4, Karuna had denied charges leveled by the UN that his organisation the TMVP was guilty of recruiting underage children.  But he had assured Coomaraswamy that the TMVP would take action to reissue a policy statement to inform all the commanders of the Karuna faction in the field that using and recruiting children is not an acceptable practice, to  train all commanders in the field on child's rights with all necessary assistance from the international community, to release children who may be found among Karuna  ranks to their families, in collaboration with relevant NGOs and/or UNICEF and to give free access to the Karuna camps for UNICEF monitors to ensure that no children remain associated with the armed group .

The UN welcomed the move and expressed the desire that  Karuna's erstwhile brothers in arms, the Tigers would follow suit to allow UNICEF free access. "This is a major step forward  that will help to prevent children from being used by armed groups in Sri Lanka. I hope that this will lead to effective actions on the ground," Coomaraswamy said.

Now all eyes would be on what her special advisor Allan Rock details in his report to the Security Council.

JVP and JHU's call to ban LTTE

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti Our Lobby Correspondent

The actual response to the attack on Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse was evidenced best in parliament last week, with most legislators irrespective of their hue joining forces to call for stringent action against the LTTE.

There was very little talk of peace negotiations, and even lesser mention of working out some formula between the SLFP and the UNP to work on common, identified issues. The south was angry, and its spill-over effect was turned into words by an angry Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.

Breathing fire

During the Defence Ministry votes and the extension of the emergency debate, Wickrema-nayake simply breathed fire and urged the government to consider whether the country should continue with the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) or not.

Giving statistics to the house, he said some 946 STF and police personnel have been killed during the past one month, 669 civilians and 197 civilian abductions. An angry Wickremanayake called upon the government to review whether Sri Lanka wanted international peace brokers to resolve the conflict through negotiations.

Wickremanayake who also holds the portfolio of Internal Administration and Deputy Defence told the House there should not be any room for a barbaric terrorist group to terrorise a state and a duly elected government in this manner.

"How could the LTTE justify the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians at a time when the government has done its best to recommence peace negotiations?" he queried.

He also said that the time was right to demand that the LTTE should lay down arms as a measure of good faith and a commitment to negotiated peace. And what's more, the state needed to take better safeguards, he noted.

Norwegian facilitation

Sounding skeptical on Norwegian facilitation, he noted that Sri Lanka would be "absolutely foolish" to welcome foreigners who enter the island under some pretext or the other and eventually end up extending support to the LTTE. "We must identify them as LTTE agents who come here to undermine our sovereignty," he said.

What is more, the government should not allow anyone to hold aid as a Sword of Damocles and try to influence political decisions at home, he said.

While the Premier called for the urgent review of the need to continue with the CFA and whether international peace brokers were necessary for Sri Lanka to reach a negotiated political solution, toeing the line with equal ferocity was JVP Spokesman Wimal Weerawansa who renewed the party's call to get rid of Norwegian facilitation and to ban the LTTE.

Weerawansa breathes fire

Weerawansa demanded the complete withdrawal from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and to move towards the immediate proscription of the Tigers. He urged that the time was right for the government to take "urgent and decisive political action" to prevent future bloodshed.

He also said that no terrorist organisation should be allowed to threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation, and that Sri Lanka should call an end to the "peace farce."

Weerawa-nsa also said that renegade LTTE Eastern Commander Karuna Amman had publicly claimed that Norway had assisted the LTTE to secure arms shipments and how the LTTE had allegedly funded Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim's mansion.

"Let me tell this House that we did not need Karuna to say this. This is something we always knew," he said, resorting to parliamentary privilege without producing any concrete evidence to prove the veracity of his claim.

"We do not understand why we have to put up with a nation that has seriously undermined our sovereignty and has obviously aided a separatist movement to further their illegal cause. Their duplicity is well known and therefore Norway's role as facilitator must be brought to an immediate end," he insisted.

Banning the LTTE

The JVP parliamentarian also observed that while it has become imperative to ban the LTTE especially after the suicide attack on Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the ban would not result in the abrogation of the CFA.

"That can be abrogated only by one of the parties formally informing the Royal Norwegian Government about their withdrawal. The Sri Lankan government must do this and formally withdraw from a truce that has only benefited the LTTE. And then it should ban the Tigers and take all possible action to militarily crush terrorism in the country," he urged.

Weerawansa also opined that it was now a known fact as to how duplicitously Norway had conducted itself and urged a full inquiry into Karuna Amman's claims with regard to Norway facilitating the LTTE to acquire weapons.

Deputy Minister Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi spoke in similar vein, often glancing at the officials box as he claimed that a government had no option when pushed to the wall. "What's to be done if the Army Commander is almost killed and now an attempt made on the life of the Defence Secretary? We are at the end of our tether," he breathed.

Attacking Ranil

What's more, he picked holes in the speech delivered by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe during his recent Indian tour. He dedicated much of his time to lambast Wickremesinghe's alleged remarks which he termed as being pro-LTTE and demoralising to the armed forces. Other than driving that point home, he said very little except to moan the country's plight with an Opposition Leader who was detrimental to national interest - in his opinion.

Sooriyaarachchi met his equal in Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene who launched a scathing attack on the government legislator as one who invited war. Jayawardene said that while the likes of Sooriyaarachchi were deluding themselves of military victories and insulting the Opposition Leader, the President was quite aware of the ground reality which was why he invited Ranil Wickremesinghe to work with the government to find a lasting solution.

"It is a good thing that the President does not share your contempt for Wickremesinghe, ill-will and political stupidity. A few of you could ruin this country and drag us back to full-scale war," he thundered.

Rauf criticised

Making an interesting intervention and that too in Sinhala was SLMC defector and Minister A.L.M.  Athaullah. Speaking eloquent Sinhala, Athaullah criticised SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem as the only Muslim leader to condone terrorism. "You signed an Indo-Lanka Peace Accord. Did you consult the Muslims? Where do we find answers to our own grievances? Then you merged the two provinces arbitrarily" he said.

"It was only a temporary measure," chorused UNPers, only to be told that it has been a temporary measure for 20 long years!

"What's more, the CFA consolidated the LTTE's positions, officially separated both government and controlled territories. There was no consensus on this arrangement either," accused Athaullah.

Sri Kantha's appeal

Making a long explanation as to why the Tamil community came to rely on the LTTE was newly sworn in Parliamentarian, K. Sri Kantha. He said that while TNA parliamentarians were there to speak on the humanitarian issues, the government should talk to the LTTE to end the conflict, which earned noisy opposition from government legislators.

He said that if the south was serious about finding a solution to the conflict, a great opportunity has presented itself in the form of a new understanding between the two main political parties. "Please use that to end ethnic strife. There lies your strength to settle this once and forever," he appealed.

Dudley's portrait

A portrait of former Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake was unveiled in parliament last Tuesday (5). The sessions were suspended for half an hour until the small and elaborate ceremony was over. Parliament also replayed a live commentary to the chamber from the ceremony.

Mood to ban

Fair Minister Ferial Ashraff was also associated with the cabinet news briefing held on Wednesday when new regulations dealing with terrorism were announced. Just before the briefing began, a scribe asked Ashraff as to what she thought about banning smoking in public places. She said, obviously tongue in cheek, "These days we are in the mood to ban, smoke or the LTTE!"

 Sri Kantha sworn in

Reputed lawyer and TNA member, K. Sri Kantha was sworn in as a Member of Parliament last Tuesday. Sri Kantha replaced slain Jaffna District Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj.

Scoring points

There were many a government legislator waxing eloquent on the virtues of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse when the Defence Ministry votes were taken up for debate along with the extension of emergency last Tuesday (5).

Our guess was many of the speakers may have barely exchanged pleasantries with the officer turned defence secretary who was seated in the officials box that day. But then again, he was the President's brother and that merited feverish devotion! And some as they spoke, kept turning towards the officials box as if to catch Rajapakse's eye.

Appalling behaviour

Decorum is a bad word in parliament. It is bad because it is never adhered to. Our guess is if people do know how most legislators behave, they would not be returned another time. On the day parliament concluded sessions, Wednesday (6), what we witnessed from the gallery is being recorded here by way of example.

There was Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, with his legs wide apart and stuck in the foot rest in the most unbecoming manner. Then there was Chandrani Bandara, the pretty UNP parliamentarian from Anuradhapura, chewing gum like a machine. What's more she was seen distributing some to her colleagues and making them chew as well, while the sessions were in full swing.

Perhaps less likely to breach discipline and therefore shocking the onlookers was Sajith Premadasa. The young MP stood up with his water bottle and began drinking while the vote on the Finance Ministry was being added up. What was more, he then turned his back to the Chair and began talking to his colleagues in earnest, water bottle in hand as if parliament were some picnic venue!