Sri Lanka slams western powers, praises India for its support

T V Sriram

Colombo, May 3 (PTI) Sri Lanka Sunday criticised
certain western countries for raising "ridiculous demands"
including a ceasefire and amnesty for LTTE leaders in the
island's northern warzone as it praised India and a host of
other nations for their support in eradicating terrorism.

In an article posted on the Defence Ministry website,
it said "some countries that portray themselves as the global
guardians of human rights, had made several shameless attempts
to recommend punitive action against this poor third world
country, struggling to rid itself of terrorism."

Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers appealed to Britain
and France to continue with their initiatives for a ceasefire,
which the Government dismissed as an "eyewash".

"We are ready to engage in the process to bring about
a ceasefire and enter into negotiations for an enduring
resolution to the conflict," LTTE political head B Nadesan
said in a letter to Britain Foreign Secretary David Miliband
and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

However, the Government dismissed the latest rebel
move and said it had made it clear that the LTTE must lay down
arms and surrender.

"Whatever the LTTE says in this connection is
misleading and an eye wash. They are not at all serious about
it," a defence official said.

The article said the "so-called human rights champs"
tried to justify their claims saying that they were doing it
for the safety of civilians, held at hostage by terrorists in
island's north.

"Moreover, they put a number of ridiculous demands on
the Sri Lanka government, such as offering amnesty to the
terrorists, allowing a third party to rescue the terrorist
leaders, go for a ceasefire, etc," the article said.

"Never did history unmask the hypocrisy and the
sanctimony of the Western Powers than their behaviour towards
Sri Lanka during recent times," it said.

It also used the opportunity to thank India, Pakistan
and the rest of the South Asian countries, China, Russia,
Pakistan, Japan, Iran, Libya, Vietnam, Mid-East, African and
Southeast Asian countries for their support in the "battle
against terrorism."

It said certain western countries always asked Colombo
to stop fighting and start negotiations for a political
settlement.

"Yet, they could not tell us how to stop the
continuing atrocities of the LTTE against Sri Lankan citizens.
They neglected to see that a political solution is needed for
a political problem but not for a terrorist problem," the
article said.

In intense fighting, at least 21 guerrillas were
killed in intense clashes.

The security forces are marching forward despite heavy
attacks by the LTTE, Army chief Sarath Fonseka said, adding
the Tiger rebels can do nothing as the troops are
consolidating their positions in the remaining area.

The troops have also undertaken a block-up built by
the LTTE rebels, he said yesterday at a function held at the
Singha Regiment Headquarters in Abeypussa, over 50 kms east of
Colombo.

Fonseka said the two brigades of the army are now
jointly launching the operations against the Tamil Tigers, who
are now restricted to an area of 4.5 sq kms.

Meanwhile, an exchange of gunfire took place between
the Special Task Force (STF) troops and a group of LTTE
fighters, whose hiding place in the Kanchikudiaru jungle in
eastern Ampara district was encircled by security forces
following a tip-off.

Four LTTE cadres were killed during the incident while
some others withdrew to the jungle's deep. Troops subsequently
conducted a search operation in the area and recovered a huge
cache of military material. PTI