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Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, I am happy to follow the Hon. Imithiaz Bakeer Markar who I think, has made a very sensible contribution and raised some very relevant questions in regard to the peace process and in regard to how it should be conducted.

Hon. Wimal Weerawansa who spoke on behalf of the JVP raised a great deal of hot air in this House as usual and he spoke about several camps in Trincomalee and about the danger which these camps are posing to the security of the harbour in Trincomalee.

I think, Sir, before I deal with anything else, I should first deal with what Hon. Weerawansa said because I come from Trincoamlee and I think, I know the position in Trincomalee probably very much more than a lot of other people, people who do not go to Trincomalee and people who have not seen things for themselves and would depend entirely upon information they gather primarily from so-called investigative journalists.

Sir, let me put the record straight first. The SLMM has issued a statement in regard to the so-called camps in Trincomalee and this statement was published in the Sunday Observer of September 21, this year. What does the SLMM say in regard to the so-called camps in Trincomalee? The statement says, Sir, I quote:

"The SLMM yesterday confirmed that there was no LTTE build-up in Trincomalee as claimed by the PA and said that the monitors had been granted unlimited access to the areas controlled by the LTTE to carry out patrolling and the monitoring activities." Then, Sir, this statement goes further and says I quote:

"'There is no information of the LTTE expanding the Wan-Ela camp and strengthening militarily in Trincomalee. Our monitors are constantly on the move in the sensitive areas and they have not come across any new LTTE camps', said SLMM spokesperson Agnes Bragodottir."

Commenting on the current situation in Trincomalee, she said that the SLMM has received several complaints about increase of LTTE activities, but claimed the nine monitors based in the region six on the land and three in the sea front had not found any increased activities."

This is the statement of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and I think, any responsible person, any responsible member in this House must give importance to the statement of the SLMM.

Sir, just a few days ago, I believe it was on the 18th of September, that the LTTE summoned through their political office in Sampoor in the Mutur DS Division, all the journalists in Trincomalee including the Sinhalese journalists, who went there and I would like to keep this House apprised of what happened at the meeting between the LTTE leaders and the journalists went from Trincomalee, including Sinhalese journalists. Sir, I quote:

"The Trincomalee district military Commander of the LTTE, Col. Pathuman and the district political head, Mr. Thilak, Friday jointly made an appeal to the sinhalese and Tamil journalists in the Trincomalee district to inform the international community and the people of the country that there was not an iota of truth in the allegation spread by anti-peace elements that the LTTE had constructed thirteen new camps in the Government controlled areas in the district since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA)."

Sir, it goes on further, I quote:

"The LTTE needs the assistance of the media to take forward the peace process, thwarting all attempts by the anti-peace elements, which are now very active in derailing the peace process by spreading baseless and totally unfounded allegations," said Col. Pathuman and Mr. Thilak. "And one such allegation is the establishment of 13 LTTE camps in the Sri Lanka Army controlled areas in the Trincomalee District after the signing of the ceasefire agreement (CFA)."

"Not a single camp has been constructed by the LTTE after signing of the Ceasefire agreement in the SLA-controlled areas in the Trincomalee District. You can go and see the places where the peace opponents had alleged that new LTTE camps had been constructed after the ceasefire agreement," said Col. Pathuman in reply to a question.

That is the position Sir, the LTTE takes up. I will talk about the Kurankupanchan camp about which much has been talked about little later. Colonel Pathuman, said; I quote.

"We encourage the peace process and we are against the elements that are opposed to it". He said that because of a mistaken determination by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the Kurankupanchan camp problem has become a controversial issue at present. He reiterated that the Kurankupanchan camp had been in existence since long before the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement".

Colonel Pathuman goes on to say, Sir; I quote "He expressed concern over the 'false propaganda by elements that are working hard to derail the present peace process'. These anti-peace elements said Colonel Pathuman, count our political offices established after the ceasefire agreement as our military camps".

So this is the position Sir, of the LTTE. I have already read to you the position of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, which confirms beyond any manner of doubt the LTTE position in regard to these camps in Trincomalee.

Now, Sir, there is one camp which has become a matter of controversy. This is the Kurankupanchan camp, situated somewhere in the Kinniya Divisional Secretariat Division.

I know the area very well, Sir. It is in a border area, which constitutes the border between the Government controlled territory and the LTTE controlled territory. It is not in strategic area.

The nearest Police Station or Police Post rather, is 8 kilometres away at a place called "Soorankhal" and the nearest Army camp is 14 kilometres away in a place called Wan Ela. The LTTE position is that this camp is situated in LTTE controlled territory and that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission had made a mistake, the LTTE claims, a genuine mistake in coming to the determination that it is in the Government controlled territory.

I have spoken about this matter, Sir, to the LTTE leaders in Trincomalee. When I requested them to try and comply with the decision of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, their answer to me was Sir, "We have our martyrs whose bodies have been interred in this very territory. We fought for this territory three months before the Ceasefire Agreement. We have the bodies of two of our martyrs interred in this territory. We now have in this camp, young men and women who fought in that battle, who pose the question to us "Do you want us? We have injuries that we sustained in the course of that battle. Do you want us to surrender this territory?"

So, this is the position as far as the LTTE is concerned, Sir. It is rather an emotional and sentimental matter as far as the LTTE is concerned. Apart from that one camp, any allegation made that the LTTE has constructed any camp, even a single camp in Government territory, I state, Sir, from the Floor of this House, is a figment of the imagination of the people who say that. Not one single camp, Sir, has been established, after the Memorandum of Understanding in Government controlled territory.

I must say, Sir, sometimes this investigative journalism transgresses the limits of investigative journalism and tends to become somewhat imaginative journalism. This is also packaged and presented the public at large as investigative journalism. Sir, in respect of the reports pertaining to the so-called camps opened up by the LTTE after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, no source is quoted by these investigative journalists. No source is quoted.

They have not gone there. They have not seen for themselves. They have not discovered the truth by themselves. It is just their ipse dixit.

No source is quoted. In any event Sir, these so-called new camps which these journalists claim to have been opened up after the Ceasefire Agreement, every one of them is in territory under the control of the LTTE.

Not one of these camps is claimed by even these investigative journalists, except for Kurankupanchan Camp as having been opened up in the Government controlled territory. The territory is demarcated by them on their plans as being the areas where the new camps have been opened up. Every one of them is an acknowledged LTTE controlled territory.

Of course, Sir, you do not have the FDLs or the Forward Defence Lines in the Eastern Province as in the Northern Province. It is extremely likely that the LTTE in their own areas, where they have camps, have opened up satellite camps around their main base for the protection of their base. After all we know that when the former Government fought the 'Jayasikuru' war and tried to open up the A9 highway, all the LTTE cadres in the Eastern Province went to Wanni to fight that battle. They have come back to their respective districts. They have come back to Trincomalee. They have come back to Batticaloa. They have gone to Ampara and these LTTE cadres have got to be accommodated in camps and there could be a few satellite camps around the base camps which have been opened up.

I want to say further, Sir, on the floor of the House with a measure of delight, that right today, while people like the Hon. Wimal Weerawansa are blowing hot in this House, 22 journalists from Colombo including Sinhalese journalists are being taken by the LTTE to the Kurankupanchan camp right now, right today.

In fact,I had a call this morning and I was informed and requested to mention this on the Floor of this House that 22 journalists from Colombo including Sinhalese journalists are being taken by the LTTE to the Kurankupanchan camp to see for themselves the Kurankupanchan camp and to keep the country informed of the fact that these talks about several camps having being opened up by the LTTE around the Kurankupanchan camp is a figment of the imagination of the people who say that. In fact that is confirmed by the SLMM report.

I think Sir, what has been presented to the public at large in this country, by interested elements in regard to these camps is a sexed up version of the true situation. This is something like what happened in the United Kingdom before the invasion of Iraq, a sexed up version in regard to the weapons of mass destruction.

I do not know who the Alstair Campbell in Sri Lanka is. But I know one thing for certain that whoever the Alstair Campbell may be, he could be in this House, that gentleman certainly will not resign even when the truth is revealed, because owning up the true situation is not a part of the culture of our politicians or anybody else in this country. Therefore, Sir, what has been put out in the media, the build-up that has taken place in regard to these so called camps, I want to say Sir, very categorically on the Floor of this House, is in fact a sexed up version of the true position.

My Friend, the Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs went to India. When he spoke with the journalists in India, he talked about the prospects of the Indian Oil Company installations, the personnel and the oil tank farms which the Indian Oil Company had now taken over being susceptible to damage by the LTTE.

Does not my Hon. Friend know that these tanks would have long passed into the hands of the Americans but for the Tamil people and the TULF? I do not know where my Friend was at that point of time. In the early 1980s, shortly after 1983, when these tanks were about to pass into the hands of American companies - companies which were fronts for Americans companies - that was stopped not by the PA, not by the UNP, not by anybody else in this country but by the Tamil people and the TULF.

Sir, I table in this House a report that appeared in the prestigious "Hindu" newspaper on 22nd April, 1984, referring to a foreign company, an American company. It say - I quote:

"A couple of years ago, the company in private negotiations was able to persuade the Sri Lanka Government to hand over the facility to it on lease, but the deal fell through following objections raised by the Tamil United Liberation Front members in Parliament on the ground that the company - Coastal Corporation of Bermuda - was "admittedly, not free from superpower influence." It was also pointed out then that leasing out the Farm to the Bermuda company could become a cause for superpower rivalry in the Indian Ocean and at critical times render the oil storage facility a source of grave danger to the whole of Trincomalee. The Government of India also conveyed its fears through diplomatic channels.

Non-aligned participation mooted: As the Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka Parliament then, Mr. A. Amirthalingam had suggested that non-aligned participation in the use of the facility be encouraged in order to allay all fears. At that time, the Sri Lanka Government appreciated the TULF's stand and gave the assurance that it would call for global tenders.

Again, as late as in the middle of March this year, the TULF got scent of manoeuvres to secure the lease of the facility, and the former Member of Parliament from Trincomalee. Mr. R. Sampanthan, wrote to the President, Mr. Jayewardene, expressing the fear that the credentials of some of the organisations which had tendered were doubtful and that they were indeed fronts susceptible to superpower influence. He had also pointed out that if those companies won the tender, it could promote superpower rivalry in the Indian Ocean and increasingly contribute to the development of a dangerous situation."

It was we, Sir, the Tamil people and the TULF who prevented the company passing into American hands, not Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, not anybody in the PA, not anybody in the UNP. That is because we, the Tamil People, despite whatever aberrations, despite whatever horrible incidents that may have happened, in the past, we love India.

We love India and we protested against the company passing into American hands - it is because we love India. I want that, Sir, to be placed on record in this House and for everybody else to know that. I was quite amazed that Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar who was nowhere in this country at this point of time, when the oil tank farm could have gone into American hands, went to India and he tries to make out, in order to make India become more hostile to the LTTE, that the oil tank farm could be susceptible to an attack by the LTTE.

After all, Sir, the LTTE may not have grown to the strength it has grown to today but for the follies of both parties, the main parties in this House which have run this country successively. You are today worried about the fact that the LTTE has acquired great military strength not merely army but even naval strength.

We all know that the LTTE have acquired that strength, and of course Sir, despite all this talk about the possibility of the Trincomalee Harbour being attacked by the LTTE and all these camps being there, we all know Sir, that the LTTE is presently, very seriously engaged in studying all aspects of federalism, in trying to work out a solution within the framework of a united country.

After all the Oslo Declaration what did it say? It said, "Based upon the principle of internal self-determination in the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people the parties would explore a federal solution within a united country." That was the Oslo Declaration. Sir, as the Minister Bakeer Markar said, "Either you trust the LTTE or you do not trust the LTTE." But, when the whole world knows that the LTTE is engaged in a process to find a solution through negotiations and through dialogue, to attempt, Sir, on the basis of your own vested self-interest or on the basis of your own vivid imagination, your fertile imagination, to try and disrupt this process in my respectful submission, Sir, is something unfair.

It is something unfair not merely by the LTTE, not merely by the Tamil people but by the people of the whole of this country. Therefore, Sir, I would appeal to my Good Friends whether they belong to the JVP or to the PA or even to some solitary person in the UNF to kindly be conscious of the fact, that if this country is to survive we have to take this peace process forward.

We have no alternative but to make every possible effort to make the peace process a success. Very unfortunately Sir, we have in this country some people who always think in terms of the worst case scenario.

Despite everything being encouraging, despite everything being positive, despite the party being engaged in a constructive process they like to put all that aside and think of the worst case scenario. I think such thinking Sir, and people who engaged in such thinking, in my respectful submission, are a serious impediment to the dawn of peace in this country.

If we want peace to dawn in this country, we have to be realistic. We have to realize that what is happening at the moment is constructive and you must not think in terms of worst case scenarios in order to debilitate, weaken and nullify all that is happening at the moment which is constructive. This is my appeal to my good friends.

My good friend, the Leader of the Opposition paid a visit to Trincomalee. He has kept his visit quite close to his chest. I am sorry I was not there at the time he came there. If I was there in Trincomalee, I am sure he would have met me but I am sad that he went to some Muslim refugee camps, he went to some Sinhalese refugee camps which are very few in number compared to the Tamil refugee camps and that the Hon. Leader of the Opposition did not go to a single Tamil refugee camp. I come from Trincomalee, Sir, I belong very deep to Trincomalee. In fact, I belong so much to Trincomalee that I sometimes feel, that not merely do I belong to Trincomalee but that Trincomalee belongs to me.

Sir, Trincomalee is a multi-ethnic area. The Tamils live there, the Muslims live there and the Sinhalese live there.

The history of the Tamils in Trincomalee is intertwined with the Koneshwaram Temple and according to Sir Paul Peiris the eminent historian, the Koneshwaram Temple existed in Trincomalee facing the bay of Kottiya before Vijaya arrived in this country.

That is the history of Trincomalee and that is the history of Koneshwaram. They are intertwined with each other. My good friend, the Hon. Mahinda Rajapakse, the most affected people in the Trincomalee District have been the Tamils of Trincomalee much more than anybody else, much more than the Muslims, much more than the Sinhalese, and I am sad that the Hon. Leader of the Opposition who went to Trincomalee on an official visit, did not go and see the plight of the Tamils in Trincomalee, but merely went and saw the plight of some of the Muslims and some of the Sinhalese in Trincomalee.

I would like, Sir, finally to make a very fervent appeal to all the members of this House, both on the Opposition side and the Government side, please do remember that we have got an opportunity of bringing about a final, an honourable solution to the conflict in our country through the process of dialogue and negotiations and please do not stymie those efforts.

Please do not stifle those efforts. That would be an unpardonable act on your part. I thank you, Sir.

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