Former US envoy lauds Government's courage

Former United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka Teresita Schaffer told Asian Tribune in a special statement on Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar's assassination that the Government of Sri Lanka has shown courage and statesmanship in trying to rescue the ceasefire.

She strongly advocated to both warring sections "before one can talk seriously about a peace process again, I think it will be necessary for both sides to clarify what they mean by ceasefire."

"Both the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE should re-commit to the goals they expressed in Oslo over two years ago," she further noted.

Schaffer was the United States envoy to Sri Lanka from 1992 through 1996, and is presently the Programme Director for South Asia in Center for International and Strategic Studies, an influential think tank in Washington.

"What horrifying news. I knew Kadirgamar well during his first time as Foreign Minister. I feel it very personally, having worked closely with him during my tenure as ambassador," she says.

The former American Ambassador last met Minister Kadirgamar last month in Colombo. Ambassador Schaffer endeavours to give some insights to what holds for Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the assassination:

"Perhaps the most devastating loss Sri Lanka has suffered in over two decades of civil war is the death of so many of its most promising leaders. Kadirgamar's assassination is one more in that already over-long list. With each additional killing, it becomes more difficult to make peace.

"This is not just because this type of murder is precisely what the ceasefire was supposed to prevent; it is not just because it quite understandably devastates whatever beginnings of trust had been created during the period since peace talks began. It is also because Sri Lanka needs leaders in order to move ahead, and it especially needs strong leaders in order to make peace. So killing Kadirgamar is a life-threatening wound to Sri Lanka's future."