Int'l community must cry halt to LTTE atrocities - Anandasangaree

The time has now come for the International Community to cry halt to the atrocities of the LTTE, V. Anandasangaree, Tamil United Liberation Front leader said in a letter addressed to world leaders and Heads of Foreign Missions.

"The LTTE must agree or must be compelled to agree by the united action of the International Community to lay down their arms and accept Federalism as a solution to end the country's ethnic problem," Anandasangaree said.

Excerpts from the letter: "With the escalation of violence, especially increase in suicide attacks in a number of countries, the need has come for the International Community to get together to eradicate terrorism in the whole world.

Although there is a lull now, following the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) by the Sri Lankan Government with the LTTE hardly one day passes without at least one political opponent or an officer of the intelligence unit, getting killed.

In view of the serious CFA violations exceeding 2500 in number, the present CFA should be replaced with a new one. The time has now come for the International Community to cry halt to the atrocities of the LTTE which should now agree to release all prisoners in their custody, stop conscription, extortions, killing of rival groups and to close down their torture camps, darkroom detention camps, and also allow democracy to prevail in all areas under their control.

The LTTE cadres and front organisations should be told by the concerned authorities in each country that collecting funds for the LTTE under threat, interference in the management of Hindu Temples and weekend Tamil Schools by the Tamils also amount to serious violation of the democratic rights of the Tamils, who had sought asylum in the respective countries.

It is no more a secret that it was the LTTE that revived suicide bombing and it is from them that the other terrorist organisations had learned the tactics. History had proved that those who volunteered as suicide bombers are children from poor families with large responsibilities and none from the families of the promoters of suicide attacks.

Compulsion by united action is the only option now left to solve problems and not by submitting to the threats of the terrorist groups.

I strongly urge that you and your country should play a major role in the eradication of terrorism and also in finding reasonable solutions for the problems that some think can be solved only by terrorism.

The brutal assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August 12 justifies my stand."