Taming the Tigers
Mahinda Rajapaksa
TERROR TACTICS: In Sri Lanka, the terrorists, who first
brought suicide bombing to the world are intensifying their reign of
terror. Despite a cease-fire, recent weeks have seen a series of brutal
atrocities perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,
popularly known as the Tamil Tigers.
In April, a pregnant suicide bomber blew herself up in the heart of
our capital Colombo, killing not only her unborn child but also several
civilians.
That's typical of the callous disregard for the lives of even our
youngest citizens displayed by the Tamil Tigers, who have press-ganged
thousands of children into its ranks.
Again and again, they have tried to provoke a civil war between the
island's different religious groups. Christians have been assassinated
in church during Christmas mass. Good Friday this year was marred by
violence.
Most recently, the Tamil Tigers attacked a ship carrying 700 unarmed
troops together with international cease-fire monitors on May 11, the
eve of one of the most sacred dates in our calendar, when Sri Lanka's
Buddhist majority was celebrating the 2,550th anniversary of the birth
of the Buddha.
The Tamil Tigers' strategy is to take control of the sea off the
areas they control in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Displaying a
contemptuous regard for world opinion, the Tamil Tigers even warned the
international monitors that they had the right to attack any vessel
which passes through their waters.
That alone makes it abundantly clear that the Tamil Tigers are no
longer interested in pursuing the peace process. Instead, they seek to
foment intercommunal strife through unprovoked acts of aggression, in
order to boost their support among the Tamil community and raise further
funds from exiles.
But the Tamil Tigers' efforts have foundered in the face of the
tremendous restraint shown by the people of Sri Lanka, including our
security forces. We have not fallen into the trap of venting our
frustration through reprisals against Tamil civilians.
And the May 11 attack, which might have provoked such actions if it
had led to major loss of life, was successfully repelled by our Navy.
That has left the Tamil Tigers resorting to the lamest of excuses to
avoid resuming negotiations with my Government. Their leaders even
accuse us of not disarming their own rebel faction, who recently
launched attacks on the Tamil Tigers' leadership.
Having initially insisted these divisions were its own internal
affair, the embattled Tigers now want the government's help.
Unfortunately the international community has been slow to recognize
the seriousness of the situation.
Never let it be forgotten that the world's failure to help combat the
first suicide bombings in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s and early 1990s
allowed the tactic to grow into a popular technique, now copies by other
terror groups around the world, which poses a threat to almost every
major city.
The Tamil Tigers have long been exporting terror to other countries.
They were responsible for assassinating former Indian Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and have been training and supplying terrorists
from northern India to Nepal, as well as engaging in gun-running in
Thailand.
In today's global war on terror, every terrorist is a threat to the
world as a whole, and our struggle against the Tamil Tigers should be
seen in this context.
While I welcome the condemnations of the Tamil Tigers' recent
atrocities from the United States and European Union, as well as our
international cease-fire monitors, words alone are not enough. Some
countries took far too long to appreciate the true nature of the Tamil
Tigers as a terrorist organisation, Canada, for instance, only banned
the Tamil Tigers earlier this year.
And although the European Union last year imposed a travel ban on the
Tamil Tigers' leaders, it only this week imposed a full-scale ban.
I urge other countries to follow suit, particularly those in the
Middle East, where many Tamil expatriates work and are often force to
illegally donate funds to the Tamil Tigers.
These citizens are extorted by Tamil Tiger agents in their
workplaces, who beat up workers who refuse to make regular contributions
from their wages.
Foreign governments could do more to crackdown on the Tamil Tigers'
illegal purchase of weapons from places such as Afghanistan and East
European and Central Asian republics, as well as their arms-smuggling
operations in Thailand.
They could also condemn more strongly the Tamil Tigers' repeated
massacres of innocent villagers. The enforcement of proposals already
before the U.N. Security Council for Sanctions against organisations
such as the Tamil Tigers, that force children to carry arms, would be a
good first step.
Despite my critics' attempts to portray me as a hawk, I have shown by
my actions since taking office that I am far from a war-monger. My
Government has shown enormous restraint in the face of these repeated
provocations. I am a man of peace.
I do not believe in war as a solution to the Sri Lankan situation and
I am committed to walk the extra mile to achieve peace.
However, I cannot accomplish this task alone. So, I call on friends
of democracy everywhere to do their utmost to assist Sri Lanka's
democracy - and the Tamil people themselves - to face up to the
terrorist threat and advance human rights, dignity and pluralism
throughout Sri Lanka.
Mr. Rajapaksa is the President of Sri Lanka.
(The Wall Street Journal.) |