Act with calm, restraint - President

Manjula Fernando in Kebithigollewa

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who visited the site of the carnage and the Kebithigollewa hospital last afternoon, appealed to the people to act with calm and restraint at this critical juncture.

Vehemently condemning the massacre, President Rajapaksa told the media that the Government would step up its efforts to keep the international community informed of the LTTE's continuing acts of barbarism.

"We will not let this incident, however barbaric it is, sabotage the peace process. We are deeply committed to the peace process," he said.

The latest brutality of the LTTE would certainly not detract him from pursuing the process that had already being put in motion to achieve peaceful resolution to the current conflict with the help of all political parties.

The President expressing his profound grief to the next of kin of victims said he found it hard to comprehend how an innocent group of bus passengers who have no stake in the current conflict could be targeted in such a brutal manner.

He said he was certain the latest act of barbarism by the LTTE would shock the world into realising the urgent necessity of identifying the true motives of the terror outfit.

He urged the LTTE to refrain from attacking and killing innocent civilians including children.

There have been several LTTE attacks on civilians in Sinhalese villages in the North-East recently.

The President said the International community should at this moment redouble its efforts to rein in the LTTE and steer it into negotiations as the only viable option for resolving the present problem.

He said the latest act by the LTTE was clearly intended to ignite a communal backlash and gain from its fallout internationally. Therefore, it is all the more important for the public to realise this aspect and not fall for the wiles of the LTTE.

The President, who spoke to the injured at the Kebithigollewa hospital and visited the morgue, ordered the Security Forces top brass who were accompanying him to bolster security in the villages in areas vulnerable to LTTE attacks.

He visited the Kebithigollewa police station for an extensive discussion on the security arrangements.

Ministers Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Tissa Karaliyedda, Acting Army Chief Nanda Mallawarachchi, IGP Chandra Fernando and area commanders of the Security Forces were present.

Adhikarana Sanganayake of the North Central region Ven. Vihara Halmillewe Dhammarakkhitha, Chief Incumbent of the Anuradhapura Buddhist Centre Ven. Nugetenne Pannananda Nayake Thera, Ministers Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Tissa Karaliyedda, North Central Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake, Deputy Ministers Mervyn Silva, Duminda Dissanayke and Hussein Bhaila together with Acting Army Chief Nanda Mallawarachchi, IGP Chandra Fernando and area commanders of the Security Forces were present.