'LTTE holding innocent civilians to ransom'

Remarks made by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to the diplomatic community in Colombo, on August 3, 2006 on the LTTE's forcible closure of the Mavilaru anicut and the LTTE's decision to withdraw security guarantee to EU members of the SLMM

WATER CRISIS: While the evacuation of Sri Lankans from the Lebanon crisis continues, we are faced with another crisis situation here at home, created by the LTTE's intransigence and their resorting to a new method of warfare, using water as an instrument to ignite and widen conflict, putting civilians in the area to a grave difficulty.

This started when the LTTE, without any reason whatsoever, blocked the anicut in Mavilaru, which provides water to nearly 30,000 acres of cultivation by poor farmers.

The blocking of this water resource has also deprived drinking water to approximately 15,000 families, of all communities (in Muttur, Seruwila and Ichchalampattu) as wells have dried up due to drying up of this main water resource in the area.

Discussions were under way with the assistance of the SLMM to persuade the LTTE to restore the flow of water to the farming community, but the LTTE continues this intransigent attitude and has made a series of demands amounting to blackmailing the Government through the use of water as an instrument of coercion.

The clear impression the Government received through consultations with the SLMM was that the LTTE was looking for a pretext to intensify the conflict rather than addressing development problems as claimed by them.

The Government has given, even written commitment to fulfil the LTTE demand of a water tank.

We know that the SLMM did all it can to try to persuade the LTTE by pointing out to Ellilan of the LTTE that by denying the water, paddy harvest would be completely destroyed and the LTTE would not have any leverage for achieving the development objectives they claimed to entertain.

The LTTE was clearly challenging the authority and indeed the obligation of the elected Government to provide utilities to people of all communities - Tamil, Muslim an Sinhala, by creating this water blockade.

We know that the assessment of the SLMM was that the LTTE was taking this utterly inflexible position on a directive from its top leadership in order to orchestrate a situation where the Government is obliged to use legitimate force to restore the water supply.

This intransigent attitude comes as it does in the wake of the LTTE's totally unacceptable demand that some SLMM Monitors should leave Sri Lanka because EU Governments have taken certain sovereign decisions.

The affected people have mobilised public manifestations demanding action by the Government.

The Government was left with no other option but to use legitimate force to provide security cover to the irrigation officials to restore the water supply.

This is not an offensive operation on any military or other target but a judicious use of force to ensure that objects and services indispensable to the survival of the civilian population are available, especially to the civilian population who are already under grave hardship due to terrorist instigated violence.

Security forces' activity including the air cover for this operation was clearly to facilitate this task and not to embark on any new offensive action.

The air operations were against the LTTE gun positions and other offensive installations which were either sending reinforcement or firing against the security forces approaching the Mavilaru anicut.

The Government has always taken very seriously the humanitarian requests made by leaders of civil society, particularly when it concerned the livelihood of the civilian population, despite severe security constraints.

For example, despite security threats the Government has relaxed restrictions on fishing in Mannar and Trincomalee, to bring relief to the civilian population whose livelihoods were affected.

Even requests by the LTTE have been conceded by the Government on humanitarian grounds. The best example was the occasion when the Government facilitated Daya Master, the LTTE spokesman to be brought to Colombo for medical treatment, despite wide public opposition.

These facilities were provided by the Government as a confidence building measure. It is very unfortunate that the LTTE has not reciprocated these gestures and resorted to an act against humanity - cutting off water to a large section of the civilian population.

I do not want to go into the details of hardship faced by the people. According to the GA/Trincomalee indicates clearly the extent of hardship suffered by the people due to the imminent destruction of the harvest, drying up of wells and the danger of possible skin and stomach diseases, etc.

The supply of water by bowsers is under way, but this is neither adequate nor sustainable in the long term.

Negotiations went on for six days, starting from the 20th, when the Government was first informed of the closure of the anicut, until the 26th.

In fact the SCOPP officials here would be in a position to share with you the letters the Government has written.

All this time, the paddy cultivation in the area was facing destruction. The Government could not ignore any longer the plight of the civilian population.

Government had made it clear that at any time if the LTTE were to open the anicut without conditions, no military intervention would be needed.

The military intervention by the Government forces was purely dictated by the humanitarian situation that was emerging. No elected Government could ignore any longer the LTTE's holding the innocent civilian population to ransom by using water as a weapon of war. The objective is to restore the water resource.

Finally, I would like to brief you on the LTTE's contrived expulsion of EU nationals from the SLMM.

Following the decision by the European Union to list the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, the LTTE responded by announcing that "the ban had seriously disturbed the neutrality of these countries" and insisted on the removal of EU nationals from the SLMM. The LTTE imposed an ultimatum for EU nationals of the SLMM to leave by September 1.

The Government recognises that when security guarantees are withdrawn by one party to the conflict there arises genuine security concerns.

It is important to recognise as a matter of principle, that the withdrawal of Finland, Denmark and Sweden is not because these countries are EU States, rather it is because the LTTE withdrew the security guarantee to a selective group of members in the SLMM.

The Government believes that the SLMM has established an institutional structure on which the ceasefire is dependent. It is vital that the institutional structure of the SLMM as the most critical component of the peace process remains unaffected.

The Government has communicated this position to the Nordic countries, and urged the three countries, even if their nationals have to withdraw from uncleared areas due to LTTE threat, not to withdraw from the SLMM as an institution in Colombo thus further giving currency to LTTE blackmail.

The Government feels that the unilateral decision by the LTTE to withdraw security guarantees to EU nationals in the SLMM is intended to cripple the SLMM and make the monitoring mechanism ineffective.