LTTE's heinous designs

Yesterday's killing of Nation Building Minister D.M. Dassanayake in a claymore attack unveils a pattern devised by the LTTE to engineer a backlash in the South in order to detract from the military defeats being inflicted on it by the Security Forces.

It is also a demonstration of the vulnerability of VIPs in a climate where the LTTE is desperate to extract some revenge for its debacles and shore up the morale of its depleting cadres.

The Minister was on his way to Parliament for the opening day's sittings in the new year when his convoy was caught up in the blast near the Rukmani Devi statue in Ja-ela. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Ragama Teaching Hospital.

This latest assassination of a politician, just a few days after the killing of MP T. Maheshwaran - should awaken the authorities to the latest modus-operandi of the LTTE to sow chaos and confusion in the South. The incident also provides an eye opener that terrorists are moving away from Colombo to the suburbs to stage attacks. The Nugegoda attack is another example.

Now that Parliament sessions have resumed the LTTE may well look to target politicians who are seen to be down on the scale in the threat perception assessment of the security authorities, merely to ignite communal passions. For this is one way it can garner international support to let it off the Government's hook.

Hence the need for the Government to take a more serious look on the security of the MPs. There should be additional security on the roads leading to Parliament with extra checks being conducted while constant searches should be carried out in the surrounding areas.

A complete re-assessment should be made of the threat perception on each MP be it Government or Opposition so that necessary precautions could be taken. Investigations are being carried out as this column is being written and it is yet to be ascertained if Minister Dassanayake was the intended target.

This also brings to the fore the question of public appearance of MPs. Given the looming threat it should be prevailed on politicians to cut down on unnecessary travel that would expose them to terrorist attacks and convey their messages to the public through the electronic media which are at their disposal.

Minister Dassanayake is a colourful figure who always attracted controversy by his daredevil antics.

How he figured in the LTTE's hit list is difficult to comprehend. This is all the more reason for ordinary MPs not to drop their guard and be ever vigilant, for the wounded Tiger is all out to create mayhem, never mind the status of its target.

True, it will be argued that a retreat in such a fashion would be equal to giving in to the LTTE's terror tactics. However in the overall context it is prudent to apply circumspection.

This is second occasion within almost a week that a politician has been killed. It is reminiscent of the days in the late 80s when top VIPs were targeted on almost a daily basis. This also had severe repercussions on the economy. The LTTE may also aiming to destabilise the South to drive away investors.

The Government would do well to take cognisance of all the angles in this latest Tiger ploy before drawing up counter measures. It should also reiterate its call for public vigilance and heightened alert for suspicious movements. The LTTE may well be wanting to send a message that the scrapping of the CFA has given it a carte blanche to attack civilian targets.

The Government should be alert to this possibility and take steps to lobby the international community on this latest LTTE strategy.

It should also put in place an alternative mechanism to keep the peace process alive to impress upon the international community that the path to negotiations is still open while going ahead with the task of eliminating LTTE terrorism.