Lanka's envoy enlightens SCMP readers on correct situation

Sri Lanka's Ambassador in China Karunatilaka Amunugama has written to the editor of the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post, correcting misconceptions contained its editorial of 4th February captioned "UN Must Intervene in Sri Lanka's Bloodshed".

"We are of the view that certain contents of your editorial of 4th February 2008 attempts to bring disrepute to the Government and the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka. In response, I would like to present you with facts to enlighten your readership on the current situation in Sri Lanka," he said.

The letter: "Sri Lanka has upheld participatory democracy for more than 60 years and is recognised for its efforts to maintain high socio-economic standards for its people.

However Sri Lanka is dealing with a violent terrorist movement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has rated the LTTE among the most dangerous and deadliest terrorists in the world and has made a global request via its web-site to coordinate with the FBI in cracking down on the outfit's covert activities.

As you may probably be aware, upon assumption of office in 2005, President Rajapaksa declared his commitment for a negotiated settlement and invited the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to participate in direct talks, which the LTTE has not taken seriously.

The Sri Lanka Security Forces were forced to intervene in humanitarian operations in 2006, when the LTTE closed the sluice gate at Mavilaru irrigational anicut, in blatant violation of the international norms, causing much hardship to the livelihood of the people.

The Security Forces have always taken caution to minimise civilian casualties in engaging in limited operations as they did in Vakarai, liberating the area without causing civilian casualties. Similar efforts were made in 2007, during the liberation of rest of the Eastern Province.

The Government of Sri Lanka never abruptly withdrew from the CFA. Although the CFA was seriously flawed at the very inception, the Government pursued the CFA to find a political solution despite difficulties in reaching a southern consensus for this Agreement.

The truce was de facto ended in 2003 by the LTTE but under the cloak of the CFA, they went ahead with the development of an air wing and unabated child recruitment, killing many innocent civilians and moderate Tamil intellectuals including the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat Kethesh Loganathan.

The Government believes that termination of the CFA should not hamper the process of finding a negotiated settlement to the national problem. It will now be a more inclusive process engaging all moderate Tamil parties.

The All Party Representative Committee comprising 13 political parties represented in Parliament has already finalised interim proposals aimed at meeting the aspirations of the people of the North and the East to which endorsement from the international community has been received, including from the Governments of India and Japan.

The Government of Sri Lanka is always committed to the protection of human rights and would like to place itself beyond reproach regarding such concern and has pursued a very open and transparent policy on these issues.

The appointment of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), inviting high Officials of the UN institutions to visit Sri Lanka and deliberate on their concerns, are some cases in point.

While battling terrorism the Government remains open to scrutiny by all the core treaty monitoring mechanisms to which we have subscribed.

All such national processes shall be supplemented and supported by international assistance without compromising our position as a sovereign country."