Welfare of Tamil people furthest from LTTE policies - Government
COLOMBO: The LTTE, by launching an attack on merchant vessels
carrying food and other essential items to Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) in the North, has once again demonstrated that the well-being of
Tamil people it claims to represent is furthest from their concern, the
Government said yesterday.
A Government communique said: “This morning the LTTE mounted a
premeditated attack using suicide craft on two merchant ships, “Ruhuna”
and “Nimalawa” in the seas off the Northern coast. This is the second
attack targeting a food convoy reaching the Wanni civilians in recent
times.
On the 16th of this month the LTTE launched an attack targeting a
convoy of fifty lorries carrying food and essential items, including
medicine plying, under the UN banner. The items had been dispatched to
be distributed among the IDPs in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts.
The terrorists fired artillery and heavy mortar attacks targeting the
convoy.
The Government notes that the LTTE has continuously done everything
possible to subvert all relief measures to these people, the most
pernicious strategy being that of forcibly deploying them to act as a
human shield in the face of advancing security forces, blocking their
movement to safe areas wherever possible.
The Government of Sri Lanka has been using air and sea routes as
means of transporting essential food items and ferrying civilians.
Focusing on the plight of civilians in North, the Government has taken
swift measures to dispatch food and essential items as an immediate
relief measure. Accordingly, the Government has organised a regular flow
of humanitarian supplies to the entire North, ensuring there are no
shortages.
Further, the Government is confident that the international
community, and especially those who have expressed concerns about the
plight of civilians in the Wanni, will be further convinced as to the
logical necessity of employing all means necessary to eliminate the
terrorist threat and secure the release of people trapped in the open
prison that the LTTE has turned the Wanni into.
The Government also emphasizes that this act of the LTTE is a crime
against humanity and it should put to rest any illusions that anyone may
have entertained that the LTTE represents the concerns of civilians.
Indeed, it puts into perspective recent concerns that have been
expressed regarding the Government’s efforts to ensure that essential
items are sent to the Wanni.
The Government reiterates the sentiments expressed recently by the
President that its primary responsibility is to look after all citizens.
The President, on that occasion said, “I carry out this responsibility
to the fullest, especially with regard to the people who are temporarily
displaced in the North, due to the ongoing military operations to defeat
terrorism. There is a wrong impression created in Tamil Nadu that this
not being done. This is furthest from the truth.”
The Government notes with grave concern that the ships that came
under attack are also used by NGOs and private sector suppliers to
transport goods. By attacking these ships the LTTE terrorists are trying
to disrupt the smooth flow of essential items to Jaffna and thereby
create a humanitarian crisis in the region, that would not exist but for
its acts of terror.
It is patently clear that the LTTE is trying to get the attention of
the international community by these indiscriminate activities and the
Government calls on the international community to condemn without
reservation such despicable acts that seek to obtain political mileage
at the cost of innocent civilians.
The Government remains undeterred by all acts of terrorism and is
fully conscious of the objectives of the terrorists.
The Government will continue to take all possible measures to ensure
the safety and well-being of all civilians in the North.
|