We give highest priority to civilian safety - President
President Mahinda Rajapaksa expects the armed forces to make rapid
advances and capture Elephant Pass, which controls access to the Jaffna
Peninsula, and other key targets in a short while.
He is confident that, in the near future, the fighting cadres of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will have nowhere to go outside the
jungles of Mullaitivu district. Speaking over the telephone from Colombo
with N Ram of The Hindu on Sunday evening, President Rajapaksa expressed
satisfaction that his ‘Zero Civilian Casualty Policy’ was implemented
perfectly by the Armed Forces during the operations to liberate
Kilinochchi, the administrative hub and de facto ‘capital’ of the LTTE.
They would continue to implement this policy in all their operations.
“See what is happening in Palestine! Horrible,” the President said.
“I spoke to the Palestinian President [Mahmoud Abbas] to find out the
real situation there.”
President Rajapaksa expressed concern over the LTTE not releasing the
tens of thousands of Tamil civilians it holds “virtually as prisoners.”
He has warned the organisation that it would face a ban if it continued
to deny Tamil civilians, their freedom and human rights. It is
understood that the ban could come within a week.
“We have to give the highest priority to looking after these
civilians,” President Rajapaksa said during the telephone conversation.
“We want their safety. That is why I am insisting strongly on their
release.”
“We are sending them food,” he added. “We are feeding the LTTE. We
won’t keep them hungry even after the civilians come over!”
President Rajapaksa said some of the LTTE cadres were surrendering to
the Armed Forces. His Government was aware that there was a possibility
of some suicide bombers trying to come out as refugees. The Government
was doing its best to apprehend and neutralise the LTTE’s suicide
bombers, possibly 15 to 20 of them, who are believed to have infiltrated
into Colombo and its environs.
Courtesy The Hindu |