Plight of civilians:

Tell the whole truth - Defence Secretary

INGOs, international media should not hide main fact - LTTE keeping civilians hostage

It is unfortunate that spokesmen for INGOs, UN Agencies and other organizations hide most important facts when commenting on the plight of civilians in the Vanni, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the Daily News.

“The Government has demarcated an area equal to half the total area still to be cleared as a No fire zone and it is the LTTE that is keeping the civilians by force without allowing them to enter that zone. This is the main factor which these spokesperson hide,” added the Defence Secretary.

“There is a well orchestrated campaign to discredit the Government and the Security Forces and bring pressure on it to declare a ceasefire by LTTE agents who have infiltrated international organizations and media institutions over a period of time.

Referring to a statement made by these spokesmen alleging the Security Forces of using cluster bombs on civilian targets, he said that Sri Lanka does not have cluster bombs and questioned who is producing such weapons.

The blame should go to those who produce and use such weapons and not to Sri Lanka who has not acquired them, he added.

The Security Forces are practically providing facilities for LTTE cadres to surrender and already several hundreds of those who have surrendered are looked after and provided with skills training by the Government. There is also a program to find them overseas employment, he added.

Those who are in the pay books of the LTTE are fabricating stories to invent a scenario of a human catastrophe and are disseminating false information. For example, exaggerated figures of the number of civilians are given when the actual figures are much lower, he said.

According to the Census of 2002 there was only a population of 208,000 in the Mullaitivu district and over 60,000 of them are now living in Colombo. A similar number resides in other areas such as Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and the Central Province.

The actual number of civilians trapped in the Vanni is less than 100,000. A recent estimate provided by the Government Agent confirms this, the Defence Secretary explained.

The Defence Secretary appealed to the media and to all who are interested in the plight of civilians to tell the whole truth and not hide the main fact of the LTTE keeping them hostage.