No ceasefire -PM

Uditha Kumarasinghe and Irangika Range

The Government has no intention to go for a ceasefire with the LTTE, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka said.

“Every time when the LTTE faced a severe set back, they spoke about a ceasefire. But the LTTE cannot mislead this Government through such traps. Our Armed Forces have been able to reveal to the country how the LTTE terrorists were strengthened during the ceasefire period. If that trend continued, the entire country would have been in danger,” he told Parliament yesterday.

The Prime Minister said the best opportunity has now been created to eradicate LTTE terrorism which threatened the country for the last three decades.

The Premier participating in the Emergency debate said the day to eliminate terrorism may be tomorrow.

“However, we cannot remain idle by entirely vesting this responsibility on our Armed Forces. It is the responsibility of everyone to join hands and create an environment conducive to our Armed Forces to achieve their final goal,” he said.

“All the military victories achieved by our war heroes belong to the country. Our future generation would enjoy the benefits of these victories.

Therefore we all should extend the maximum support to the Armed Forces to put an end to terrorism without dragging the country’s future to darkness, anymore,” Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said. “Amidst various difficulties, our war heroes have been able to achieve significant victories in the battle front.

Terrorists even in the face of their total annihilation, attempt to cause maximum damage to the civilians and the Armed Forces. The Government has clearly understood this situation.

The Government has taken all possible measures to prevent any further acts of terrorism planned by the LTTE”, he said.

“The international observers have pointed out on many occasions that the LTTE had violated the ceasefire agreement. In this situation, how can we go for a ceasefire with the LTTE by further placing confidence on them? the Premier queried.

At present the people have understood the actual situation. The people living in uncleared areas in the North are returning to Government controlled areas even risking their lives, he said.

The LTTE is having a hatred towards all communities steps should be taken to completely destroy this LTTE mentality, the Prime Minister said.Some Tamil politicians make various irresponsible statements in foreign countries to favour the LTTE. A question has arisen as to why certain elements do not like to put an end to terrorism, he added. “A double standard cannot be maintained towards the battle launched to eradicate terrorism. It would undermine the great sacrifices made by our heroic Armed Forces to put an end to terrorism” Prime Minister Wickramanayake added.