‘Govt not using food as weapon’

Lakshmi de Silva

The Armed Forces could destroy the murderous LTTE terrorists hiding behind 30,000 - 40,000 civilians in a matter of four days or even in ten minutes time.

The Government still despatched food to the small area where civilians were held by the terrorist and we would not use food as a weapon to destroy even the terrorists.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had told the UN Secretary General that the Government will not use inhuman methods, Transport and Railways Ministry Dallas Alahapperuma said at the UPFA press conference at the Mahaveli Centre in Colombo yesterday.

Our forces were using minimum force to prevent harm to the helpless civilians forcibly held by the terrorists and all measures would be taken to rescue them from the bondage of the terrorist group. The forces were adding a new chapter to the history of warfare.

Unlike in other countries like the Gaza Strip we also could have destroyed innocent civilians but we were not an uncivilized inhuman Government and our forces were acting with the greatest restraint and patience to prevent harm to the civilians, he said.

Our Government did not use food as a weapon to starve even a murderous terrorist group. Even the thosai that Prabhakaran or Pottu Amman were eating today was cooked with the flour and other food items that the Government had despatched to the civilians in the terrorist held strip of land in the North, he said.

We have gathered information about some political leaders of the South who had enjoyed the company of the terrorist leader Prabhakran in swimming pools in the terrorist held area but action on such traitors would have to wait though they could be hauled up before a military tribunal for betraying the Armed forces and the country.

But after the results of the April 25 election for the Western Provincial Council were announced we would bring all the evidence before the public and request the people to decide on the appropriate punishment that should be meted out to those politicians, he noted.