No more hostages, No 'bloodbath'

RASIKA SOMARATHNA

Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the media that the projected fears by certain foreign elements, of an imminent 'blood bath', during the final phase of the 'humanitarian operation' was found to be false, as predicted by the Government.

The Government said that it's humanitarian mission to liberate the Northern civilians from Tiger tyranny had come to a successful conclusion, with all remaining IDP's held hostage by the LTTE been rescued as of yesterday.

"These projected fears of an imminent 'human catastrophe', mainly by the western media and allied groups had been built up to a crescendo, fuelled by false LTTE propaganda in recent times'' the Minister said adding that Government's repeated assurances that it was taking utmost precautions had been ignored to a large extent.

Thus the success of the final thrust of the 'humanitarian mission' where civilians had been rescued with minimum harm, is an eye opener for all detractors who had been fed with one lie after another, he claimed.

On the occasion he also described the defeat of the LTTE militarily as a unique occasion in the world fact book on recent such experiences.

The Minister said that the Security Forces had rescued more than 197,000 civilians from the jaws of the LTTE since the 20th of last month with the number exceeding 50,000 during the final 72 hours.

He also noted that the Government's objective of defeating the LTTE terrorists militarily had been realized, and it was now time to pursue it's quest for achieving equity in development, rebuilding the lives and areas destroyed due to terrorism and forging national unity.

The Minister also claimed that the resettlement of IDP's would be an entirely voluntary exercise with the displaced being given a choice on whether they want to go back or not to their original homelands.

Community leaders from the IDP fraternity would be taken first on an assessment tour to these areas after being cleared of land mines and being equipped with infrastructure facilities, to get a first hand impression on the facilities available before making a choice, he added.

All would be provided with equal facilities and opportunities in order to achieve sustainable resettlement. Past mistakes would not be repeated and the ugly head of terrorism would not be allowed to rise again, he added.

The Minister said that the Government would now set it's wheels in motion towards achieving it's cherished goal, which was to nurture a truly representative Sri Lankan identity where diverse groups could feel comfortable under one flag.

Answering a query from a journalist regarding the pressure applied by certain international elements, on the humanitarian mission, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona claimed that Sri Lanka as a sovereign state had every right to engage in a military thrust intended at rescuing a section of it's citizens who were being held hostage by a terrorist outfit.

The media briefing was also attended by Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights Rajiva Wijesinha and Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.