President Mahinda Rajapaksa:

Great Leader of our era

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who knows all needs of the people and have won their confidence is a great leader of our era and is capable of wining the development war just as he won the war on terror, said Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka participating in the Subharati program of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation yesterday morning.

"It is not enough to embrace the President, one should embrace his policies too. As the President said people of all communities - Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay etc, are Sri Lankans. They could be divided only as those who are patriotic and those who are not," he added. The Prime Minister said we have a civilisation much longer than the West and we do not need their advice. "They should understand that we are a no longer a colony. We have strength and self-confidence. It is some foreigners who supported terrorism in our country with the assistance of certain media outlets," he said.

Answering a question by Hudson Samarasinghe, the Prime Minister said an inquiry should be held to find out how the military hardware found in Puthukudiyiruppu was brought to the country.

He also said that the Army should be entrusted with the development activities in the North as it has discipline and dedication. He appealed to all to unite to develop the country.