Resettlement and development :

Let actions speak of our commitment - Minister A H M Fowzie

Sha JAMALDEEN in Tehran

We are optimistic that just as we were successful in defeating the LTTE in the battlefront, we would be able to complete the process of resettlement and development, and let these actions speak of our commitment to ensure that all Sri Lankans live with dignity and freedom in a prosperous country, said Urban Affairs Senior Minister A H M Fowzie.

He was addressing the plenary sessions of the International Conference on Combating Terrorism held on June 25 to 26 in Tehran, Iran. Scientific Affairs Senior Minister Prof Tissa Vitarana, who was elected a Vice President of the Conference earlier, presided when Minister Fowzie addressed.

"The government has given top priority for the redevelopment of the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka which are adversely affected by LTTE terrorism," he said.

We are extremely grateful and deeply appreciative of the support extended by the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khameni, President of Iran Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the government and the people of Iran for their continued support to my country, he said.

Minister Fowzie added that there is unanimity among the nations of the world to consider combating and eliminating terrorism as an international priority. "It is equally important that we deal with the causes of terrorism in order to uproot terrorism in all its muted forms," he said.

"Throughout the conflict and especially during its final phase, the international dimension of terrorism in Sri Lanka has been evidently manifest.

"It is widely known and documented that diaspora groups in western countries aided and abetted terrorism in Sri Lanka," the minister pointed out.

These groups have over the years managed a destructive international network of violence, fund-raising, arms smuggling, human trafficking and other forms of trans-national organized crimes, he said.

Some individuals and organizations that stoutly defended the terrorist acts of the LTTE have now metamorphosed themselves into peace activists and human rights defenders lobbying hard in western capitals to question the legitimacy of the humanitarian operations, the minister stressed. "The government has also embarked in the search for the root causes of terrorism in my country, through a process of political consultation with the leaders of the minority communities as well as through national reconciliation," he said.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission constituting eminent and independent persons is an internal domestic mechanism mandated to address all issues including the causes of terrorism and recommend lasting solutions acceptable to all communities. It is vital that the international community allow the domestic process to be duly completed without external interferences or compulsions, the minister pointed out.

"Sri Lanka will continue to play its part and work with our friends and the wider international community to protect the world from the evils of terrorism and to thwart its spread," Minister Fowzie emphasized.