Minister Rambukwella says he is vindicated:

C4 has many concoctions

Rasika SOMARATHNA

*Govt rejects allegation in latest one

*More episodes to follow

The government yesterday totally rejects claims made in the latest Channel - 4 video, Mass Media and Communications Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday. Answering queries raised by the media during the weekly cabinet briefing, the minister said that it was another attempt to tarnish the image of the country using fabricated material.

The minister recalled, he had predicted that the Channel – 4 possessed several such videos at the time when the first one surfaced.

“Plans to air these videos at the time by Channel 4 had to be shelved due to efforts taken by the government to counter them”, he added.

When questioned on his reaction over an alleged comment made by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s son over the phone to his mother regarding the channel 4 video, the minister said that if this was truly the case it was very unfortunate.

He recalled that the LTTE had tried to assassinate former President Kumaratunge using a suicide bomber which blinded her in one eye. The British Channel 4 aired another video on Wednesday night featuring a man with his face blurred on the screen. It claimed that the man on the video was a Lankan soldier engaged in the final stages of the conflict.

However, Military Spokesman Major General Ubhaya Medewala denied that any solider gave such an interview to the Channel 4.

Speaking over the phone Major General Medewala said: "They are attempting to justify the fake videos previously aired by the TV station’.

Meanwhile, when questioned on what action the government would take in the face of repeated airing of such videos by Channel 4, Minister Rambukwella said that the government would make use of all avenues at its disposal to counter such false propaganda.

The government has taken a number of steps to make the world community aware of the true happenings during the ‘humanitarian operation, he observed.

Minister Rambukwella said that the detailed report compiled by the Defence Ministry on the conduct of the humanitarian operation would be made available to all. The report was handed over to the President on Wednesday by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The details of the report would be made available to the international community through relevant Sri Lankan missions abroad. Through Lankan missions all steps would be taken to make the international community aware in this regard. The minister also described the report as a ‘public document’ and added that it would soon be released to the local media.