President to meet Aust. Premier today

Dinesh Weerawansa in Australia

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on an eight-day official visit to Australia to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is due to meet Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Perth yesterday. The two leaders will discuss bilateral issues to further strengthen ties between Australia, the current host of the CHOGM, and Sri Lanka, the next host nation of the CHOGM in 2013.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd called on President Rajapaksa at his hotel on Tuesday. Associated with the President was Minister of External Affairs Prof G.L. Peiris.

CBF

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) 2011, organised by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) in collaboration with the Australian and Western Australian governments and the private sector, began today and is due to end on Thursday.

A strong Sri Lankan business delegation is participating in the CBF.

This will provide a unique opportunity for delegates to contribute and present key policy recommendations to CHOGM, learn about new business and investment opportunities, conduct business with other international partners, network with key government and business leaders, and influence the debate on important trade and investment issues.

Major setback

Meanwhile, the LTTE shadow agents who attempted to discredit Sri Lanka by levelling baseless war crime charges in Victoria suffered a major setback on Tuesday when the Australian government announced that the visiting Sri Lankan Head of State enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland, who must consent to charges against the President levelled in Australia, is also yet to receive a request from the lawyer of a Sri Lankan-born Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran, who filed an indictment in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court. It has now been disclosed that Jegatheeswaran, who had sought political asylum and become an Australian citizen in 1990, had closely worked with front organisations of the now defunct terrorist outfit.

McClelland’s spokesman said today that the Lankan leader who is in Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, enjoys legal protection while in Australia. “Australia has obligations under International Law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which extends immunity to visiting heads of State,” he said.

Jegatheeswaran’s attempt is nothing new as LTTE sympathisers have made similar attempts in several countries, including the President’s recent visit to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.

Tight security

Tight security operations are in place as 54 leaders of the Commonwealth meet during the three-day CHOGM which starts at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday. However, Police and protesters look set to clash in Perth if a policy of busting protest camps is pursued, as signalled by West Australian Premier Colin Barnett.

Protesters would not be allowed to set up camp in Perth during the Commonwealth leaders’ meeting and would be removed, Barnett said today. Occupy Melbourne and Occupy Sydney protesters have accused police of using heavy-handed tactics after people were dragged from protest camps set up in central city squares in recent days.

The WA Premier said protesters would be able to make their point peacefully but would not be allowed to interfere with CHOGM or the surrounding public events. When asked about the security response to the planned Occupy Perth action in Forrest Place, Barnett said it depended on how it was conducted.

Meanwhile, a man was arrested earlier this week after he allegedly entered a restricted security zone put in place for the Commonwealth leaders’ meeting in Perth. Police said the 37-year-old man entered the restricted area on Monday afternoon after he had been served a notice informing him he was on a list of excluded persons. Police said the man had been provided with information and a map showing security areas he was not permitted to enter.