President braved unruly protests

Monitoring MP for External Affairs Ministry Sajin de Vasz Gunewardene yesterday questioned whether Sri Lanka could afford to remain passive in the face of repeated diaspora threats.

He was referring to the latest episode where some LTTE supporters engaged in unruly protests in London during the President's recent visit.

Speaking to the media Gunewardene said, "the predominant positive aspect of President's visit to UK is that he went ahead with it despite being aware of the obstacles that would be posed by sections of the diaspora."

He described such disruptive elements as a threat to the well-being of the British state and its democratic system.

Speaking on the same matter Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge said the London Police had given assurances in writing that it was safe for the President to conduct his address at 'Marlborough House'.

"I feel the British authorities did not realize the disruptive capability of the unruly elements of the diaspora until then. Tiger flags were everywhere in a very aggressive way. Two diaspora members managed to slip past security cordon and attempted to find their way towards the President" he said. Sri Lanka High Commissioner to UK, DR.Chris Nonis and Foreign Secretary Karunatilake Amunugama too attended the interaction with the media.