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LTTE abusing our restraint: Colombo

V.S. Sambandan

Government ready for talks with Tigers

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday said his Government "will continue to act with restraint" but would take "all necessary measures" to check "further terrorist attacks."

In his first official response to Saturday's attack by a suspected Black Sea Tigers on a naval craft, Mr. Rajapakse also said the Government "was committed to upholding the obligations of the ceasefire agreement."

Escalating terror

The LTTE, he said, "was abusing" Colombo's "restraint" and had "progressively escalated offensive terror operation even as the Government is awaiting a positive response from the LTTE to resume talks."

Mr. Rajapakse made these observations during a meeting with Ambassadors of the Co-chairs of the international donors backing the peace process — the U.S., E.U., Japan and Norway.

"The President assured the international community that Sri Lanka as a responsible Government will continue to act with restraint, but would be obliged to take all necessary measures to deter further terror attacks that will undermine the ceasefire and the peace process as well as the security of the country," an official release by the President's office said.

He assured them that "abuse of power by the security forces [would] not be tolerated under any circumstances."

This assurance is against the backdrop of the recent killing of five Tamil youths in Trincomalee district.

The military had initially said the youngsters had died in an "accidental grenade explosion" but a post-mortem report identified gunshot injuries as the cause.

The LTTE blamed the security forces for the killing.

Pointing out that a Presidential probe was pending, Mr. Rajapakse told the Co-chairs that "the perpetrators would be brought to justice."

At a public meeting after Saturday's attack in which at least 13 sailors were killed, the President said his "patience" should not be construed as "weakness".

"If someone takes my patience that I have inculcated through Buddhist values as my weakness, they would be mistaken," a report in the state-run Daily News quoted the President as saying.

Firm stance

Asserting that terrorism would not alter the Government's decision, he said: "It is a great mistake if anyone believed that our decisions can be altered by means of terror. If they think so, time has come for them to give up such thoughts."

In his speech and at his meeting with the diplomats, Mr. Rajapakse reiterated his Government's position that it was ready to commence talks with the LTTE.

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