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Rajapaksa alleges "conspiracies"

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Recent killings done to cause damage to the image of the Government

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that "conspiracies" were being hatched to discredit his Government and asserted that he would leave no room to "betray" his motherland. Addressing a group of academics, intellectuals and mediapersons at the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday, Mr. Rajapaksa maintained that the killing of persons, whose burnt bodies were found recently near the road, was clearly done to cause damage to the image of the Government. The fact that these killings had been done at a time when representatives of international human rights organisations were here, showed this had been done by a certain organisation and that these were the results of the conspiracies being hatched against the Government.

Criticism "baseless"

Mr. Rajapaksa told the gathering that he was fully aware of those who were carrying out acts of treachery against the country, and considered the criticism levelled against the Government by defeated politicians, retired politicians and groups that were seeking to come to power as "baseless."

A statement put out by his Secretariat quoted him as saying that there were various groups conspiring to belittle the immense work carried out by the security forces, at the cost of their lives, to liberate the ordinary people from the clutches of terrorism, and thereby helping the terrorists achieve their objectives.

The objective of the meeting was to explain the prevailing situation with regard to defence operations being carried out in the North and East, and clarify the Government's position over the many charges being made against it by various groups "aimed at covering up the defeats of the LTTE and weakening the operations of the security forces, as well as, allegations about violation of human rights and the breakdown of the economy."

LTTE `harassment'

Mr. Rajapaksa told the gathering that from the beginning, his Government has been working towards finding a political solution to the present crisis, and that the representatives of the Government who went to discussions were subject to harassment by the LTTE. He spoke of the need for every effort to be made to arrive at a solution that would be acceptable to all. He said that steps would be taken to summon the All Party Conference to discuss a solution that would be acceptable to all, and that speedy actions would be taken in this regard.

Mr. Rajapaksa said the proposals of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would be presented very soon, and that he was committed to carrying out the pledge to implement a final solution.

He claimed that the LTTE had used the period of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) to strengthen itself militarily with the singular aim of achieving its objective of Eelam and he had not abandoned the search for a political solution.

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