International   

Rajapaksa reiterates commitment to talks

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asserted that terrorism in the country is nurtured by funds from overseas and urged the international community to help his government cut off the flow of funds to the terrorists.

In an address to Los Angeles World Affairs Council on Saturday, Mr. Rajapaksa said there was no military solution to the conflict in the island nation and his government remained committed to a negotiated and honourable settlement.

Mr. Rajapaksa is currently in the U.S. in connection with the ongoing U.N. General Assembly session. Last week, in his address to the General Assembly, Mr. Rajapaksa complained about what he termed as use of “human rights issues as a political tool” against governments engaged in fight against terrorism.

“Our goal is to restore democracy and the rule of law to all the people of our country. Fifty-four per cent of Sri Lanka’s Tamil population now lives in areas other than the north and the east of the country, among the Sinhalese and other communities. There is no ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka as some in the media mistakenly highlight. Sri Lanka’s security forces are fighting a terrorist group, not a particular community”, Mr. Rajapaksa told the gathering in Los Angeles.

Mr. Rajapaksa maintained that the current military operations are only intended to exert pressure on the LTTE to convince them that terrorism cannot bring them victory. “We believe that the current conflict has its roots in poverty and underdevelopment. The way to wean the youth away from violence is to create economic opportunities for them”.

He said it gave great strength to his regime to know that the international community is with it in its efforts at rehabilitation and reconstruction in areas wrested from the LTTE in the east.

He said there is a tremendous potential for developing fisheries, tourism and animal husbandry and a consortium of donors including France, Spain and Japan are assisting in constructing a major coastal highway. The E.U. is building another.

Mr. Rajapaksa lamented that Sri Lanka has been misunderstood and her actions misinterpreted in many ways. He said over the decades, the country had developed democratic institutions with great care and pride and enjoyed universal adult franchise since 1931.

“Democracy is deeply rooted in our country, and we hope to restore democracy in the Eastern Province without delay by holding elections. The pluralism and democracy taken for granted elsewhere in Sri Lanka need to be re-established in the Eastern Province and in the North. We hope that before long, we will also be able to take this message to the areas still controlled by the Tigers”, he said.

Mr. Rajapaksa said the solution his government is seeking must necessarily be just, honourable and acceptable to all, and above all, it must be a democratic solution, one that preserves the democratic institutions that developed over 75 years.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Media observes “black day”
I acted on my conscience: Bhagwandas
Rajapaksa reiterates commitment to talks
Gayoom blames political rebels for Male blast
Accent on reform: Wen
Snap polls in November?
Gambari meets Suu Kyi
India to ratify U.N. Convention on rights of disabled
IIM Global Summit on October 4
“India keen on promoting education sector”
France to help India at NSG

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu