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Rajapaksa warns LTTE of ban

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Monday night that his government could ban the LTTE if the organisation were to repeat incidents like the parcel bomb on the outskirts of Colombo on November 28. Nineteen civilians were killed in that incident.

In an informal talk with a small group of journalists at the Presidential Palace on the occasion of a pre-Christmas party, Mr. Rajapaksa said there “were limits to the tolerance of his government vis-À-vis the dastardly activities” of the Tigers.

Asked about the report in a Sunday English weekly paper about the LTTE chief being injured in an aerial attack on November 28, Mr. Rajapaksa said though the government was not in a position to confirm the veracity of the report, it was sure that on that particular day the Sri Lanka Air Force had definitely hit two “important targets” of the Tigers in Kilinochchi.

“At the moment we are not in a position to comment on the correctness of the report. However, the SLAF is certain that it has hit two specific high value targets of the LTTE on November 28”, Mr. Rajapaksa said.

The President said ‘peace’ would now be the priority of his government. At the same time, he made it known that peace could not be achieved as long as the LTTE was not militarily weakened.

“Our strategy is clear. While we would continue to defend ourselves against the military challenge posed by the Tigers, my government is committed to unveil a political package for resolution of the ethnic conflict,” he said.

Mr. Rajapaksa said he was waiting for the report of the All-Parties Representative Conference (APRC), constituted by him to recommend a devolution package, to submit its report to finalise the political package.

On Sunday night at a function to felicitate Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the British-born science fiction writer who has made Sri Lanka his home for the last five decades, Mr. Rajapaksa said his government would leave no stone unturned to realise Sir Arthur’s 90th birthday wish of bringing “a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.”

“In his remarks today too, Sir Arthur displayed the same love for this country, as he listed among his three wishes, his desire ‘to see lasting peace in Sri Lanka as soon as possible.’

“I can give no guarantees on your first two wishes, but I assure you Sir Arthur that my administration will do all within its power to seek to make a reality of your third wish, a lasting peace in Sri Lanka,” the President said.

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