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Committed to Sri Lanka peace: Oslo

COLOMBO: Norway’s policy of a resolution of the ethnic conflict within a united Sri Lanka “remains firm and will not change,” said its Foreign Ministry in a suo motu statement issued in Oslo.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway Raymond Johansen referred to as what was termed as “recent public debate about Norwegian policy towards Sri Lanka.”

Norway deemed it necessary to put the record straight after a member of its ruling party reportedly spoke in favour of the “LTTE’s cause.”

Interestingly, the statement coincided with a meeting between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Batticaloa S. Jeyanandamoorthy, who is on a visit to Europe, and Norwegian Special Envoy to Sri Lanka Jon Hanssen-Bauer in Oslo.

TamilNet quoted the MP as telling Mr. Hanssen-Bauer that the “Rajapaksa government is now attempting to seek regional recognition, especially from India, as it attempts to seek foreign funds for implementing a colonisation-agenda in the East.”

Meanwhile, the Army claimed to have gunned down the LTTE’s intelligence wing leader of the Trincomalee South region on Thursday. The Defence Ministry quoted Italian investigators who arrested 33 LTTE activists as saying they were collecting more than £3.5 million to be deposited in Swiss banks to “bankroll a war” in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed an agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said the objective is to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement, prosecution and prevention of crime, and confiscation of criminal proceeds.

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