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Sri Lanka for political solution

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said his government is ready to implement “political and constitutional solutions” to redress the grievances of all communities and would not, and could not, let the LTTE hold the Tamils of the north hostage to terror. He made these remarks at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

Mr. Rajapaksa, who spoke a few sentences in Tamil at the beginning of his address, reiterated the government would talk to the “illegal armed group” — that is, the LTTE — only when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning of its illicit weapons and dismantling its military capability, and return to the democratic fold.

He said Sinhala and Tamil are languages of the people of Sri Lanka and both have been used through the centuries; they are rich in literature and are widely used, with recognition as official languages. He told world leaders that the government’s objective is to enable the people to enjoy benefits of the democratic processes and to speed up development activities in those areas where there is a “heavy presence of terrorists.” This would be similar to the economic development taking place in the Eastern Province, where ex-terrorists now function as councillors, and a former child soldier conscripted by the LTTE is now the Chief Minister, he said.

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