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Civilians won’t be harassed, Rajapaksa assures Ban

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday that the ongoing “military operations to defeat terrorism in Sri Lanka would be carried out without harassment to the civilian population” in the north.

A statement put out by the Presidential Secretariat said the assurance was given when Mr. Ban, who was in New Delhi, had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Rajapaksa on the situation in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s message is to be seen in the context of requests from a section of the influential international community to his government and the LTTE to consider a temporary halt in fighting to enable safe passage to an estimated 1.2 lakh people trapped in the war zone.

India too expressed serious concern over the plight of the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and urged Colombo to ensure their protection and passage to safe areas.

“President Rajapaksa was responding to inquiries by Mr. Ban Ki-moon about the progress of operations against the LTTE’s terrorism, and the situation regarding the civilians in the affected areas in the north of Sri Lanka,” the statement by the President’s Secretariat said.

It said Mr. Ban was also told that the Sri Lankan Security Forces were “compelled to carry out a humanitarian operation” against a brutal terrorist organisation, as the government considered freeing of the Tamil people its responsibility.

The statement said that in the telephone conversation that lasted more than 15 minutes, Mr. Rajapaksa brought Mr. Ban’s attention to the fact that the LTTE paid no heed to the recent call made by the Tokyo Co-Chairs for it to seek modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms and renunciation of violence.

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