Friday, April 3, 2009

Britain probes ‘aid ship’ heading for Wanni

By Jamila Najmuddin

The Sri Lanka High Commission in London has raised serious concerns with the British authorities over a humanitarian aid ship scheduled to set sail from Britain next week, to deliver aid to the thousands of civilians trapped in the No Fire Zone in the Wanni.

The ship will carry over 2000 metric tonnes of food and medical aid for the civilians, collected by British politicians and celebrities, various British Tamil charities and UK based organization ‘Act Now.’

The ship, according to the organizers of the event will sail from Britain next week to deliver the aid supplies to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka High Commission in the UK says however that it has serious concerns about the ship’s cargo, claiming that Tigers have used previous aid ships to smuggle in arms and urged the British government to look into the issue, the Guardian reported.

A spokesman from the British Foreign Office had been quoted in the Guardian as saying that it was aware of the ship and had been contacted by the Sri Lankan government about it. She further said that the Foreign Office had passed the information they had to the relevant UK authorities.

When contacted by the Daily Mirror, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona said that the Sri Lankan government was not aware of such a ship sailing from Britain and added that the they had heard about it only through the media. “The only way we have heard about this is through the newspapers,” Dr. Kohona said.

He further said that any ship which planned to enter the territorial waters of Sri Lanka ‘must follow the legal procedures’.

However a spokesperson from the Sri Lanka High Commission had told the Guardian that they were aware of the ship and was taking the matter up seriously with the British authorities. “We are concerned and we have serious questions about the ship. We know what has happened in the past,” she said.

The Spokesman added that the government might “consider the case” of whether to allow the aid into Sri Lanka if it received an assurance from the UK government that the ship had been checked and found to contain humanitarian supplies.

Graham Williamson, one of the directors of Act Now, rejected the accusations.

He said all the containers on the ‘Vananga Man’ ship were being x-rayed by British authorities so its cargo could be verified. “If that third party check isn't good enough for them, what is?” he said. “I think the government is being facetious and deliberately provocative and is trying to find an excuse for not allowing the aid to land,” he had told the Guardian.

The Sri Lanka Navy too have been out on high alert for unauthorized ships preparing to transport food and medical supplies to the Wanni, bypassing the government.

An official from the Navy on conditions of anonymity said that the Navy would be on high alert in the coming days to prevent any ship carrying food for the LTTE to cross into Sri Lankan waters.

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