Sunday, April 26, 2009

No Amnesty to LTTE - Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

"There is nothing called ‘Amnesty to LTTE’ in my vocabulary," says Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

The US-led ‘Tokyo Co-Chairs’ had asked the Sri Lankan Government to offer amnesty to the Tamil Tigers, also devise a clear resettlement plan and open the way for a political dialogue with the Tiger outfit.

A statement in this regard was issued by the US State Department on behalf of Tokyo Co-Chairs, which had its third teleconference in less than 10 days to discuss the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka.

The State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood had said: "We urgethe Tamil Tigers to lay down arms to a neutral third party. We further urge the Government of Sri Lanka to offer amnesty to most Tamil Tigers and to devise a clear resettlement plan and to open the way for a political dialogue."

In response to the above request by the Co-chairs, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told Asian Tribune that there was nothing called ‘amnesty to the LTTE’ in his vocabulary.

“In my vocabulary there is nothing called ‘amnesty to the LTTE’? The terrorist outfit has killed thousands of our innocent civilians including children’s, and Intellectuals Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others. They brutally massacred more than thousand Tamil groups. In 1990 and later It has killed two world leaders – a prime minister and a president (Rajiv Gandhi and R. Premadasa), several Ministers. It has killed almost more than 40 elected members of Sri Lanka Parliament since 1975.

LTTE has several times tried to cripple the country’s economy, and nearly succeeded when it attacked the country’s only international airport in Katunayake.

But now the terrorist outfit is limited to only five or six square kilometers. There will be no amnesty. If Prabhakaran does not surrender, the army will eliminate him and rest of his cadres,” the defence secretary said.

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