Ceasefire is redundant, says Lankan President

In an address to the diplomats in the capital city Colombo (May 7), the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa asked the international community to put pressure on the LTTE to lay down arms and surrender. He, however, outrightly rejected any recommendation for a ceasefire in the current situation.

‘The war with the LTTE is rapidly nearing its conclusion and it is my hope that this will create the space for democracy to flourish in the North again,’ he said.

‘The people of Sri Lanka have suffered too long under the trauma and agony unleashed by terrorist acts. Finally, we are on a threshold of defeating terrorism and facing a new era of lasting peace and security for all Sri Lankans,’ Rajapaksa added.

Pointing LTTE’s extensive network in many countries, Rajapaksa urged the governments to bring pressure on the leadership of the LTTE to free the civilians who are being held against their will as human shields. ‘In fact, these civilians could be relatives of those Sri Lankans who are in your countries,’ he told the diplomats.

He said that his government used military action as a last resort after LTTE constantly undermined the effort for a meaningful negotiation. ‘We unilaterally declared two humanitarian pauses in January and April, however, on both occasions LTTE exploited its opportunity to strengthen its defence and actively prevented the civilians leaving,’ he added emphasizing that cease-fire agreement are redundant.

Rajapaksa promised that the government, in all cooperation from other countries, would give top priority to the development and reconstruction of the affected regions in the North, which has seen any development for the past 30 years due to subjugation and autocratic dominance of the LTTE.

While talking about the development of the war ravaged region, he highlighted the need of building roads, houses, schools, hospitals, electrification etc. and moreover, creating livelihood support for the resettled persons, including the rehabilitation of former LTTE cadres and in particular, child soldiers.

The President also thanked the United Nations (UN) and its Agencies as well as the ICRC for the humanitarian assistance extended in the hour of need by delivering all the basic needs to the people in the welfare centres.