Norway 'no longer peace facilitator'

Posted by Lasantha Janaka on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Comments: (0)

Ambassador Esala Weerakoon in the embassy after the attack (photo: Lankaenews)
Ambassador says he has repeatedly requested for adequate security
The Sri Lankan government says that it is no longer feasible for Norwegian government to act as a facilitator on Sri Lankan affairs.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the government has made the decision after the Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo came under attack on Sunday.

Ambassador Esala Weerakoon told BBC Sandeshaya that Norwegian authorities failed to provide adequate security for the embassy despite repeated requests.

Sri Lanka government has strongly condemned the attack.

"In an official protest lodged with the Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo today (April 13) the Government states it is deeply regretted that the Norwegian Government has failed in discharging of its obligations under international law, consequent to its sheer neglect in the provision of adequate security to the Sri Lanka Mission in Oslo," a foreign Ministry statement said.

Condemning the attack, the Norwegian government has ordered the police to provide better protection for the embassy, Sri Lanka Information Department website said quoting Norwegian news reports.

Lankan Army Chief vows to eliminate terrorism from island

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Claiming that LTTE has lost 18,000 cadres and most of its heavy weaponry in the fighting with security forces over the years, Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday vowed to eliminate terrorism from the island nation and crush the Tigers' "dream" of a separate state.

"We have destroyed their (LTTE's) weaponry, planes and sea craft," Fonseka said in a message on the occasion of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

The Army Chief said the civilians held hostage by the LTTE have now begun to trust the humanitarian operations conducted by the security forces as he lauded the work of the armed forces in this regard.

"Hospitality, friendliness, kindness and other noble qualities shown towards the civilians on their arrival to cleared (government-controlled) areas have proved that we are a disciplined and friendly Army," Fonseka said.

He said the Army fought for nothing but to establish peace for all Sri Lankans. "Ever rising number of civilians reaching cleared areas .... confirm this truth. Those who are still under LTTE detention will see their freedom soon."

Fonseka said the security forces have been able to reduce "the LTTE landscape to a tiny swathe of 23 sq km land from the previous 13,000 sq km."

At the same time, he said, the LTTE, "crazy after the dream of Eelam (a separate state)," faced the "most humiliating defeat" as it lost around 18,000 of its "barbaric fighting terrorist cadres."

"Our objective should be to eliminate terrorism and the LTTE's 'Eelam Dream' entirely from the country and let the flowers of peace blossom in the near future, as expected by all of us," Fonseka said.

Sri Lanka rebels call for ceasefire

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The current suspension of hostilities was imposed to coincide with Sri Lanka's new year [AFP]

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger fighters have called for a permanent, internationally arranged ceasefire, dismissing the government's current two-day suspension of hostilities as insincere.

Just before the end of the lull in fighting on Tuesday imposed by the government, a statement from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said it supported a long term truce.

"Such a ceasefire should also contain a base for political negotiations," the statement said.

But the government immediately rejected the call, saying the LTTE had to first lay down their arms before any negotiations could be held.

"They can't talk about a political settlement to buy time to regroup," Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, a government spokesman, said.

Fighting suspended

The government's stepped-up offensive against the LTTE, led by V Prabhakaran, has cornered the group in a narrow strip of jungle in Sri Lanka's northeast.

The current lull in fighting was imposed by the government on Monday during the Sri Lankan new year. There have been no reported confrontations.

The military asked tens of thousands of civilians in a so-called safe zone in the northeast to take advantage of the two-day lull to escape.
However, only about 44 people crossed into government territory on the first day and the LTTE's statement called the present two-day lull an "act of hoodwinking" by the government.

"We consider this ceasefire announcement of Sri Lanka government as a two-day holiday opportunity availed to its servicemen for Sinhala New year," the statement said.

It said that despite the announcement government forces continue to target civilians.

The LTTE statement said that "ceasefire under the auspices of the international community alone, will be effective and productive".

A series of battlefield victories by the government have sapped the strength of the LTTE, which once ran a de facto state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.

Official reaction

The government has rejected several calls for a new permanent ceasefire, saying the military will soon defeat the Tigers.

The government barred Norway on Monday from international efforts to mediate a peace in Sri Lanka, after protesters in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, briefly raided the Sri Lankan embassy there.

The LTTE has been waging an armed campaign for 25 years to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced decades of marginalisation by successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.