Ban Ki-moon 'helping LTTE' – HALLUCINATION OF RAJIVA WIJESINGHE GOSL OFFICIAL.

Ban Ki-moon 'helping LTTE' – Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 15:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s hardline government Thursday criticised United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for expressing deep concern about Tamil civilians in the Vanni region. Sri Lankan human rights ministry official Rajiva Wijesinghe told reporters that there were no civilian casualties in the Colombo government’s ongoing offensive and that the UN Chief’s comments were helping the LTTE.

On Wednesday a UN statement in New York said: "the secretary general expresses his deep concern over the increased hostilities in northern Sri Lanka, and the grave humanitarian consequences for civilians."

“In light of the [Sri Lankan] Government’s request for the relocation of UN humanitarian staff in affected areas, he (Ban Ki-moon) reminds all concerned of their responsibility to take active steps to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of civilians, allowing humanitarian organisations to do their work in safety, as well as to reach persons affected by the fighting who need humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.

"The Secretary-General reminds all concerned of their obligations under international humanitarian law, especially in regard to the principle of proportionality and the selection of targets," the statement also said.

Sri Lanka’s government, which customarily bristles at foreign criticism of its military’s human rights record, flatly rejected the UN Secretary General’s comments.

“Since there have been hardly any civilian casualties during the recent offensives in Sri Lanka, it is possible that the Secretary General was prompted by reports of large numbers of civilian casualties in other theatres of war, which misled him into believing that all forces fighting terrorism are alike,” Wijesinghe said.

“It is to be hoped however that, even while he might want to send a message to other countries, he will study the Sri Lankan situation carefully in the future. Perhaps, with knowledge there will come wisdom, and he will publicly acknowledge the extraordinarily good record of the Sri Lankan forces in this regard, their careful selection of military targets, the paucity of even collateral damage,” Wijesinghe said.

"Unfortunately, the secretary general may not have realised that his remarks could be used to advantage by the LTTE, who will use any weapon to hand, including an innocent secretary general, to halt the advance of Sri Lankan forces," Wijesinghe said in a statement.

He said the LTTE "will relish that he made these remarks".

According to UN agencies, at least 160 000 people have been displaced in the past few months in the LTTE-held districts of Mullaittivu and Kilinochchi. More than 70 000 people have fled due to fighting in the past two months alone.

India betrays Tamils by providing military personnel to Sri Lanka - Vaiko
[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 14:46 GMT]
Referring to the news that two Indian radar operators were wounded Tuesday when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) attacked the Vanni Headquarters of the Sri Lankan military, Vaiko, the General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), in a letter sent Thursday to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that the Indian Government was "caught red handed in its unpardonable betrayal" of involving Indian military personnel in Sri Lanka's "genocidal war" against the Tamils. He blamed the top level bureaucrats in India, particularly the national security adviser, for "clandestinely conspiring" with the Sri Lankan government.

Mr. Vaiko urged the Indian Prime Minister to immediately withdraw and call back the Indian technicians and military personnel from Sri Lanka.

He charged that, according to the information he had, there was a large number of Indian technocrats and military personnel, up to 265 persons, were fully engaged and assisting the Sri Lankan military.

Mr. Vaiko
Vaiko, General Secretary, MDMK
"With unbearable agony and resentment I am pained to condemn, in no uncertain terms, the atrocious involvement of Indian military personnel and the technical engineers, in the genocidal brutal attacks of the Sri Lankan armed forces against the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka," Mr. Vaiko said in his letter to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The UPA government at the centre in India, immediately after its formation, more or less finalised a defence pact with Sri Lanka. Vaiko's MDMK, which was in the UPA, opposed the move. After Vaiko presented a detailed memorandum in person to Dr. Manmohan Singh, he dropped the move to go ahead with the defence pact.

"But the top level bureaucrats, particularly the national security adviser, clandestinely conspired with the Sri Lankan Government to supply air force radars and military hardware to Sri Lanka," Mr. Vaiko charged.

"I met you in person and pleaded with you not to extend any military help to Sri Lanka but all my pleadings, sorry to say, were thrown into the dust-bin."

"In my previous letters, I have already accused that India is giving all military aid and soft loan to strengthen her sinful and vicious hands to decimate the Tamils," he noted.

"In the wee hours after midnight a 8th September 2008 LTTE launched an arial attack also the ground attack against the Sri Lankan military head quarters in vanni areas. In this attack LTTE air force planes have destroyed the Sri Lankan air force radar system which was provided and built by India, and two Indian military Engineers, I.A.K.Tagore, Chinthamani Raut, have been seriously wounded."

"Now the Indian Government is caught red handed in its unpardonable betrayal against the Tamils."

"The Indian Government without an iota of humanism refused to send food and medicines collected in Tamil Nadu to enable the International Red Cross Society to provide solace to the suffering Tamils," he further blamed.

"I would urge upon the Indian Govt. to withdraw and call back the technicians and military personnel from Sri Lanka and stop forthwith any sort of military assistance direct or indirect."


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