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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Welcome, Presidents Bush and Clinton Former US Presidents George Bush Snr. and Bill Clinton will arrive in Sri Lanka today on a special mission to get first hand information about the tsunami disaster and harness private sector support for relief and reconstruction. The Sunday Observer joins the Government and the people of our country in extending a warm and sincere welcome to the two visiting dignitaries. They add to the galaxy of world leaders who took time off from their busy schedules to visit us at our time of grief and extend their friendly assistance. Among them were Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, many Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, special emissaries of Heads of State, Presidents of the World Bank, the UNICEF, the PATE, the Asian Development Bank etc. They came from all over the world - from South Asia, from Eurasia, from the Americas, from Europe, from Africa, from the Middle East, from the Far East and from the continent of Australia. Countries big and small, rich and poor all fraternised with us. They are true friends indeed since it is said that true friends are those that are with you at time of adversity and not those that surround you in prosperity. The visit of so many world leaders and their concern for the fate of our tsunami victims is a vindication of the far-sighted foreign policy pursued by the UPFA government. The United States was one of the first countries to respond with relief - men and material. US volunteers were particularly effective in swift clearing of debris and in providing temporary shelters to many victims. They also provided much needed logistics support. A word of thanks must also go to hundreds and thousands of US citizens who volunteered to collect and send relief items from the moment they heard of the tragedy. International solidarity was not only received at the time of the tragedy, it has also sustained its momentum even up to now almost 60 days after the event. As many world leaders have openly expressed this is due to the exceptional courage and determination shown by our own people in meeting the challenge of tsunami and the swift relief efforts put in place by the government and the community organizations. We have no doubt the visit of the two former US Presidents would give a new impetus to the relief and rehabilitation effort and galvanise the private sector in the US for speedier assistance in the reconstruction phase that has already begun. It would also elevate to a new height the already warm friendly relations between our two countries that have been continually growing irrespective of the political nature of the regimes in both countries. President Bill Clinton is to soon accept responsibility as Special United Nations Envoy for the tsunami affected countries. The present visit would no doubt help him in this future task. Sri Lanka looks forward to work with him in his new capacity too. Hands off the press King Gayanendra of Nepal who suspended the Constitution and assumed power by Royal Proclamation on February 1 continues to crack down on the media. Newspapers and electronic media institutions are closed down or are now run by the military. Thousands of journalists face the threat of losing their jobs. Many journalists are under arrest or are in hiding to evade arrest. Among the arrested are Taranath Dahal and Bishnu Nisthuri, President and General Secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNP). Even their family members are being harassed by the military. There is also a horrible ban on all independent news and information for six months. We join the thousands and thousands of people all over the world in calling upon King Gayanendra to respect media freedom, to lift the unjust ban on news and information, release all detained journalists, respect their human rights, stop harassing journalists and allow all media institutions to function freely. We also call upon him to restore the democratic rights of the Nepalese people by respecting the Constitution of the country, end his regime of siege and release all political detainees. We extend our hand of fraternal solidarity to Nepalese journalists who have already launched a heroic battle against the Royal coup despite the dangers it brings them. We wish them success. |
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