Back to peace talks, a possibility - Bogollagama

The Government is positive that the Co-Chairs, which will meet in Oslo on June 25-26, would encourage the LTTE to come to the peace process or to a negotiated settlement, the Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said.

In an interview with the 'Sunday Observer' Minister Bogollagama, while reiterating that the LTTE has close links with the Afghan terrorists, said that the government expects a very realistic approach towards bringing the LTTE back to peace talks.

"As a Government we have to look at the national security concerns, that of the security of our people and the need for us to combat terrorism. I am sure that the Co-Chairs had been very co-operative and supportive and they will extend special support at this Olso Summit", he said.

Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: Now the international community is more concerned about Sri Lanka's internal problems. How does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs face the challenge?

A: It is obvious in terms of how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking at Sri Lanka's relations with the world at large. We use two fronts - one is bilateral focus and the second is the multilateral focus. And Sri Lanka has a very rich history of foreign relations dating back to over five decades. Sri Lanka's history speaks of all.

So, how the Foreign Ministry is looking at international interest on Sri Lanka is in line with where the international interest is generated. In terms of the economy we want more interaction from the international community to find more foreign direct investments. We are advocating foreign links through trade. We have got very important partners including USA, India, EU, Japan and China. First we must know our priorities in terms of generating international interest.

We want international support to counter terrorism in all manifestations in all forms. So, we are happy that international interest is getting generated in terms of terrorism. We have conversing the international community to support Sri Lanka's efforts to counter attack terrorism and to eliminate terrorism both from the Sri Lanka and the region and from the world too. Because, terrorism is an overall threat to the whole world.

Q: The UNP has claimed that the country is facing international isolation after the issue of eviction of Tamils from Colombo. What's your comment?

A: That is a political imagination for personal glorification by the leader of the Opposition. The 9th ASEAN Co-operation Dialogue Summit will be held in Sri Lanka following a proposal made in Seoul two weeks ago. This will take place here in August with the participation of 30 Asian countries including China, Russia Japan India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran. So, how are we are getting isolated. We are also going to attend the world's biggest Security Council which will take place in Manila. These show how much we are a part of the world and we are very much into international forum now. We have got a top position in the Human Rights Commission very recently. Our Ambassador in Geneva has been elected as the Vice President of the Commission for the Asia sector. We have wide spread relations with the world and we are very active in bilateral dialogues.

Sri Lanka is the 27th member of the ASEAN Regional Forum and we are an important member among countries like USA, UK, Australia, Japan, China, Philippines and Russia. We are taking part in the forthcoming ASEAN meeting in August which will widely discus about elimination of Terrorism in all its forms.

So today we are in the thick of international affairs. I am visiting Japan tomorrow to meet the Japanese Prime Minister and also the Japanese Foreign Minister. And we are very active in foreign policy dimensions.

Q: The eviction of Tamils has been given wide publicity in the international media. What are the steps that the Ministry has taken to clear the government's image?

A: Yes. Now, first thing was that the misinformation and distorted information is what mostly got across without much substance. But, it have been publicised that 304 Tamil people have been requested to leave the lodges that they are occupied and go to the home areas that they have come from. Now this matter has to be weighted not only the context in which it was published but also from the substance of the issue. What is this issue all about? There are over 17,000 Tamils living in lodges Colombo. But in some lodges, only four persons out of 250 were requested to leave. This is purely because of the security reasons to avoid such situations: We did it with good intentions.

Now what has been published was that people have been lifted and taken. If that was the need, 304 people could have been requested or even told in a different manner. I think what is published is needed to be looked at too. I checked with the defence establishments and what they said was people have been requested to vacate due to certain security concerns. But this has gone into a different dimension. So, therefore the matter has been put to rest and people are free to live in this country, where all the communities are living in harmony.

This incident can not be taken as a general incidence and is an isolated happening. But certain things happened and when we have to say sorry we will say sorry. Because, with a view that we are innocent of this.

Now the international community are having sole understanding that misinformation and exaggeration that went on this account is only an exaggerated situation. Also the fact that the supreme court has now intervened it also proves that we have the rule of law and people's rights are also protected. This is the biggest message that we can convey to the world at large. That our systems have the checks and balances and these checks and balances are working all the time. And there is no racial, communal, political, bias in the process. Everyone is protected and their rights are protected under the law which is very much enshrined in our constitution and that is being upheld at every turn when a breach occurs. This has happened and the defence establishments have come up very well in terms of clarifying the matters. The percentage of numbers itself will show this is not a generalistic approach or an arbitrary carpet. We made this with a sincere effort with a greater interest of every ones' security.

Q: The issue had gone world wide like wild fire. But it seems the government still does not have a powerful media strategy to counter such media coverage. In this situation what is the medium that the Ministry uses to tell the truth to the world?

A: The first thing is we must get the confidence of those countries that we are doing a right thing. The first medium is to convince the counter parts in other countries that what the LTTE is doing and in turn what we are doing to bring about a solution. Our credibility must get accepted and for that we need a message with clarity. We can tell them the steps they must take to counter the LTTE. There should be a system within our country that is addressing and countering terrorism. Otherwise, only the international community can not do it in isolation. We must show that we are countering terrorism. We brought the people out of terrorist controlled areas and the best example is what we have done in the Eastern province. We must bring people into more freed areas of LTTE control. To do that we must take the LTTE out of these areas. These we have to do and this is what we are now doing. The APRC process to cater political strength is to pursue a goal that will ultimately usher peace. Sustainable peace is something that we can show to the world while engaging in combating terrorism. We communicate to the nerve centres in the world. No point in communicating just on a spread.

Q: How powerful is this medium?

A: Our medium is two ways. If we say medium in the press, I do not want it to be picked up by our rivals - the countering mechanisms. But we must be frank and honest. So this is one way of medium to convey our honesty. There are several channels in which we communicate to the nerve centres.

Q: There are claims that the LTTE raises funds in Western countries despite the ban posing as charity organisations. What are the steps taken by the Ministry to stop such fund raising activities?

A: We have taken several steps - one is to bring it to the notice of our foreign counterparts that these activities have taken place in respective countries. The success is now having the results in US and France, where the LTTE activists are being arrested and prosecuted. In UK the investigations are on about the petrol scam where they were using credit cards and taking money out and that is now under severe investigations. Also intelligence sharing that is now taking place. And our feedings to lots of agencies of the other countries are taking place but can not reveal over the press. These are now getting results for us.

Also to free the Tamil diaspora in foreign countries coming under the thereat and extortions of the LTTE is another angle that we have touched.

Q: Air power of the LTTE was first highlighted by the former Minister late Lakshman Kadiragamar. He had submitted this to the Co-Chairs too. Is it a set back to the government that no security measures were taken to destroy the LTTE air bases since 1995?

A: The LTTE strategic approaches are same as any other terrorist organisation in the world. They also have strategic and dramatic approaches. When they are down, they want to dramatise it with some freak instances to showcase some degree of capability of power that lies with them. At the same time they also want to demonstrate to their fund raisers and to their community, to their so-called support bases that there still up and above. So in order to achieve these sometimes they put their air crafts and try to make some desperate missions of demonstrations. It does not mean that it is very well accepted. It has only helped us to become more stronger in terms of power retaliation and develop protection mechanisms. We are now in the process of re-opening of the airport with greater security.

Q: India and Sri Lanka have a close relationship for centuries but India was upset over the government's decision to purchase weapons from China and Pakistan. This is reflected in the statement of the Indian Defence Expert R. K. Narayan. Did the Ministry take any measures to rectify this?

A: Of course. I have spoken with the Minister A. K. Anthony this month in a bi-lateral. We have discussed this matter in great detail. There is on displeasure in part of the Indian Defence Minister and he understands how we are working on this matter. We explained our position to the Indian government through out on how we procure our arms to counter terrorism. We need to counter gun power of the terrorists and we have engaged ourselves in a very transparent manner in procuring our sources of arms supply and it is very open. There is no hidden agendas and what we get from what ever source is not in any manner kept away from the Indian authority. Our good intentions will be there and will always supersede.

Q: As the Foreign Minister what do you propose to do in future to promote international support to crush terrorism?

A: As far as what I have been doing I will continue to do in addressing the nerve centres in the world. Calling on our friends with whom we have bi-lateral relations to come together to destroy one enemy - the terrorism and the LTTE would be addressed in that context. We also want LTTE to become responsible in addressing the process that driving a negotiated process through the democratic pluralistic frame. The APRC process is something that I believe strongly will address the grievances that pushed the country back for so long. And that of our Presidents' approach to addressing a lasting political basis.

Q: What do you think of the role played by the Co-Chairs to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table?

A: They are meeting on 26th in Oslo. This is something we are looking forward to as a very positive development. I expect that the Co-Chairs will looks at in terms of making very realistic approach in the present context on how to encourage the LTTE to come to the peace process or to a negotiated settlement. And how we have to as a government look at the national security concerns, that of the security of our people and the need for us to combat terrorism. I am sure that the Co-Chairs who had been very co-operative and supportive will extend special support at this Olso Summit.

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