Lankans in France call for UNESCO retraction

Demanding immediate retraction on the statement made by UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, condemning the air strike on the clandestine radio station run by the LTTE, a large number of Sri Lankans in France held a demonstration opposite the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Friday noon.

A letter was submitted to the Deputy Security Chief of UNESCO by the Coordinator of the protest, Manel Gunawardane of the French Committee of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) requesting immediate retraction of Mr. Matsuura's statement.

Braving the bitter winter cold winds, many Sri Lankans in Paris - Sinhalese and Tamils -continued the two hour long protest until the employees left the UNESCO headquarters late afternoon. They expressed shock and disappointment over UNESCO's unwarranted condemnation of the Sri Lankan Air Force attack on VoT.

The UNESCO DG has no business in interfering in Sri Lanka's legitimate right to fight terrorism", Gunawardane said.

One of the Tamil participants, Thamil Nesan, EPDP leader in France said that it was wrong for Matsuura to describe VoT as a civilian media service. "It is nothing but a propaganda arm of a terrorist organisation banned by important members of the United Nations including all member nations of the European Union. We have to be vigilant against such conspiracies against our motherland," he said.

"Only armed LTTE cadres are allowed inside VoT or any Tiger office in Kilinochchi. The Forces have every right to attack a radio propagating terrorism.

UNESCO is an organisation for cultural and educational activities and it has no mandate to interfere in politics," a spokesman pointed out. "Matsuura's statement is an indirect support to terrorism," he said.