Lankan conflict - LTTE misleads South African parliamentarians

Minister Anura Yapa tells International Parliamentary Community

By a special correspondent

The LTTE has misled the South African parliamentarians along with its support groups in South Africa on the Sri Lanka crisis, said Minister of Media and Information, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa.

He was addressing the 118th General Assembly of the International Parliamentary Community in Cape Town, South Africa last week.

The Assembly was held from April 13 to 18, where a Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker W. J. M. Lokkubandara represented Sri Lanka.

The delegation was represented by Ministers Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Lakshman Seneviratne and Pavithra Wanniarachchi along with the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General of Parliament. The South African Parliamentarians were critical of the human rights situation in countries such as Sudan, Palestine and Sri Lanka.

The SA Parliamentarians said that the efforts on peace building were shattered and human rights were terribly violated in Sudan, Sri Lanka and Palestine.

It was at this juncture that Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa delivered his speech and outlined the Government’s efforts in creating peace and protecting human rights in the country.

Minister Yapa said: “The LTTE and the pro-LTTE organisations in South Africa have misled the South African Parliamentarians with distorted information on the entire Sri Lankan issue.

The present Government crushed terrorism to a greater extent within a short period in the island having taken control of the Eastern Province from the grip of the LTTE for over three decades.

The LTTE denied the basic needs such as water, transportation, education, and electricity for the Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese in the Eastern Province for several years.

However, since the province was liberated from the LTTE last year all basic needs for the people in the region were provided and internally displaced civilians were settled in their original places.

Therefore, with the support of the people, the efforts taken by the Government to restore democracy in the East by holding the Provincial Council polls have highlighted the genuine concern of the Government in safeguarding human rights in the region, which was shattered by terrorism for years.

The Minister called upon the international parliamentary community to give its support in curbing terrorism in Sri Lanka and restoring peace and democracy in the island.

Ministers Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Mahinda Samarasinghe also met the South African Foreign Minister and several other key political figures in the country.

The South Africans were briefed on the efforts by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government in eliminating terrorism and restoring peace in the war-torn island.