‘Interrogation on LTTE network continues’:

Dialogue with Tamil diaspora:

No special treatment for KP - Defence Secretary

by Shanika Sriyananda

Whilst refuting claims that the government is grooming the detained LTTE leader Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias Kumaran (KP) to be the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, the Government said it was exploring his ‘data base’ on the LTTE to crush its international network.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa denying reports that the government has formed an ‘alliance’ with the LTTE remnants said that the government was working with KP in a strategic manner to mobilise the support of the Tamil diaspora.

“We must remember that three groups - Global Tamil Forum, and two factions led by Rudrakumar and Nediyawan - are still active and propagating the LTTE’s separatist ideologies. The truth needs to be revealed to the world”, he said.

Rajapaksa told the Sunday Observer that a group of Tamil diaspora known to KP had visited Sri Lanka and they had been convinced by KP to deviate from their confrontational attitude towards the government.

“KP had told them categorically that there was no point in reviving the LTTE’s separatist ideology. He also explained to them the steps the government had taken for a sustainable future for Tamils and invited them to work closely with the government for a better future for the Tamils”, he said.

According to the Defence Secretary, KP had told the Tamil diaspora representatives that the 30-year-old conflict was meaningless and nothing had been gained apart from the destruction and a bleak future for the Tamils in the North and the East. He said the talks with the visiting Tamil diaspora were successful and they had discussed the issues of humanitarian concern and expressed their willingness to cooperate with the government to work for the future of the Tamils.

Rajapaksa said that the government hoped to have a continuous dialogue with the Tamil diaspora as they were interested in rebuilding Sri Lanka. He said that it was sad to note that some interested parties locally and abroad had still wanted the LTTE to stage a comeback mainly, for their survival and also to gain petty political mileage.

“However, these parties do not talk about the success story that brought KP here and how vital it was to get information from him to bust the LTTE’s international network”, he said. The Defence Secretary said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa or his Government would not resort to any action that would destroy the country’s future and the hard earned peace.

Refuting the allegation that KP is not in military detention Rajapaksa said that he was still very much within the intelligence circles.