Rev. Fr. Emmanuel echoes TN sentiments

by Manjula Fernando

A known LTTE sympathiser wrote to South Africa's African National Congress on Friday, in a bid to coerce that country to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Colombo three weeks from now.

"The letter is an indication that the LTTE and its sympathisers have not abandoned their campaign to make CHOGM in Sri Lanka a non-event," a senior diplomat told the Sunday Observer yesterday. Fr. S.J. Emmanuel of the Global Tamil Forum, who was once rejected landing in Chennai for his terrorist affiliations, while on a trip to India to attend a pro-LTTE conference, has written in his letter, "I am writing, on behalf of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), to humbly ask whether South Africa would be willing to boycott the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka."

Repeating the war crimes allegations against the Sri Lankan Government, he said, "I would be most grateful if you were willing to raise this matter with senior figures in the South African Government, including the President."

In the letter which is reproduced in the Colombo Telegraph, he expressed 'alarm' over Sri Lanka's appointment as the Chair of the Commonwealth for two years, as customary for any host country.

The senior diplomat said there was no difference between Fr. Emmanuel's call and the Tamil Nadu Government's call to boycott the summit in Sri Lanka, while many countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Britain have emphasised that participation in the CHOGM was more productive than keeping away.

In fact, Australia has invited the Canadian Prime Minister to defy domestic political calls to attend the summit in Sri Lanka and see for himself the ground situation. On Tuesday, Kenya also rejected a news report that its government was lobbying African countries to boycott the 23rd CHOGM summit.

A statement from the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said Kenya has already embarked on preparations for the summit and there was no doubt that the country will be represented at 'high levels of government'.