Interested parties try to capitalise on A’pura attack - Defence Spokesman

While admitting that serious security lapses led to the pre-dawn terrorist attack at the Air Force Training Base Anuradhapura, last Monday, Minister of Foreign Employment and Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the Sunday Observer that the government has nothing to hide and the entire investigation into the attack would be conducted in a very transparent manner. But he reiterated that it was unfair for certain political parties and interested groups to blow up the issue out of proportion to gain petty political mileage.

Q: What have the latest investigations revealed about the LTTE attack at the Anuradhapura Air Force Training Base?

A: We have found some people whom we suspect have given inside information. We have arrested eight people so far. The Investigations are going on. In addition to that, we also investigate into the manner in which the terrorists had infiltrated. These are the preliminary investigations and we also investigate the cause of the helicopter crash.

Q: Does the government admit the allegation against it that there was a big security lapse at the time of the attack?

A: You cannot deny that because it points towards that allegation. We cannot cover up and should not do so. If there had been serious lapses they have to be investigated. But prior to investigations one should not point fingers at somebody on suspicion because it is unfair. Because these are the people who are and who have given their best as far as. When these three forces are concerned, they belong to disciplined organisations.

As a responsible government we need that discipline to continue and in order to continue the discipline we need to investigate this matter.

This is not the first time that this kind of incident that happened in the world. Terrorists have infiltrated the camps with the most sophisticated detection equipment and technology. But this does not mean that we should take this incident in a lighter vein.

We need to investigate this attack. But what I am trying to say is that this should not be used as a weapon by political parties or interested quarters to propel a different agenda.

The criticisms must be pure. The ideas should be brought up in to make the surveillance better. But unfortunately, today what we found is this criticisms are not levelled against on that basis but they are based to running down the defence sector which defence the country and its sovereignty.

There are over 500,000 people in the three forces and it is not fair to put a general blanket to generalise the whole thing and say that the forces in general are in-disciplined. Because the type of victories that we have won during the last 18 months, were never achieved in the last 25-years of the conflict. And people of this country is quite aware of this and they appreciate and thankful the efforts of the forces.

But there are a few elements which have very devious opinion about the issue and are engaged in different agenda. At that time what I disseminated was based on information what I had at that time.

Within a few hours of the attack they took it up in Parliament and tried to tarnish the image of the entire forces. These are the things that Prabhakaran does and he is trying to give false information to capitalise on the situation.

What is now done in the South by certain elements is similar to what Prabhakaran does. His acts have been duplicated or repeated by the so-called political parties or their leaders. This is something that we should really deal with.

Q: There are contradictory media reports about the damage. Some reports say the real damage is much more higher than the government figures. Would you tell us the clear details of the total damage of this attack?

A: According to information what we have right now eight aircraft have been damaged and they are beyond repair. Few others can be put back to use.

Q: Allegations were made against the air force personnel as the majority of them were diverted from duty to entertainment prior to the previous two occasions and the same allegation has been made against the Air force at Anuradhapura too after the event - Gagaba Super Motocross. Why does the government allow the security forces personnel to organise this type of events in these vulnerable areas?

A: This is a debatable thing. One might say that forces too need some kind of recreational activities to make up their minds. There are such events for the forces in other parts of the world too. But some would say that this is not the right time to hold such big events. However, it is a very costly lesson. We as the government we do not hide anything.

This is a concern that people have expressed their own views over this incident. The majority of people say that this kind of thing should not have taken place. This is a question which should be taken seriously.

Q: Does the government hope to take those responsible to task as it court-martialled the then commander in charge of the Southern Province Navy after the LTTE attack on Galle harbour.

A: The disciplines that had been in practice traditionally in the forces will apply and there is no exception in this incident also.

Q: According to newspaper reports, the Bell 212 crashed due to friendly fire. Is it true? If so, doesn't the air force have a proper communication system?

A: This is still a rumour. Until it is investigated and all the facts are found I cannot divulge anything. People have the right to talk freely but rumours should not be taken seriously so as to take decisions and make judgements.

Let us investigate them and see what is the outcome and then act upon it. Communication is a vital part of the forces. If there had been lapses then it should be investigated too.

We are not a terrorist organisation. We are a disciplined government and have a highly discipline defence organisation. You need to disciplined them and they can be bona fide genuine lapses.

If there are lapses that cannot also be genuine because then you are responsible. Mistakes do occur and then the government should take action to investigate them.

Q: Didn't the radar system identify the Tiger aircraft, and if it did, why did the air force fail to prevent them from attacking?

A: No. They identified the two LTTE aircraft and that is why they were ready to take on them. What happened unfortunately was, when they were ready for interception they were attacked simultaneously. So, there was no way that the pilots could get to the hangers.

That is why the LTTE's single engine craft were there only for about five to 10 minutes for the most. There is no damage caused by their action.

Nothing damaged due to air attacks. But it was the ground operation that caused damages. The air force officials had identified the air craft but interception was not possible because they were not able to take off from the ground.

Q: Do you believe that the Tigers got inside information to gain such a victory or did they get such information from those foreign sympathisers based in Colombo and even visiting them secretly?

A: I do not think that is fair to come into any conclusion or judgements until we finish a reasonable level of investigation. But there is rumour and the reason for this rumour is fair. One might think that unless you have the inside information it is difficult to remove the landmines that were buried around the parameters of the base. Obviously it points towards to a very suspicion of some inside information being leaked. The government is not denying.

There is nothing to hide and the government would not do so to cover up the incident. And we would maintain transparency throughout the investigation. If there are lapses they have to be investigated and the loopholes have to be tightened.

On the other hand, what I want to reiterate is that no one should make this a political issue. The government welcomes criticism to better the organisation but not to make use of this unfortunate situation to advance their political agenda or to live with their political agendas or to foster their political agendas. It is a crime.

Q: Was this whole pre-dawn attack on the Air Force Base due to a lack of proper defence mechanism against the LTTE's air tactics?

A: No. when we talk about the gains that we achieve during the last 18 months there had been certain advancements, Unity, systems and certain kinds of defence that had been effectively in place. That is why we were able to gain such good results. But, in the rush we have hundred gains and one loss. So, it has to be looked in that way. If one tries to generalise and put a blanket cover and say forces are all rotten and there is no mechanism in place, it is not fair. The credit should be given to them for what we have gained. They have sacrificed blood.

No one can sacrifice more than that. For all the things that we gained and the targets that the country has achieved people must thank the defence organisations.

Q: After the previous air attacks the experts including the Defence Secretary and the service chiefs claimed that the State is ready to crush the LTTE's air power. What's your comment?

A: We are still ready to crush their air power completely. While we are ready, we will have to face these challenges because they are a suicide organisation and they do not come with the idea of getting back. They had been fortunate to get back but without completing their mission.

They have not hit their targets in all three times. It is true they were airborne but they were unable to get their targets. We are unable to destroy them too. This is the part of the battle.

Q: Do you have any information about the capacity of the LTTE's air power?

A: They say about four units of single engines. The fact is they were on a suicidal mission. When a man is prepared to kill himself and kill others there is very little defence that can put them to rest.

Q: But does this attack prove the government has failed to implement a well planned mechanism so far?

A: If one say so we have to accept that due to the current situation. But the victories we gained will say all whether the country has a well planned defence mechanism or not.

Q: What do you have to say about the LTTE's infiltration in the presence of the high security measures?

A: Yes. This is a serious matter that has to be taken into consideration. There is no single word as the defence spokesman that I can say to defence about that.

What I also agree is this is something that has to be investigated thoroughly. Measures have to be taken to ensure that no repetition will be there.

Q: What is the guarantee that the government can give with regard to the national security of the country? When places of high security like these are attacked with hardly any resistance?

A: Well, if there is no resistance there won't have been 21 bodies. Look at the silver line in the whole dark cloud. Prabhakaran had send his so-called elite group, with high ranking officials, according to the LTTE, But we do not care about their rankings. However, according to the LTTE, they are very strong and are a highly trained suicidal group of 21 terrorists.

Imagine if these 21 terrorists had infiltrated into Colombo and had attacked in 21 different places. What would have been the outcome. Then the damage would have been a much greater one. Imagine there was a calamity. But, we were able to destroy them in an one episode.

It is true we had paid a very high price for it. But the fact is that we were able to kill 21 top suicide cadres in one go. This should not be taken in a lighter vein.

Q: But they have fulfilled their mission causing heavy damages to us.

A: Yes, but they also have paid a high cost in getting through this mission. They have lost 21 highly trained cadres. They took the price at the cost of their lives. This is a battle of material vs lives. We lost material worth couple of billion rupees.

Q: But under the present situation can we afford to lose lives and billions worth equipment for sheer security lapses and can we take it in a lighter vein?

A: No. As a responsible government we do not allow that to happen and we won't take it in a lighter vein. We would take all the measures to ensure national security. However, we had to meet the challenges and came in a long distance in this battle.

Q: There are accusations being levelled at the media for giving out vital information to help such attacks. Do you now intend to impose a media censorship on defence issues?

A: We are not talking of censors but what we are asking the media is to be very responsible. When a paper publishes the entire list of items that we have ordered from a country then that country takes a step back. When they say the Indian authorities are completely behind the defence plans of Sri Lanka, they have their political compulsion in their country. These intentionally or unintentionally cause damage the country, the sovereignty of the nation and its people to a greater extent. So, journalism also has to have parameters and also need to consider the situation.

The country and the government is not in a normal peaceful situation but in a serious fight with blood seeking terrorists. The government is meeting that challenge and trying to overcome that challenge. Whether it is blue, green, red or yellow, with whatever the parties, we need to have a country at the end of the day. So, we have to meet to deal with that. We have lots of resistance from the international community and various sectors. But add to that the Opposition and some of the media add spices for that and they get the better results of it. Then they are talking on behalf of the Prabhakaran. That should not happen. It is the time for the media to decide.

Q: How do you counter the attack of the false media reports, which gain publicity nationally and international?

A: Yes. One and half years ago when foreign dignitaries come with their missions, their versions were taken as gospel truth. But, now today we are challenging them. If you look at Hansen Baurs, Dr. Dobbs and Holmes visits, there is resistance to what they were trying to do. They are also careful and not trying to take Sri Lanka as their playing field.

That is what the government is doing now. We will meet them but not shut them off. If we shut them off, they will exaggerate the issue. They have the liberty to say what they want.

Today we allow them to come in. But the government is ready to say when they are not right. And we have also proved that we are right in a number of such cases, where the false facts are going around damaging the country's image. Especially, in the Allen Rocks' situation, we said that he was not right and asked him to give credible evidence. We have not received the corrected version up to now. Obviously, I do not think that he has credible evidence to prove it.

Dr. Dobb was a gentleman. He admitted that he made a mistake after some months and said that Sri Lankan authorities were correct. We have to respect that. There is a tendency to make mistakes but the important thing is admitting them and accepting them because they are dealing with the country's future and its people.

The government will not allow the country to be a playground of anybody. But that does not mean that we should shut the doors. We will allow them in.

Q: Would this air attack be a hindrance to go forward to liberate people in the North?

A: Certainly we will march forward. There is no turning back from liberating the Tamils from the clutches of terrorists. The President who is the Commander in-Chief of all the armed forces has given the power to do so. So the government would continue its battle against terrorism.

On the other hand we know that the battle against terrorism is a costly affair. That is why we the government is trying to end this problem by through negotiated settlement while crushing terrorism.

We do not have anything to lose, as we have lost everything during the last 25-years. While the government is trying to bring the terrorists down on their knees, we need to have a lasting settlement via a political solution.

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