`No nation would reconcile with Prabhakaran'
High Commission rebukes Independent, London:
By a special correspondent

Velupillai Prabhakaran
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In a rebuttal to the leading article published in London's
Independent newspaper, the Sri Lanka High Commission in UK said
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his
close cronies will have to face the halls of justice not only in Sri
Lanka and India but also in the international arena.
"But no sovereign nation would be able to reconcile with Prabhakaran,
who kidnapped children to make them into soldiers, made suicide bombers
out of them, and killed a President of Sri Lanka and a Prime Minister of
India. He and his close cronies will have to face the halls of justice
not only in Sri Lanka and India but also in the international arena,"
the rebuttal said.
But the rebuttal went into details how the Sri Lanka government is
already reconciling with ordinary Tamil people of the LTTE who have
surrendered to the Sri Lanka army.
The rebuttal has been written in reply for the leading article of the
Independent that suggested reconciliation is needed on the part of Sri
Lanka at this time of their victory. The leading article of the
Independent said, "Military victory now may make them even less willing
to offer the hand of reconciliation than ever." The following is the
full text of the rebuttal: "Thank you for the concerns expressed for the
future of Sri Lanka (leading article, 27 January). Reconciliation
indeed, is what President Mahinda Rajapaksa offered, until the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers, who abruptly
broke peace talks on flimsy grounds, attacked a civilian bus, killing 65
early-morning passengers in a remote village, blocked an irrigation
channel, starving the rice fields of 30,000 people and sent a woman
suicide bomber to target the country's army commander who was severely
injured.
When the government recaptured the sprawling Eastern Province, we
brought back democracy. A rehabilitated former child soldier of the LTTE
has become the Chief Minister of the provincial governing body.
Thousands of Tamil Tigers who surrendered are being rehabilitated and
given occupational training. Child soldiers are being rehabilitated
separately, with UN help.
Devolution of power will be brought to the North under the 13th
Amendment of the Constitution.
Sri Lankan and foreign governments are readying themselves with
millions for rapid development in the Tamil areas ravaged by war for
decades.
In Sri Lanka, there is no quarrel over reconciliation with the Tamils
most of whom now live among the Sinhalese.
But no sovereign nation would be able to reconcile with Prabhakaran,
who kidnapped children to make them into soldiers, made suicide bombers
out of them, and killed a President of Sri Lanka and a Prime Minister of
India. He and his close cronies will have to face the halls of justice
not only in Sri Lanka and India but also in the international arena. |