`No nation would reconcile with Prabhakaran'

High Commission rebukes Independent, London:

By a special correspondent

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.