WAPS Media Release - 2005 July 07 - WAPS demands immediate action to stop LTTE violations of Ceasefire Agreement and brutal killings

World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka

PO Box 4066, Mulgrave VIC 3170, Australia

Phone: +61 3 9548 0276 Fax: +61 3 9584 0276

Email: ranjiths@spur.asn.au, webmaster@spur.asn.au Website: http://www.spur.asn.au

Media Release : Saturday, 20 August 2005

http://www.spur.asn.au/WAPS_20050820_Norway_Prime_Minister.htm

Hon Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik

Prime Minister

Kingdom of Norway

P.O.Box 8001 Dep

N-0030,Oslo, Norway

Dear Sir,

The murder of the Honorable Lakshman Kadirgamar is a brutal terrorist act and the LTTE must not get away unpunished for this gruesome deed. Mr. Kadirgamar joins a long list of distinguished Tamil leaders who were murdered by the LTTE in an attempt to subjugate the Tamil people through violence and terror.

Mr. Kadirgamar was a Tamil and a Christian, and as such a shining example to repudiate the canard perpetrated by the LTTE about Sri Lanka being a Sinhala Buddhist enclave with no place for a pluralistic multi-ethnic society. That is why he was at the top of the Tamil Tigers hit list.

Norway has issued a vague condemnation after the murder of Mr. Kadirgamar. Is it because Mr. Kadirgamar was a long-standing critic of the way Norwegian diplomats handled the peace effort, and recently upbraided them for not being impartial in their dealings with the two sides? It is not enough to condemn the deed; the perpetrators too must be condemned, unequivocally, by name.

The LTTE must be listed as a terrorist organisation in Europe and sanctions have to be imposed on the LTTE.

The LTTE has used the truce to consolidate its military strength and also expand its hegemony in the North and East of Sri Lanka as a result of lowering of the security guard, which came with the defective ceasefire crafted by Norway. Since the cease-fire agreement there have been:

(1) 3,000 odd ceasefire violations by the LTTE, compared to just over 100 by the security forces;

(2) More than 400 killings were carried out by the LTTE including 40 members of the security forces;

(3) Only recently, one of the highest ranking Security Intelligence Officers was gunned down in broad day light in Colombo, while a few days back the Jaffna Superintendent of Police Mr. Charles Wijewardena, who was much respected by the Tamil public of Jaffna was brutally murdered by the LTTE.

Your Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, during his previous visits to Sri Lanka has only shown a keen interest in running to the lair of the ruthless LTTE Terrorists in Killinochi and present himself for photo opportunities with a beaming Thamilchelvam, which the Tigers use as propaganda material to portray their acceptance by a “respected” member of the European Union and the Democratic world.

We demand that Norway:

(1) immediately stop all LTTE fundraising in Norway and Norwegian aid to LTTE or to their front organisations. It is well documented and confirmed by the Norwegian LTTE leader Y. Balasingham and the Norwegian TCC leader that some of the funds raised in Norway are used for “military” purposes.

(2) immediately stop all payments to the LTTE through the Norwegian aid agency “Norad”

(3) stop funding LTTE propaganda trips

(4) Norwegian military must abstain from inviting members of the LTTE to their bases or provide any type of military training to the LTTE

(5) Norwegian military must contact retired Special Forces personnel and instruct them not to provide any services to the LTTE.

(6) Norway should insist Tamils who desire to take part in politics in Norway to condemn armed violence of the LTTE and well known LTTE leaders in Norway should not allowed party nominations,

(7) Norwegian municipalities must stop all payments to the LTTE front organizations.

Most importantly, Norway, as the peace broker, has much to answer for the current tragic situation in Sri Lanka. There is growing displeasure about Norway within the country and outside because of Norway’s duplicity as the Peace Broker. Norway has become an apologist for this ruthless Terrorist Organisation in the International Forums and an advocate for the LTTE inside Sri Lanka. It can also be argued that Norway can be held indirectly responsible for Mr. Kadirgamar’s death. If the Kingdom of Norway cannot be Impartial and firm with the LTTE Terrorists, it is best that Norway should relinquish her so called peace facilitation and let a competent and impartial intermediary take over this task.

Yours truly

for World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka

Dr D.Jayasuriya

President, Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights of Sri Lanka (SPUR), Australia

President - Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights of Sri Lanka (SPUR), UK

President - Sri Lanka United National Association (SLUNA) of Canada

President - Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights of Sri Lanka (SPUR),NSW

President - Western Australian Society for Peace Unity and Rehabilitation, (WASPUR) in Sri Lanka

President - Sri Lankans Against Terrorism- NSW

President - Sinhala Cultural and Community Services F. Vic

President - Apey Shakthi- New Zealand

Coordinator - Hela Muthu Ketaya, New Zealand