| SRI LANKA WATCH |
| Nobody wants to withdraw from ceasefire
By Jamila Najmuddin The Morning Leader spoke to the government and the SLMM on the situation in Muttur including the firing in Mawilaru while SLMM Head, Ulf Henricsson was in the area. The parties gave contradicting views on what exactly took place while the SLMM reiterated that the government had been informed of the visit, both Peace Secretariat Head, Palitha Kohona and Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe insisted that no such intimation had been made prior to the visit. Q: Did the army fire into the area when the SLMM was near the Mawilaru anicut? A: Army did not refuse and nor did they attack. Q: Why didn’t the government agree to the LTTE conditions to open the anicut? A: We have still not been informed of the terms and conditions laid down by the LTTE as we have only been vaguely told that there are some conditions. This is what Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was referring to. Q: Why was there firing in the Mawilaru area when the SLMM was in the area? A: There is an ongoing conflict in that area. Q: Minister Mangala Samaraweera had nevertheless given an assurance to the Norwegians that there would be no military action in the area when the SLMM was present? A: The SLMM had apparently been in that area and nobody knew they were there. There is an agreed protocol that is followed to travel to conflict areas. Under that protocol, you need to inform the Defence Department in advance and then go to the conflict area. On this occasion they arrived in the conflict area without any notification and as you know there had been an ongoing conflict in this area within the past few days. Therefore when the SLMM was in the area, shells had dropped. I am not a military person nor do I have any details about the military operations but I do not think the objective was to deter Henricsson but it’s just that he happened to be in that area when the artillery was fired. Q: Is there an effective ceasefire with the ongoing situation in Muttur? A: As far as the government and the LTTE are concerned, both parties have committed themselves to the Ceasefire Agreement. There are provisions in the agreement which require to be applied and in case one of the parties decides to withdraw from the CFA, then 14 days notice has to be issued. However, none of the parties have said they want to withdraw which means the CFA is very much on. SLMM had visited conflict areas uninformed Q: Is the government making any arrangements to help the refugees in Kantale? A: I travelled to the conflict areas on Sunday and visited the camps and temples in Kantale where the refugees were seeking shelter. I also held a two- hour discussion with all the officials and certain decisions were taken to provide immediate assistance to the refugees. I have also given the responsibility to provide various items to the several international organisations that have come forward to help the refugees. Food is currently distributed by the WFP and the WHO. Shelter is provided by the UNHCR and water and sanitation is provided by the ICRC. The government is trying to do everything possible to change the environment for the refugees to go back to Muttur rather than staying in overcrowded camps and many of them want to return to their homes. Q: How many refugees have fled Muttur during the past few days? A: Well in Kantale there are around 20,000 to 25,000 refugees, which means there are about 6,500 families. Q: What has been the government’s reaction to the mass murder of NGO workers in Muttur? A: Yes I have promised an independent and impartial inquiry into the whole incident and I have held discussions with the IGP, requesting him to get the CID involved. I am also hopeful of getting forensic experts from the Australian Police to hold investigations. Q: SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem is talking of violence against civilians including the killings of the NGO workers. How do you react to this? A: I cannot comment as I need to verify this incident. Investigations are being conducted. Q: The SLMM has accused government forces of firing into the area when the SLMM Chief was present? A: The SLMM should have informed the security forces before they entered the area. They know that there is an ongoing conflict in this area. When they go into areas like this they must inform the Peace Secretariat, SCOPP, or the Defence Department so that precautions are taken. Q: Are you saying that the SLMM did not inform the government? A: That is what I hear. The SLMM had gone into these areas and said that they were unable to contact the people who should have been informed of their visit. This is very dangerous and they should inform in the future. Conflict not about sluice gates Q: The government is saying that the SLMM never informed of a visit by its Head to the Mawilaru area? A: No, this is not correct because the SLMM had informed SCOPP, the Peace Secretariat and the security forces on ground. They cannot say no one was informed. Q: Was the SLMM informed by Minister Mangala Samaraweera that there would be no military action during his visit? A: I am not aware of such a statement. Q: How has the SLMM Head reacted to the attack? A: Yes he is ok because there was no one hurt in this incident. The SLMM, according to the Ceasefire Agreement is entitled to total freedom of movement and we are always supposed to have access to all areas. Q: How does the SLMM feel about this? A: It was very disappointing that we could not open the sluice gates even though we had an opportunity to provide water to the civilians. We thought that opening the sluice gate was the main issue, but it doesn’t seem so. Q: Can the deadlock be broken given what has happened in the last few days? A: I do not know about that but I do hope that we can resolve this issue as soon as possible. Q: Is the SLMM aware of the mass murder of 15 NGO workers in Muttur and are investigations being conducted? A: Yes but we have not seen the bodies so I cannot comment further. MORNING LEADER, 9.8.2006 |