Monday, 17th November 2014
By Dharmasiri Abeyratne and Dhanushka Godakumbura
Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Minister and former chief negotiator between the then government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, who advised the Sri Lankan government not to go to war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claiming Prabhakaran had mastered the art of war, and to settle matters in a peaceful manner, has now expressed his wish to submit evidence against Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.
Addressing a meeting at Maligapitiya Sport Grounds, Kurunegala on Saturday after laying the foundation stone at the Kurunegala entry point to the proposed Northern and Upcountry Expressway, President Rajapaksa reminded the gathering that Norway had given financial support to the LTTE, and said, in fact an inquiry should be held in this regard.
“We have enough evidence to prove what we say,” the President added.
“Some still find it difficult to believe that the war has ended and that is why they go over to America and seek assistance from the diaspora,” the President said adding that the diaspora has turned out to be their only saviour. “Children and pregnant mothers are killed by the hundreds in Libya, Iraq, Egypt and Syria on a daily basis but no one seems to take note of this,” President Rajapaksa said.
“When there is a war, weapons are in great demand and they are sold at a high price. But it is we who put a stop to such a market with the complete elimination of terrorism in this country. This, many seem to have forgotten,” President Rajapaksa added.
“I was told by the Defence Secretary that there were arms ships in Sri Lankan waters, despite the fact that the war had ended. I advised him to take steps to send those ships away. We sold the extra weapons we had and settled some of the loans we had taken,” the President said.
From: Daily News. http://dailynews.lk/?q=local/erik-enriched-tigers
