President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard
meet for bilateral talks at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth, yesterday (26).
(Pic by: Sudath Silva)
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday offered to hold bilateral talks with those countries concerned about accountability issues in Sri Lanka.
The offer was made in response to Australia’s call for a special statement by the government of Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2011) scheduled to begin tomorrow (28) in Perth, Western Australia.
Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga said that the issue came up during talks between President Rajapaksa and Australian Premier Julia Gillard. President Rajapaksa told the Australian leader that her government could facilitate bilateral meetings with Commonwealth countries wanting to raise accountability issues. The Sri Lankan leader said that unsubstantiated allegations were being made against Sri Lanka.
Australia HC in Colombo Ms Cathy Klugman was present at the meeting. The Sri Lankan delegation comprised External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga, HC Admiral (retd) Thisara Samarasinghe, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena.
Responding to a query by The Island, Weeratunga said that the President was ready to meet visiting Commonwealth leaders here on the sidelines of the three-day summit. Australia didn’t respond to Sri Lanka’s offer.
Sri Lanka ruled out the possibility of making a statement before Commonwealth leaders. "We are prepared for one-on-one meetings and now it is up to Australia to facilitate bilateral talks," Weeratunga said.
Briefing the Australian Premier on the ongoing national reconciliation process, the President said that he would receive the report prepared by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on Nov. 19, 2011. The report would be released through the parliament.
He said that criminal activities, particularly collection of fresh funds carried out by LTTE operatives based in Australia was a threat to Sri Lanka. The funds collected by those operating in Australia could be used to fund smuggling of illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka, he said.
Responding to Ms Gillard’s call for Sri Lanka’s agreement on proposed reforms, particularly the controversial recommendations made by Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (EPG), President Rajapaksa said that member states needed time to study them. The President pointed out that as there were 106 recommendations in the over 205-page EPG report, a decision couldn’t be made in a hurry.
Sri Lanka received Australia’s praise for taking tangible action to curb human smuggling.
Source: The Island, October 27, 2011
