'Sri Lanka shows how to defeat terrorism' - Manila Times

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Last modified on: 6/16/2010 3:07:15 PM
'Sri Lanka shows how to defeat terrorism' - Manila Times
(By : Llanesca T. Panti Reporter)
Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Philippines Nawalge Bennet Cooray during a roundtable with The Manila Times on Tuesday. Photo by Jessie Laureta
A strong leadership and a disciplined military are the keys in wiping out separatist movements that have resorted to terrorism in our country, the Sri Lankan ambassador to the Philippines said at a roundtable with editors and reporters of The Manila Times on Tuesday(June 15).
Nawalge Bennet Cooray said those two assets were Sri Lanka's principal weapons in mounting the offensives that neutralized the 30-year-old separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, just three years after the country's military launched an all out-war against the LTTE in August 2006.
The LTTE was known for its violent secessionist campaign to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Behind the longest running armed conflict in Asia until its defeat, the group became known for recruiting child soldiers, carrying out massacres of civilians, assassinating political leaders, suicide bombings, and other high-profile attacks. It went in and out of negotiations with the Sri Lankan government from 2003 until 2006, prompting the Sri Lankan military to wage major offensives against them that led to its demise.
"Our President went to the United Nations [to say] that we [Sri Lanka] are not against Tamils. We are against terrorism. We want to destroy and eradicate these terrorists," Cooray said, referring to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
"It [LTTE] is the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. [Its members] assassinate, stage suicide bombings [and] destroy Tamil leadership to get hold of power. They want a separate state, when we should instead collaborate to develop our country," he added.
The Philippines is also dealing with separatist movements, which include the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The peace process between the Philippine government and the MILF broke down in August 2008 over the botched signing of an agreement on ancestral domain that would have expanded the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The agreement was stopped by the Supreme Court, saying it was unconstitutional.
The aborted signing saw two supposedly rogue MILF commanders launch attacks against mostly Christian communities in southern Mindanao. As a result, over 700,000 people were displaced at the height of the fighting and nearly 400 were killed in clashes in what aid agencies said was a humanitarian crisis. At least 100,000 people remain in evacuation sites across Mindanao. Both sides in September agreed to return to talks and enforced ceasefires, and eventually inked Declaration of Continuity for Peace Negotiations on June 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Disciplined military
Besides the resolve of Sri Lanka's president, Cooray said the discipline of Sri Lanka's military under Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa also played a crucial role in stamping out the Tamil Tigers. The Defense minister is the brother of President Rajapaksa.
The Sri Lankan government, according to the ambassador, spent 17 billion rupees annually for the purchase of arms and ammunitions from India, China and other countries.
"He [Defense minister] knew how to attack these [LTTE] forces. He made the Army, Police, Navy, Special Task Force all work together at the same place at the same time," Cooray said.
Like the Philippine military, Sri Lanka's forces had been accused of violating human rights in their campaign against the Tamil Tigers. Cooray argued against such allegations.
"The members of the military are very disciplined that they have never been involved in corruption and that they have never been proved to commit crimes against innocent people," he pointed out, saying that accusations by the Western media of human-rights violations were all false.
Cooray, however, admitted that waging a war and winning against the 30-year-old LTTE came at a high cost and that much work still needs to be done.
"We lost money, property, lives, but now we are building a decade of development," he said.
Rehabilitation work
In backing up his claims, Cooray said the number of displaced persons has been down to 60,000 from as high as 300,000 in the aftermath of the civil war. At present, Sri Lankan authorities are clearing landmines left by the Tamil Tigers so that the remaining 60,000 displaced persons can be relocated.
He said that Sri Lanka is spending a large part of its budget to rehabilitate the areas affected by the conflict by providing food, education, roads, electricity, public telephones, irrigation and bridges, and to stir economic activity.
Cooray, a former member of Sri Lanka's parliament, also noted that his country made necessary policy adjustments by designating three official languages, namely, Sinhala, Tamil and English. At least 70 percent of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese.
Cooray added the Philippines could learn a lot from Sri Lanka, and vice versa.
"The Philippines and Sri Lanka should really work together, have an exchange of ideas so that we both can learn how to handle such situations," he said.
Courtesy: Manila Times.net