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Sri Lanka woos Solheim in Norway
Countering war crimes allegations:October 20, 2011, 9:43 pm
by Shamindra Ferdinando
In the wake of the LTTE targeting Sri Lanka over accountability issues, the government has sought the support of one-time Norwegian peacemaker, Erik Solheim to counter those trying to haul the Sri Lankan leadership up before an international war crimes tribunal.
Solheim holds the Environment and International Cooperation portfolio in the current Norwegian government.
Government sources told ‘The Island’ that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s special representative, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva had met Solheim and Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, separately. Responding to a query, sources said that a lengthy GoSL statement on Minister de Silva’s confab with the Foreign Minister didn’t refer to his meeting with Solheim. Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa accompanied de Silva, Leader of the House and President Rajapaksa’s choice as his chief negotiator for two rounds of talks in Geneva, in early 2006.
Sources said that President Rajapaksa authorised the visit as part of an overall strategy to counter LTTE propaganda in the run-up to the much awaited release of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), report by Nov. 15, 2011. External Affairs Ministry sources said that the recently concluded ministerial visit had attracted the attention of the Norwegian media, particularly due to Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik publicly admiring the LTTE’s strategy. Norway TV 2 News quoted
Ministers de Silva and Yapa as having told FM Store that Norway should proscribe the LTTE for inspiring the 32-year-old Norwegian. Breivik killed almost 80 men, women and children in two separate attacks on the same day, last July.
Sources said that Norway was under LTTE pressure not to give into Sri Lanka’s move, amidst preparations for Heroes’ Day celebrations abroad.
The two ministers visited Oslo Cathedral, where they placed flowers for the terror victims, soon after arriving in Norway. In the wake of the Oslo massacres, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Oslo, Rodney Perera, wrote to several parliamentarians and the media urging a special prime ministerial committee inquiring into Breivik’s actions to investigate Breivik’s references to the LTTE.
Sources said that the ministerial visit to Oslo followed External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris discussing the post-war scenario with Minister Solheim on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York late last month. The External Affairs Ministry said that the two ministers explored ways and means of enhancing bilateral cooperation. An EAM (External Affairs Ministry) missive to the cabinet quoted Minister Solheim as having said" that it would be difficult for Norway to ignore the views of the rest of the international community on Sri Lanka and in order to dilute such pressure, it would be important to engage the TNA in a political dialogue. Prof. Peiris told Minister Solheim that the GoSL would continue political consultations with all elected political parties, including the LTTE.
Prof. Peiris led the then Wickremesinghe’s team of negotiators who worked with Solheim.
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo told ‘The Island’ that there had been a significant change in the Norwegian mood, vis-a-vis terrorism, following the July massacre. Sources said that the mainstream Norwegian press had given coverage to the Sri Lankan point of view, in spite of various interested parties attacking the country citing the controversial ‘Darusman report’ and ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ as evidence of war crimes allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan military.