http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110314_01

Those accusing the government never marched troops to defeat terrorism" - Secretary Defence

In 2005 when H.E President appointed me as Secretary Defence to take in charge of the security forces the term 'war hero' was alien to this nation, the men in uniform were treated as third citizens. Now those who are accusing the government of involving security forces in development work were neither able to march the valiant men into battle which they were trained for.

Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed these views in the exclusive Rathuira talk show on Swarnavahini yesterday (March 13) evening. He made these comments in reply to a question raised by the host on allegations by opposition groups- involving security forces for development work.

"Every one knows how we suffered for decades. The MOD has initiated various programmes and we are not asleep that the war is over. We will never giveaway for any sort of terrorist organization its front offices or Disapora elements to derail this country's long won peace" he said.

"Those who are claiming to represent 'Tamils' are third generation diaspora children with no clear knowing of the root causes that led to the surge of terrorist violence in this country. Hence, we are in the effort of taking into talks with such groups, educating them on the actual ground situation while engaging them in the development and reconciliation work in North and East", he further said.

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Overseas Tigers shaken by debilitating split

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110314_03

Overseas Tigers shaken by debilitating split
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Norway-based LTTE faction gains ground as Diaspora battle takes new turn
Norway-based LTTE faction gains ground as Diaspora battle takes new turn A section of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) has revolted against V. Rudrakumaran, the self-appointed Prime Minister of the organisation causing chaos among various Diaspora factions. The rebel group consists of 34 self-styled MPs based in Australia (3), Canada (6), France (3), Germany (7), Italy (1), Denmark (3), Norway (3), Sweden (1) and UK (7).
The TGTE comprised 102 'MPs' based in various parts of the world. Sources told The Island that since the conclusion of the war in May 2009, the US-based one-time legal advisor to the LTTE, Rudrakumaran had spent millions of dollars on the 'TGTE project.' He tried to exploit the arrest and extradition of Selvarasa Pathmanathan aka 'KP' to Colombo in Aug. 2009 to promote TGTE as a government in exile.
Sources based in Western Europe said that rebel 'MPs' of the TGTE had ignored a request by 'Speaker' Pon Balraj of the TGTE to reaffirm their commitment to the 'government in exile' by Mar. 5, 2011. Sources said that Balraj had requested rebels to get in touch with him via email at Speaker@tgte.org or Pon.balarajan@tgte.org.
The TGTE's rebel group has already established a new political wing and aligned itself with Norway-based Perinpanayagam Sivaparan aka Nediyawan, widely believed to be Rudrakumaran's main challenger. Sources said the split in the TGTE had strengthened Nediyawan's efforts to oust Rudrakumaran.
Earlier the rebel group had made an abortive bid to appoint a former pro-Tiger TNA MP as the first 'Prime Minister' of the TGTE. Sources said that Rudrakumaran and the rebel group had been at daggers drawn over the latter's demand to pursue the eelam project in spite of losing their conventional military capability. The rebel group had forced Rudrakumaran to display the LTTE flag at his inaugural speech as the 'Prime Minister' of TGTE, sources said.
The rebel group would eye young members of the Diaspora and that they had declared that they would pursue the LTTE's original goal-a separate state for Tamils in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. They had set up a three-member executive committee to run the new party, sources said. The committee consists of three 'MPs' based in France, UK and Germany. Besides a nine-member committee has been formed to implement decisions taken by the executive committee, according to sources.
The TGTE rebels had alleged that a section of Rudrakumaran's group had been influenced by the Sri Lankan Intelligence services, a charge vehemently denied by the group, sources said. The rebel group cleverly exploited the demise of Prabhakaran's mother to boost its popularity. Sources said that those operating in Germany had organised several meetings to honour Prabhakaran's mother posthumously.

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110313_01

Sri Lanka is certainly a different country today - Nelson Garcia U.S.
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya said Sri Lanka's greatest victory is the achievement of a lasting peace by ending the three decades long war against LTTE terrorism and now the country embarked on development while promoting reconciliation among all communities.
Ambassador Wickramasuriya, who met the representatives of the Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group, explained to them about current developments in Sri Lanka, country's economy, trade opportunities and relations with the U.S.
"The greatest achievement for Sri Lanka is lasting peace, the ultimate human right.
I invite all of you to visit Sri Lanka.
Talk to the people, see how they feel about peace. I know that if you go there you will experience what I am saying about Sri Lanka, and you can come back here and tell your friends the actual story of Sri Lanka," he said.
The Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group is comprised of attorneys, consultants and former and present government officials who work with the U.S. government and American companies on overseas missions. Some of those attending the Sri Lankan reception had just returned from Sri Lanka, while others had travelled there previously.
Nelson Garcia, Chairman of the Washington Intergovernmental group and a former Congressional staff member who now works in the private sector on transportation issues, noted Sri Lanka's dramatic development since the successful end of its long conflict against terrorism in May 2009.

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110313_02

Eradication of terrorism cause to the development of tourism
According to the sources of Wildlife Department as Sri Lanka government was able to eradicate the terrorism from our country local and foreign tourists who come to visit national parks and other attractive places in Sri Lanka have increased rapidly and the income has doubled.
Because of the terrorists activities prevailed in the country for a long period many tourists were afraid to come to our island and move freely and many countries in the world had imposed travel restrictions on the country. Since the date our valiant forces defeated the terrorism those countries had lifted those travel restrictions and that may cause to the development of the industry.
A total of 33,771 locals and 19,281 foreigners have visited all national parks in the country in January. In February it stood 47104 locals and 21104 foreigners, the Department detailed.
Most number of visitors was reported from Yala with figures at 16,274 locals and 11,787 foreigners. These visits were increased with the opening of all entrance gates to Yala. 5376 locals and 746 foreigners were at the Udawalawe National Park while another 5049 locals and 2776 foreigners visited Horton place, the Department stated.
Improvements in visitor facilities and new additions have attracted more visitors. The department aims at further increasing these numbers within this year.

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110312_02

Hosting WC possible due to LTTE defeat - Shavendra
Sri Lanka's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva says the country would have lost an opportunity to host some of the World Cup cricket matches if the government had failed in its mission to eradicate the LTTE.
The former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of SLA's 58 Division was responding to a query by The Island in the wake of latest Indian media reports of joint plans by Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to mount deadly terror attacks on one or more of the match venues.
The LeT is under investigation for Mumbai massacre in late Nov. 2008, while the US holds David Hadley (US national) for helping LeT to plan the operation.
Maj. Gen. Silva said the collapse of the LTTE on the banks of Nanthikadal lagoon in May, 2009 had created an environment conducive for any international event. The soldier turned diplomat said that the army had ensured an incident-free situation, under which Kumar Sangakkara's team could concentrate on the game.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) refused to schedule matches in Pakistan, one of the contenders for this year's championship, citing security fears, paving the way for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to share matches among them.
Maj. Gen. Silva said that the LTTE had lost its conventional fighting capability along with its sea and air assets and no longer posed a threat.
Another military official said that during the last SAARC summit in July 2008, India went to the extent of deploying warships off Colombo due to the perceived threat posed by the LTTE, particularly its air wing. Sources said that in the previous year, Australia and West Indies declined to play their World Cup cricket matches in Sri Lanka fearing possible LTTE attacks.
Maj. Gen. Silva said that the bottom line was that Sri Lanka's bid to host some of the matches solely depended on the eradication of the LTTE. Responding to a query, the Gajaba veteran said that since the conclusion of war all countries had lifted travel restrictions imposed on Sri Lanka and also did away with damaging war risk insurance slapped on shipping lines operating services to and from Colombo harbor.
Maj. Gen. Silva said that even those Tamil Diaspora elements who lashed out at the government during military operations today visit their homes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Courtesy : The Island

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110311_02

Questions raised on Tamil organization in Canada
A former member of a Canadian Tamil organization namely the National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) described as "a peaceful separatist group" by the Ontario Progressive Conservatives is revealed to have attended a weapons training session with the LTTE in Sri Lanka in 2003.
A photograph of the training session, used by U.S. authorities to convict a Toronto man who tried to buy arms for the Tigers in 2006, raises new questions about the NCCT, a group linked to a Tory candidate from the Toronto area, The Globe and Mail revealed.
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A man shown in the weapons-training photo, Thiva Paramsothy, won a seat on the NCCT in an election last June but has since stepped down. The election was supervised by Shan Thayaparan, who was recently named the PC candidate for Markham-Unionville.
Two Tiger fighters in striped camouflage, along with Paramsothy and his rifle-toting Toronto friend, Satha Sarachandran, are clearly visible in U.S. Government Exhibit F2, a photograph used by American prosecutors to send Sarachandran to prison for 26 years in early 2010.
Sarachandran, a one-time national president of the Canadian Tamil Students Association, had travelled to New York with three other men in August of 2006 in a bid to buy about $1-million worth of anti-aircraft missiles and AK-47 assault rifles to be sent to the LTTE in Sri Lanka. The arms dealers he met turned out to be undercover FBI agents, who had conducted a joint investigation with the RCMP.
At the time of his friend's arrest, Paramsothy, a youth worker in Toronto's Tamil community, told The Globe and Mail, "My understanding is he got mixed up with the wrong people at the wrong time."
Paramsothy and Sarachandran had travelled to Sri Lanka in 2003, during the ceasefire, and attended a LTTE shooting range together.
Asked Wednesday about the weapons training, Paramsothy, who is in his early 30s, said he and his friend were among young Tamils from around the world who used the ceasefire as a chance to return to Sri Lanka and learn "what the struggle is about."
Paramsothy, volunteer chairman of the Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre (CanTYD), described the trip as "a journey ... to go back home and see the country where my parents were born, and experience it," he said.
The NCCT was formed in the wake of the LTTE's defeat in May of 2009. The new body was steered by Nehru Gunaratnam, a former spokesman from the World Tamil Movement, which the federal government banned as a Tiger front in 2008. The Tigers were outlawed in 2006, and the World Tamil Movement's offices were raided by the RCMP shortly after that.

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110310_02

North cannot be considered less privileged today - President
With the rapid development taking place in the North under the "Uthuru Wasanthaya" (Northern Spring) programme, the North now cannot be called a less privileged or remote area, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa and stressed he is committed to serve all the people in this country regardless of ethnic, religious or cultural differences.
The President said so at the United People's Freedom Alliance's (UPFA) Mannar district rally held yesterday (08) at the Mannar Urban Council Sports Stadium under the theme "Sapiri Gamak-Supiri Ratak" (an abundant village-a self-sufficient nation).
The benefits of development should reach all citizens of this country, be it North, South, East or West, the President said. "We are one nation, we must treat everyone equally", he added.
We carried out development programmes while fighting terrorism. People in the North are able to carry out their livelihoods without obstacle. Fishing has commenced and the Government has taken steps to find solutions to the problems faced by fishermen.
"We must rally round the programmes which develop the village", President Rajapaksa said.
The Government has already commenced establishing one million domestic economic units. We will transform a family to a domestic economic unit and through this we expect to strengthen their economic level, he said.
Courtesy : President's Media Unit