PRIME Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told Parliament yesterday that intelligence reports revealed that LTTE leader Prabhakaran remained trapped within a four square km strap in the No Fire Zone on which Security Forces have now laid siege.
“The State intelligence services have confirmed that Prabhakaran is in this area and Security Forces have taken all possible steps to ensure he won’t get away,” the Premier said moving the motion to extend the emergency regulations by another one month.
He said that “international puppets” are attempting to save the life of Prabhakaran by exerting pressure on the Government. “But as a Government we are not ready to bow-down to these international forces. We can manage our own affairs and put our house in order. But everyone in the House should be united to fulfill this task,” he said.
“A certain section attempted to misinterpret the Government’s decision not to use heavy weapons, as a ceasefire.
The Government has no intention whatsoever to go for a ceasefire with LTTE terrorists who are now in their death-bed,” he said.
“We are well aware of how the LTTE had misused ceasefires in the past and have learnt a good lesson from those past experiences.
The LTTE has taught this lesson to the entire world as well. But certain people have forgotten these lessons due to the lack of their memory”.
Otherwise, they would not plead for the life of Prabhakaran.”
“What we cannot understand is the need for these elements to come and request an amnesty for the LTTE leader who had ruthlessly killed thousands of un-armed innocent civilians.”
The Premier said the Government decided to stop the use of heavy weapons and air strikes to ensure the safety of the civilians trapped inside a small area. “That decision was not taken under any outside pressure and it does not mean that the Government has stopped the ongoing humanitarian operations.”
“We have come to the end of our war against LTTE terrorism to liberate innocent civilians from the LTTE terrorists. But we have to commence another war to provide needy facilities to the people who reach Government controlled areas by fleeing the terrorists while taking development and democracy to the north”, he said.
“The Government has formulated plans to bring development and democracy to the north. We have understood that the people in the North and South have placed their fullest confidence in this program”, he said.
The Prime Minister said the heroic Armed Forces engaged in a historic task to rescue the lives over 128,000 innocent civilians who were kept hostage by the LTTE terrorists. “Our Armed Forces could save the lives of infants who would have been killed by the LTTE.
This is the nature of a well-disciplined Army. Therefore our war heroes are an example to soldiers who have engaged in military operations in countries worldwide”.
The Prime Minister said various foreign delegates who come to our country during the past few days, visited the places in which the northern people have been temporarily sheltered.
“They commended the way of our Armed Forces are treating these people and the measures taken by the Government to provide needy facilities to them,” the Premier added.
(Courtesy: Daily News)
