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‘Govt
may use aid for arms’ “We have appealed to Norway to assist in the streamlining of aid,” LTTE Chief negotiator Anton Balasingham said, adding that he was not ‘accusing’ the government but merely addressing the possibility that the government might be inclined to think about gearing its military might. Mr. Balasingham said the LTTE’s fears were based on reports that the government had entered into a military purchase deal worth millions of dollars with Iran. “Our leader Velupillai Prabhakaran pointed out to the Norwegian facilitators that the government was buying arms worth 150 million dollars from Iran. He informed the Norwegians that the LTTE was having suspicions on the manner the government was using the human tragedy,” he said, adding that ‘various political intricacies’ appeared to be going on. Mr. Balasingham said the tsunami had not swept away the deadlock on the peace process and no new stand by the government had been conveyed to the Norwegian team headed by Foreign Minister Jan Peterson. “The tsunami has not swept away the aspirations of the Tamil people in their freedom fight,” Mr. Balasingham said, claiming that the South was attempting to portray the disaster as an end to the struggle of the Tamil people. “Until such time that the Tamil people realize their goal, we will continue with our freedom struggle,” the LTTE theoretician said, adding that the UPFA government had not displayed a notable effort to win the hearts of the Tamil people. “We are getting relief by the government, but this is not enough. The North East has suffered most by the tsunami,” Balasingham said pointing out that Velupillai Prabhakaran had described the tidal wave disaster as the Tsunami II with Tsunami one being the twenty year old ethnic conflict. Mr. Balasingham was addressing the media after a high powered LTTE delegation including Mr. Prabhakaran, Sea Tiger Chief Susai and Political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvam and LTTE police chief G. Nadesan held closed-door talks with the visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson, International Coorporation Minister Hilde Johnson, Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessan, special envoy Erik Solheim and Ambassador Hans Brattskar. The LTTE theoretician said Mr. Prabhakaran had complained to the Norwegians about the lack of efficiency in the distribution of aid. However asked if there was no positive gestures displayed by the government, a reluctant Mr. Balasingham said, "of course there were instances where military personnel had saved the LTTE cadres and vice versa". He also said\ the LTTE had told the Norwegians that the TRO should be allowed to continue its relief work without harassment from the military. Asking journalists not to confuse talks between the government peace secretariat and the LTTE secretariat Mr. Balasingham said the discussions going on between the two secretariats had ‘nothing to do with the peace process’. “But what we say is that they (the government) can do more. The government has not come with positive rebuilding measures. What we appeal for is that there should be equal distribution,” he said, calling for a decentralising of the tsunami aid programme. Asked whether the LTTE had suffered heavy losses in the tsunami, Mr. Balasingham said the Colombo media were fabricating figures as they did with the stories about the LTTE leader. “As we all can see the LTTE leader is alive. We have suffered losses but as for cadres, only six have died," he said. Meanwhile Norway's International Aid Minister told journalists that Oslo would give aid to the LTTE-controlled areas and the north east through NGOs. Asked specifically if Norway would provide direct aid to the LTTE, she said that Norway would continue to give aid to the LTTE, channelling the monies through foreign missions and the NGOs. She said the international aid would be harnessed into a multinational trust fund to be used for relief work that would be guided by the World Bank and managed with the ‘co-operation of the LTTE’. Relief
work: Norway seeks Govt-LTTE cooperation Addressing a news conference after their meeting with the LTTE leadership, Norway's International Development Minister Hilde F. Johnson said that in their meetings with President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama, they had urged that the Government and the LTTE should work together in the relief and rehabilitation effort. Ms. Johnson said they made a similar request to LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran when they had met him yesterday. She said Norway had already made available half of the money it pledged for the UN tsunami aid and Sri Lanka would receive its share soon. |
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