Japanese aid to continue: Akashi

Japan will continue with its assistance to Sri Lanka because it does not believe innocent people should be punished due to the actions and polices of their leaders, Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka Yashushi Akashi said yesterday. He made these comments at a news briefing winding up his five-day trip to Sri Lanka to oversee the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the country as well as the progress in the APRC process.

Mr.Aksahi said that unlike some European nations that have suspended assistance to Sri Lanka, Japan would not do so.“Japan has a continuing interest in helping this country and especially the people affected by the two decades of war, the tsunami and the new wave of conflict,” he said.

Mr.Akashi said the Co-Chairs will meet later this month to assess the situation in Sri Lanka and added there was a certain amount of hope and optimism for peace in Sri Lanka.

Mr.Akashi met President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his stay and visited Vakarai, Ampara and Trincomalee.“There is commitment still for the peace process and the determination of President Rajapaksa to seek a settlement through political means is unchanged,” he said.

In the domain of human rights Mr.Akashi said much needs to be done as there were deficiencies and shortcomings.

He cited the recent killing of the Red Cross workers, the eviction of Tamils from Colombo as well as numerous cases of abduction and extra-judicial killings which he said were unacceptable for a civilised country like Sri Lanka.

Asked if Japan was considering banning the LTTE, Mr. Akashi said the situation was different in his country from that of countries like Canada, Great Britain or other European countries which had large Tamil populations, some of whom may be sympathetic to the LTTE.

“We have around 10,000 Sri Lankans in Japan and we have not identified any LTTE supporters or assets provided by them to the LTTE,” he said.

Mr.Akashi said he did not go to Kilinochchi on this visit - his 14th - because of the intensified fighting there and secondly because one purpose of his trip was to encourage and promote the APRC process.