See Report on this

• House-to-house hunt for artefacts
• US team visits alleged graves
• Exporters left high and dry
• UNP to move on media freedom
• Ranil, pro-LTTErs talks in US

House-to-house hunt for artefacts

Govt. to crack down on treasure vultures

By Shelani de Silva

Any one possessing historical artefacts will be compelled to return them and house-to-house searches will be launched as part of a Government crack down on vandals who plunder the country's archaeological treasures, Cultural Affairs Minister Lakshman Jayakody said yesterday.

"Besides tough new legislation, imposing deterrent punishment, the government will also invoke the existing Cultural Property Act to compel those possessing historical artifacts to return them;" he told The Sunday Times.

He said a two-year study by his ministry has revealed that plundering cultural treasures had become an organised racket.

'Firstly, it is the antique dealers, who buy such treasures. They sell the valuables. There is another group who possess diplomatic passports. They take valuables out of the country. The third group exports the valuables," Mr. Jayakody said.

Under proposed laws, Mr. Jayakody explained that all items should be registered. Only replicas could be taken out of the country.

"We also will be tough on those who possess such items in houses. We learnt that certain houses in the city keep these valuables. I will instruct Archaeological officers to carry out a house-to-house search. But before this under the Cultural Property Act, we will request them to declare any valuables. If they do not we will take the necessary action," he said.

Mr. Jayakody's remarks came as the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Lucky Kodituwakku, summoned a conference at Police Headquarters to formulate immediate measures to check the plunder of cultural treasures.

He is to set up a separate police unit under the charge of a Deputy Inspector General to undertake this task. The move followed a directive from President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Mr. Jayakody said the recent spate of robberies had "inside collaboration."

"I think it is an 'inside job with the help of the Department officers," he said.

Archaeology Department Director Dr. S. Deraniyagala said a comprehensive report on the incident would be handed over to the minister within the next few days.

US team visits alleged graves

A top level United States team which was in Jaffna early this week visited the alleged Chemmani mass graves and met human rights groups there.

The team was led by George Pickart from the State Department in Washington and comprised Richard Smythe, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy, Lt. Col. Michael Poore, Defence Attache and Shamindra Fernando, Political Assistant.

Mr. Pickart who is said to specialize in human rights and the other members of the team also met the Jaffna Mayor P. Sivapalan and Jaffna Commnader Major General Lionel Balagalle.

Meanwhile Prisons Commissioner P. Baskarasingham told The Sunday Times that soldier-prisoner Somaratne Rajapakse's appeal for a transfer to the Bogambara prison will be considered favourably.

Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse, who was convicted of rape and murder in the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy case alleged that about 400 Tamil civilians were killed and buried in mass graves in Chemmani.

Media reports last month said he was injured in a scuffle with guards at Welikada prison over some documents.

Russian crisis and tea trade

Exporters left high and dry

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

The Central Bank has refused to give private banks a government guarantee, to extend credit facilities to tea exporters whose payments are stuck in Russia due to the economic collapse there, an official said.

Tea Promotion Bureau Director A.H. De Alwis said the request for a government guarantee had been turned down on the basis it was too risky, as the Russian rouble plunged by more than 50 percent and the country reeled towards economic chaos without even a government.

Mr. De Alwis said they were informed about the decision at a meeting with Central Bank officials.

Bank officials said they had already extended maximum possible credit to the exporters, based on their collateral, track record and turnover.

Central Bank Deputy Governor S. Easparathasan said they had appealed to the banks to help the exporters but could make no official order.

Tea Board officials will now meet Deputy Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundera to discuss alternative measures, Mr. De Alwis said.

Although reports said the tea market would be hit badly due to the Russian crisis, the market was not affected as badly as feared.

Anil Cooke, Senior Vice President of Asia Siyaka Commodities Pvt. Ltd., said higher demands from West Asian countries compensated for a lower demand from Russia, and prevented prices sliding too much.

Meanwhile, a Stock Exchange spokesman said that during the week, the All Share Price Index went below 500 points, an all time low, and is now at 462 points.

There was a drop in the plantations sector, and in conglomerates which have plantations as subsidiaries.

'There is no doubt that the market reacted to the Russian rouble crisis, and it is most probable that the plantations sector went down because of this. But, the plantations sector was falling even last month," one analyst said.

UNP to move on media freedom

To enhance media freedom, the Opposition UNP is to introduce a resolution in Parliament seeking a Freedom of Information Act and the abolition of the Sri Lanka Press Council within the year.

The Opposition Leader has also agreed to look into the aspect of amending Standing Orders of Parliament to provide for public hearings on Parliamentary Select and Consultative Committee sittings.

Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe gave these assurances when he met an 11-member delegation from the Editors' Guild of Sri Lanka on Wednesday at his office.

Mr. Wickremesinghe agreed that priority should be given to the abolition of the existing laws of criminal defamation or amending them in accordance with similar laws in liberal democracies.

For this purpose the UNP would propose the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act and abolition of the Sri Lanka Press Council.

The Editors said they would like to have a continuing process of consulting political parties to evolve a new media culture.

They expressed concern over the recent amendment to the Evidence Ordinance which made a conviction of criminal defamation in high court conclusive proof in a civil court. This amendment was passed without debate at the time when UNP was boycotting Parliament earlier this year.

Ranil, pro-LTTErs talks in US

By Our Special Correspondent

Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would be "informally" meeting representatives of the New York Tamil Sangham, an influential Lankan Tamil group closely associated with the LTTE, during a tour of the US later this month, reliable sources in the party said.

The declared purpose of the UNP chief's sojourn in the US is to collect money for his party from the substantial Sri Lankan population there, and the formal meetings slated to be held in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, 26 and 27 are expected to be attended by Sri Lankans of all communities. According to Parliamentarian John Amaratunga, who is overseeing the arrangements, no meeting with any "Tamil group" as such is on the cards.

But as another party top ranker, Tyronne Fernando put it, "anything could happen" on trips like this. Others were more categorical and said Mr. Wickremesinghe would be meeting, albeit informally, the New York Tamil Sangham, widely regarded as an LTTE front. The vast Sri Lankan Tamil expatriate community in the US and Canada back the LTTE to the hilt with funds. The Tamils of North America, including the pro-LTTE ones, would seek out Mr. Wickremesinghe, even if he did not go looking for them.

Party insiders as well as sources in North America say Tamil expatriates are eager to know what the UNP has to offer to the Tamils. Tamils organisations propose to submit a memorandum to him. Given the UNP's current disposition towards the Tamils and the LTTE in particular, Mr. Wickremesinghe could well go half way in seeking a dialogue with them.

Undeniably, the LTTE along with a substantial section of the Tamils habour bitter experiences of UNP rule, and see the SLFP and UNP as birds of the same feather. Yet, the Tamils are eager to give the UNP a hearing because of the current alienation from the P.A government.

The Tamils see the devolution package as being in cold storage and the war option being pursued instead. The pathetic conditions in the Wanni, the arrest and detention of Tamils who come to Colombo, are intensely resented.

Significantly, in an interview to "sanjeevi" a magazine section of the only Jaffna Newspapers "Uthayan" last Saturday, Mr. Wickremesinghe had echoed the generally held Tamil view on all these matters. Most importantly, he had said even while being in the opposition he would talk to the LTTE to bring about a ceasefire. A ceasefire is what the average Tamil yearns for .

"After coming to office, I would discuss the question of a settlement with parties both within and outside parliament and then talk to the LTTE my priority being to bring an end to the war," the UNP leader told the interviewer, G. Gurunathan.

Another assertion of his which the Tamils, both in the island and abroad would welcome, is his readiness to talk to the LTTE unconditionally. "Our only demand will be that the talks should take place within a given time frame. If need be, these talks may take place in another country." Mr. Wickremesinghe said. The UNP had earlier stated that talks could take place even as fighting was on. But if what he told "Sanjeevi" is taken as the latest thinking, it would now try for a ceasefire before talks on political questions. This the Tamils will find far more acceptable than having talks while fighting is on.

The Fox initiative of 1997 had created among the Tamils great hopes of a settlement by making the government and the opposition close ranks on what should be discussed with the LTTE and making the two promise to implement any agreement entered into with the LTTE. But the pact, signed by the President and Mr. Wickremesinghe, is today a dead letter. When "Sanjeevi" asked about the fate of the Fox initiative, the UNP chief said the government had reduced the pact to a dead letter by not showing interest in follow up action. "Government hoped that if there was a pact with the opposition, it would be able to finish the LTTE. But I was committed to finding a solution to the problem. Government made a fool of people through the exchange of letters on the subject," Mr. Wickremesinghe said. Though Mr. Amaratunge denied that a stop over in London was planned, other sources in the UNP said That Mr. Wickremesinghe would go to the UK to discuss the revival of British facilitation.

Mr. Wickremesinghe told "Sanjeevi" that the government had erred by not engaging the LTTE politically. "We should wage a political war with them and bring them to the political path," he had said. He had a dim view of the bid to open the Vavuniya Kilinochchi roads as he felt that this 70 km stretch could not be defended.

He told "Sanjeevi" that he disapproved of the hoisting of the national flag after Jaffna was cleared of the LTTE as this smacked of conquest "Only if we take another country can we hoist our flag. We did not hoist that flag when areas in the south were cleared of the JVP," he observed. Mr. Wickremesinghe noted that when an area was secured by the forces, the army should win over the peoples' hearts. Instead of doing this, it is alienating the people. Tamils everywhere were harassed, he said. Food should not be used as an instrument of war, he further said, commenting on the situation in the Wanni.

Asked if after 40 years of struggle for Federalism and Eelam, the Tamils would ever accept a unitary setup as proposed by the UNP, Mr. Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka could go by the political systems worked out by other multi-ethnic countries, like Britain, Spain, South Africa and China. A federal state was not the only solution a unitary system could well incorporate substantial powers for the regions, he argued. Though hardline Tamils have already dismissed Mr. Wickremesinghe's friendly noises as another "Pre-electoral gimmick by a Sinhala majoritarian" party leader, Tamils would by and large welcome them. There is little doubt that the Tamils he would meet in the US, both supporters of the LTTE and others, would be eager to listen and talk to him in an effort to end the impasse. As a Colombo based Tamil human right activist put it: "The struggle now is not for liberation, but survival." There is an underlying recognition that the LTTE too is fighting for its very survival.