• No talks, GMOA leaders surrender
• Soldier-reporter arrested
• Mendis faces party action
• Premier Sirima sees herself as Roosevelt
• US court upholds LTTE's terrorist tag

No talks, GMOA leaders surrender

By Faraza Farook

A scheduled meeting between the GMOA and top ministers was called off on the instructions of the Presidential Secretariat at the last moment — plunging the health crisis into further uncertainty.

Adding to the confusion, the 12 top leaders of the GMOA yesterday surrendered to the Maradana Police after the Colombo District Court had issued warrants for their arrest on contempt charges,. The were later released on bail.

Meanwhile, a call by the GMOA for an urgent meeting with President Kumaratunga to end the crippling two-week strike also went unheeded amidst reports that the President was scheduled to leave for Nepal on an official visit.

A GMOA spokesman said they had been scheduled to meet four cabinet ministers in a bid to resolve the strike dispute on Friday, but they were told at the last moment that the meeting had been called off.

Minister Jeyaraj Ferna-dopulle, one of the ministers scheduled to meet the GMOA told The Sunday Times: "we were to meet delegates of the GMOA but received an order from the President's Secretariat to call off the meeting".

He said they had no other plans to meet GMOA representatives until they had fresh orders from the President.

GMOA members said they felt the President was under pressure from some advisors not to enter into negotiations with the doctors.

The other ministers they were planning to meet were G.L. Peiris, Nimal Siripala de Silva and S.B. Dissanayke.

The GMOA member said they received no response to a letter faxed to the President until last night.

He said they were willing to call off the strike if the President agreed to hold a discussion.

The fax said 'the GMOA was informed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Health on Friday that your Excellency is prepared to meet a delegation from our association.'

'We are certain that normalcy would prevail by the time your Excellency will have a discussion with us. This position has been conveyed to several cabinet ministers as well even earlier.

'Meanwhile we are made to understand that preparations are in progress for your Excellency to visit Nepal very soon and that you will be away for some time. In the circumstances we hope that a meeting would be arranged prior to your Excellency's departure.'

Meanwhile the GMOA has stopped functioning from its office at Prof. Stanley Wijesundara Mawatha, Colombo 7. The Sunday Times learns that a gang had been trying to locate the residence of the GMOA President Dr. Ananda Samarasekera.

The residence of a GMOA official in Colombo was also stoned on Friday night.

Commenting on the threats and attacks on doctors, a GMOA official said organised groups were involved.

A police officer told The Sunday Times that they had received instructions from the IGP to take all steps to prevent any attacks on the doctors.

Even after the Court order was issued on Friday to arrest 12 members of the GMOA ruling body for contempt of court, the officer confirmed that no arrests had been made.

Reports from Ragama said demonstrations were held outside the Ragama Hospital yesterday, allegedly organised by a PA politician.

All twelve doctors on whom arrest warrants have been issued, produced themselves at the Maradana Police station last afternoon.

They were released on a personal bond for Rs. 200,000 each and promised to personally appear in courts on Tuesday, in accordance with the orders of Colombo District Judge A. W. A. Salam.

The judge on Friday said there was evidence that GMOA leaders were trying to circumvent his orders for them to call off the strike, pending a decision on a case filed by a public interest group.

Meanwhile, four doctors who are not in the executive committee of the GMOA, but were sued in the district court case, have in turn decided to sue the Law Foundation which filed action against the doctors.

The four doctors — Dr. R. P. Dayasena, Dr. Charith Fonseka, Dr. Ruwan Ekanayaka and Dr. N. J. Nonis — said they intended to claim a large amount in damages.

They said they believed the action had been filed on the basis of an old list allegedly given by Health Ministry officials.

Soldier-reporter arrested

By Chris Kamalendran

An Army officer who served as a defence columnist of a Sinhala weekly has been arrested for violating discipline in the army, Military Police spokesman said yesterday.

The officer, Kumara Chapa Bandara, who served as a sergeant of the Medical Corps was detained by the Military Police for further questioning on articles he wrote for the 'Ravaya' newspaper.

He said they would question others in the army who were believed to have provided information to the columnist. He said they hoped to recover sensitive documents which had been leaked out. The Sunday Times learns that sergeant Bandara is to be produced before a military court. He had joined the Army in 1986 and was planning to leave.

Mendis faces party action

By Dirukshi Handunnetti

The controversial UNP veteran Wijeyapala Mendis is in trouble again after bombshell remarks were allegedly made at a meeting he organised in Negombo recently.

UNP sources told The Sunday Times a disciplinary committee would be appointed to probe his conduct and what happened at Negombo — only a few months after Mr. Mendis appeared to have ended a crisis over his earlier suspension.

At a UNP parliamentary group meeting on Monday, several MPs are reported to have attacked Mr. Mendis and called for tough action against him. The barrage came after it was reported that a monk who spoke at the Negombo meeting had said party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was culturally not fit to lead the party. This remark had allegedly provoked others at the meeting to say Mr. Wickremesinghe should be thrown out.

Mr. Mendis organised the Negombo meeting to mark the birth anniversary of former UNP leader Dudley Senanayake and Mr. Mendis's son Davindra who died tragically two years ago.

He marked the occasion by donating 76 acres land to a Mirigama temple but critics alleged it was the land he got in a disputed deal which led a special presidential commission to find him guilty of abuse of power.

Premier Sirima sees herself as Roosevelt

By Roshan Peiris

Despite widespread rumours and speculation, an unperturbed Prime Minister Srimavo Bandaranike says no one has so far brought up the topic of her resignation — and she has absolutely no intention to do so.

The veteran premier, sounding confident despite ailments which have confined her to a wheelchair, said she was not bothered about rumours and she would continue as Prime Minister, wheelchair notwithstanding. She points out that one of the greatest presidents of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt was also on a wheel chair when he presided over the destinies of his country and the world during the war. Ms. Bandaranaike's personal assistant Glenda Dunuwila also was quite emphatic when she said "madam has no idea of retiring and no one has asked her to do so either."

The feeling at Rosmead Place among those close to Ms. Bandaranaike is that the rumours are spread mainly by those who are eyeing her post.

US court upholds LTTE's terrorist tag

By Our Diplomatic Editor

A move by the LTTE to classify itself as a 'government' failed when the US Court of Appeals rejected its claim and upheld the ban on the organisation by the US government.

In a stinging rejection of the LTTE's appeal filed before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit on being designated as a 'Foreign Terrorist Organisation,' the judges held that there was substantial support for the US Secretary of Sate Madeline Albright to come to her findings to ban the LTTE.

The LTTE's appeal was taken up by the Court together with an appeal by the MEK (People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran), whose primary role is the overthrow of the Iranian government after which it would seek to establish a non-theocratic state.

The LTTE and MEK had both engaged in bombings and killings in order to further their political agendas. Any of the incidents attributed to the LTTE and MEK would have sufficed under the law banning them in the US, the Court held.

Both the LTTE and the MEK appeals were argued on March 5 and judgment was delivered on Friday. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clarke argued the case for the LTTE. The bench comprised Williams and Randolph, circuit judges, and Buckley, senior circuit judge.

The decision was seen as a setback to the LTTE's international campaign for recognition in the aftermath of the US government's decision to classify it as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. It also was seen by international affairs analysts as a moral victory for the Sri Lankan government's international campaign to have the LTTE banned.

Analysts also noted the LTTE's campaign to classify themselves as a 'government,' though it held no permanent territorial control within Sri Lanka with the loss of the Jaffna peninsula back to the government security forces.

However, the judges held that when the Secretary announced the ban the organisation's bank accounts in the US became subject to seizure and anyone who knowingly contributed financial support to the named entity became subject to criminal persecution and punishment of up to 10 years in jail or a fine or both.

The judges held that neither the LTTE and the MEK had a presence or property in the US and had no constitutional rights in the US - they have only statutory rights because the Congress so allowed. The LTTE and MEK were entitled to contest their ban by seeking judgment as to whether the Secretary of State followed statutory procedures, or whether she made the requisite findings, or whether the record she assembled substantially supported her findings.

The US argued that whether an organisation is in fact a government is solely entrusted to the political branches, and the US has not recognised the LTTE.

'Who is the sovereign, de jure or de facto, of a territory, is not a judicial, but political question; the determination of which by the legislative and executive departments of any government conclusively binds the judges as well as all other officers, citizens and subjects of that government.

They also said that they reach no judgment whatsoever regarding whether the material before the Secretary of State is or is not true. As we wrote earlier, the record consists entirely of hearsay, none of it was ever subjected to adversary testing, so there was no opportunity for counter-evidence by the organisation affected, the court held.

What the bench had to see was whether the Secretary of State had enough information before her to come to the conclusion that the organisations were foreign and engaged in terrorism. Her conclusions might be mistaken, but that depends on the quality of the information in the reports she received - something we have no way of judging, the court said.