[Wednesday, December 05, 2007 - 04.25 GMT]  

 
The Government of Sri Lanka has registered its "strong protest" at the recent statement made by the Director General of UNESCO Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, in which he has "condemned" the air strike on the Voice of Tigers
(VoT) radio station, which has been described as a "civilian" radio station. Sri Lanka has demanded the retraction of the Director General's statement.

Sri Lanka's Ambassador in France and Permanent Delegate to the UNESCO, Ms. Chitranganee Wagiswara yesterday (4th December 2007) handed over a letter of
protest from the Government of Sri Lanka, addressed to the Director General of UNESCO. In it the Ambassador noted that the Government was surprised that the UNESCO saw it fit to issue such a statement on an attack on a clandestine radio station directly operated by the LTTE, a well known terrorist organization, which is proscribed in a number of countries including India, US, Canada as well as the member states of European Union.

It adds that only two days before the UNESCO statement, the LTTE exploded a bomb in the Colombo suburbs killing 19 innocent civilians including women
and Children and that earlier the same day an LTTE female suicide cadre made a failed attempt to assassinate a Cabinet Minister who belongs to the Tamil
community, elected by the people in the Northern Province.

The letter further notes that VoT is neither legal nor legitimate and its programme content promotes and glorifies terrorism and hence cannot be considered as a "civilian radio station". In the same vain, those employed at the VoT facility cannot be considered as "civilian" media personnel. It also points out that reference in the UNESCO Director General's statement to the "Geneva Convention" is totally out of context and not applicable, as there is no war or confrontation between two sovereign states.

Noting that the LTTE radio facility is in contravention to any internationally accepted norms and that no international convention could give protection to this illegal station operated by a terrorist group, the letter asserts that being a propaganda organ of a terrorist group, the VoT station was a legitimate target for attack, in the fight against terrorism in Sri Lanka.

Stating that it would have been much more appropriate had the Director General obtained all the facts relating to the incident prior to issuing this ill informed statement and noting that the Government of Sri Lanka
remained deeply perturbed by the contents of his statement, the letter demands the retraction of the Director General's statement.

Courtesy: Embassy of Sri Lanka - Paris

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Last Updated Date: December 05, 2007 - 04.25 GMT