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Monday, September 08, 2008 - 9.20 GMT |
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End LTTE fundraising and propaganda capacity
in the West – Foreign Secretary |
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Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Palitha Kohona has said "at a time Sri
Lanka is engaged in the arduous task of
putting an end to terrorism in the north of
the country, it was vital to also end the
capacity of the LTTE and its front
organizations to raise funds and engage in
propaganda in Western countries".
He made this observation, when during a
visit to Brussels on September 5, he met
with Ambassador Xavier Demoulin, Actg.
Secretary General of the Belgian Foreign
Ministry, Mr Joao Aguiar Machado, Deputy
Director General of the European Commission,
and Ambassador Tomasz Koslowski, Chief of
Task Force on Asia of the European Council.
He called on his interlocutors to support
Sri Lanka's request to ban the TRO and
associated LTTE front organizations which
contributed to the perpetuation of
terrorism. He emphasized the need to
separate terrorism related obligations of
the international community and human
rights.
In his meetings, Dr. Kohona provided a
briefing on the operations currently being
carried out in areas in the North to end
terrorism and noted that the Government of
Sri Lanka has adopted a range of measures to
mitigate difficulties encountered by IDPs,
including collaborating with UN and
international agencies who were working with
the Government. He also appraised his
interlocutors on the progress in the APRC
process including the implementation of its
interim recommendations with respect to the
full implementation of the 13th Amendment.
He reiterated the government's commitment to
a political solution to the present conflict
and detailed the series of measures taken in
the Eastern Province in pursuance of this
goal. He requested the assistance of the
European Union as well as the Belgian
Government towards the development of the
Eastern Province to ensure the long term
sustainability of democracy and peace. Dr.
Kohona also informed European & Belgian
senior officials of the measures taken by
the government to ensure the protection of
human rights of all Sri Lankan citizens and
action taken to bring the perpetrators of
alleged violations to justice.
Informing his interlocutors that Sri Lanka
would be presenting its application for the
renewal of GSP+ benefits for the period
2009-2011, he expressly stated that Sri
Lanka would satisfy the requirements of an
objective review. Both the Belgian and
European officials congratulated Sri Lanka
on utilizing this scheme to achieve
substantial desired results, including
better standards of living for the people,
and encouraged Sri Lanka to make a strong
application for the renewal of the scheme.
During his meeting with the Actg. Secretary
General of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, Dr.
Kohona expressed the Government's
appreciation to the Belgian authorities for
the recent relaxation of the travel advisory
on Sri Lanka. He expressed the need to
further enhance bilateral ties through the
increase of investment, trade, and tourism.
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