Sri Lanka was targeted by a section of the international community for being successful in her war against the LTTE, a group proscribed by India, US, UK and EU, and a section of the international community have conveniently forgotten the death and destruction caused by the LTTE, said Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in an interview with The Island today.

Referring to a spate of recent statements attributed to Opposition politicians, INGO/NGO activists and UN officials, he said that all this was part of a major propaganda campaign directed at the Sri Lankan government.

This threat was as serious as the one posed by the LTTE a year ago. A section of the media, too, had contributed to this strategy, he said, urging the international community not to adopt double standards in dealing with the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, where US-led allied forces were fighting terrorists and Sri Lanka’s war. "Our successful war should be considered as part the global campaign against terror," he said.

He emphasized the importance of investigating the LTTE international arms procurement network now that it had been militarily defeated.

The Island also reported Government sources stating that in the run up to the last presidential election, an attempt had been to move a resolution in the US Senate to undermine the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign. Sources said that the ongoing campaign on diplomatic and economic fronts was to destabilize the government ahead of the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

The comments by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa came after reports that Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs, and former US Ambassador in Colombo, has informed Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Washington Jaliya Wickremasuriya that a report on the conduct of government forces during the war against the LTTE would be submitted to the US Congress on Monday (September 21).

Ministerial and Defence sources said this was expected as part of their strategy to pressure Sri Lanka on the human rights front, and kit should be seen together with the current visit to Sri Lanka of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe’s to discuss what the UN Office in Colombo called critical issues related to the aftermath of the conflict.

According to the UN, talks would cover resettlement of internally displaced persons, political reconciliation and the establishment of a mechanism of accountability for alleged human rights violations. Mr. Pascoe is expected to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa today.