LORD MALLOCH BROWN SAYS THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT CONGRATULATED PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA FOR FINISHING OFF A WAR STARTED BY TERRORISTS.
Posted on May 21st, 2009

By Walter Jayawardhana

Lord Malloch Brown, the Minister of State Foreign and Commonwealth office in UK said in the House of Lords that the British government congratulated President Rajapaksa for finishing off a brutal war instigated by Tamil Tigers ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a terrorist group.
He said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Indeed, in our initial contacts with the president, we congratulated him on the finishing of a brutal 26-year civil war, which was instigated by the Tamil TigersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚a terrorist groupƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ replying to Lord Naseby who raised the matter in the House of Lords.
Agreeing with Lord Naseby , Lord Malloch Brown said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the political solution to this must come from inside Sri Lanka from a process set up and led by President Rajapaksa..ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
Speaking further Brown said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-But we also made it extremely clear to him that, whether or not that victory would be seen as the opening of a new and happier chapter in Sri Lanka depended on whether he could now go that next step and show the statesmanship to find a political as well as humanitarian solution to this communityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s issues.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
During the House of Lords discussion Lord Malloch Brown also revealed that the Leader of Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe also visited him.
He further said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-On 17 May, the Prime Minister announced an additional ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚£5 million in humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka, taking the total to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚£12.5 million since September 2008.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
Speaking before him Lord Naseby said, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-My Lords, have Her MajestyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Government congratulated the Sri Lankan Government on defeating the Tamil Tigers and bringing peace to the country? On the international front, is it Her MajestyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s policy primarily to tackle the resettlement of the 250,000 Tamils and the 100,000 Muslims who were ethnically cleansed from Jaffna, or is it to continue to lecture that there should be a constitutional settlement, which really rests with the Parliament of Sri Lanka?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
When referring to the Muslims Lord Naseby was referring to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ethnically cleansedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Muslims ordered out of Jaffna by the Late Velupillai Prabhakaran with a notice of 48 hours.
Speaking after the House of Lords discussion to this correspondent Lord Naseby said that he would like the Sri Lanka government to give priority to the 250,000 Tamils and 100,000 Muslims displaced and he would like to appeal to the international community to help those people resettled.
He said he understands that it takes some time to screen the people in the IDP camps due to some LTTE carders who got into the camps with the civilians but he strongly urged the Sri Lanka government to resettle the poor people, used as the human shield by the LTTE, within less than an year in their original homes. He said some of the ethnically cleansed Muslims would have found new homes but the majority of them might be wanting to go.
He said when resettling elderly people should be urgently considered and families should be reunited. Like during the Tsunami, Lord Naseby said the Sri Lanka Army could help the reconstruction of the areas and improve the infrastructure.
Commenting on the London Times article on May 21 asking people to boycott Sri Lankan products like apparel as stupid, Lord Naseby said it will hurt both countries and helps nobody.

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