Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, Australia

In an interview to the Sunday leader (13 Dec.) Gen. (Retd.) Fonseka had alleged that 3 LTTE leaders who came to surrender with white flags during the final stages were shot dead by ground troops and this had now led to a UN probe.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Based on Gen. Fonseka’s allegation against the heroic forces the UN Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary, Philip Alston, has demanded an explanation from the government on his statement.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In this connection it would be interesting to note the UN Rapporteur’s reference to 3 LTTE surrenderees when thousands of LTTE fighters had surrendered and were subsequently sheltered in IDP camps.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Secondly, several instances were reported during the war that LTTE leaders had approached sentry points waving white flags pretending to be surrenderees and shot at the army personnel allowing LTTE fighters to infiltrate into government controlled areas to stop the ‘Human Rescue Operation’. Several army officers and soldiers had got killed by these ‘bogus surrenderees’.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As such cases became common during the last stages of the war it was a problem for the army to distinguish between genuine and bogus surrenderees. And in war when those involved are fighting for their life who would want to take a chance based on past experiences.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Further, towards the end of the war the government made several requests openly for the LTTE including Prabhakaran to surrender. But their response was that they would surrender only to a third party from the West.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now we have Gen. Fonseka making ambiguous statements against the heroic forces about surrenderees to get support from certain quarters to his election campaign and also to discredit the government. And Fonseka’s out of turn statements have become fodder for certain organisations including the UN to make hay while the sun shines!