DAY
BEFORE THE COUNTRY’S INDEPENDENCE PRESIDENT FLIES TO VAKARAI
,THANKS TROOPS AND INVITE TAMIL TIGERS FOR TALKS
By
Walter Jayawardhana
A smiling toddler in the safe hands of the Head of State.
Sri lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa flew to the newly captured
Vakarai in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka one day before the country’s
59th independence day celebrations and told the Tamil Tigers who lost
the area after ten years domination that it was time they lay down
their arms and sit down for talks for a political solution.
"This is a big opportunity for the Tigers to return to the negotiating
table. I will offer them a political solution and they should come
for talks," he told reporters who accompanied him on the trip.
When reporters asked him what he would do if the Tamil Tigers refused
to come to talks he said in that case he will have to tame them.
President Rajapaksa said he would offer a political package but he
asked the Tigers to decommission their arms. "They must begin
surrendering weapons and come for talks," he said.
Rajapaksa said that he flew to Vakarai specially to thank the security
forces for liberating the Tamil people from the LTTE dictatorship
without harming the civilians. "What we have done is to liberate
the people from terrorists," Rajapakse said. "I am here
to thank the troops for their action without causing a single civilian
casualty.” The Tamil rebels ruled from Vakarai a stretch of a
beautiful coastal land 330 kilometers long for over a decade before
the security forces defeated them few weeks ago. The President visited
the new police station just opened and mingled with the soldiers and
elite special troops who first entered the town.
The President said after 2004 Tsunami, that did a huge damage to
the lives and property of the area , the people received a large amount
of aid but very little is seen here. He said he would like foreign
ambassadors to come and see how much aid they pumped in to the area
had actually benefited the people.
Troops said they were clearing thousands of mines laid by the Tamil
Tigers and the place will be ready for resettlement in few weeks.
The top army commander in the area Brigadier Day Ratnayaka said some
people have already come back and examined their homes and gone. Many
houses have been damaged by long range artillery fire.
"First we must remove the mines," Rajapakse said. "Then
we have to get equipment in and start a full programme (of development).
As soon as that is done, we want to get on and build houses."
