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HOLMES URGES SRI LANKA TO DISARM THE KARUNA GROUP IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE FOR PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS

By Walter Jayawardhana

The United Nations under Secretary General for humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes urged Sri Lanka to disarm the Karuna Group after a tour in the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka.

He said it was important to demilitarize the Eastern Province as soon as possible.
"It is important that the disarmament of the Karuna faction should happen as soon as possible," he told reporters at a Colombo press conference .

There have been serious allegations of recruiting child soldiers both against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the breakaway karuna faction in the Eastern Province.
“"It is important that, in principle, only people bearing arms should be local authorities. Karuna operates in areas controlled by the government,"he said further commenting about the controversial break away group of the LTTE.

The government has stated the only armed faction operating in the Eastern Province are the Tamil Tigers who are attempting to flee the Eastern Province. It has also denied it is having any connection with the Karuna faction. Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said it is difficult to disarm armed groups in trouble areas.

"It is not any easy thing to do overnight. But as a responsible government, we are committed to it," Samarasinghe also participated in the same press conference with Holmes said.
Before coming to Colombo, Holmes also torued Jaffna and Eastern Province meeting important officials and hundreds of the Internally Dispalced persons.

A United nations press release said, “During talks with local authorities, he stressed the need for improved cooperation between UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Government to improve aid provision across the country, where at least 3,500 people have been killed in the past year because of the renewed fighting in the decades-long conflict.

Mr. Holmes called on local authorities to open all areas to humanitarian operations and to restore public services as well.

Friday he is expected to wrap up his visit to Sri Lanka by meeting the country's President Mahinda Rajapaksa.”

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