CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

ARMY SAYS THEY UNEQUIVOCALLY REJECT THE BASELESS ALLEGATION THAT THEY KILLED Rev. FATHER KARUNARATNAM

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Sri Lanka Army said in a special communique issued that it unreservedly denies and condemns the “attempt of the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to blame the army for the assassination” of a Catholic priest in the control area of the rebel terrorist group.

“The Army categorically and unreservedly ridicules LTTE's blatant attempts to discredit and blame its troops for Sunday (20) afternoon murder of the Rev Fr M.X. Karunaratnam when he was on Mallavi-Vavunikulam road in un-cleared areas, about 50 kms to the north of Wanni in Mullaithivu district,” the communique said.

The Army said the assasination has been well timed to divert the attention of the Catholic world by the misuse of the Holy Madhu church by the LTTE for its military purposes “ in the wake of negative criticism” it was receiving.

The Armu said the Late Rev Fr Karunaratnam, well known as "Father Kili" among LTTE cadres served the North-East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR) and has been provided an LTTE security escort whenever he traveld in un-cleared areas, according to the intelligence reports.
The army said Father Karunaratnam has also expressed concern about violations about human rights in the LTTE controlled areas.

The army said the place of attack on Father Karunarathnam is situated about 50 kilometers away from the nearest Sri Lanka government security detachment and no troops of the army were operating in that area at all.

The army said further intelligence data indicate that the late Father Karunaratnam had been with a leading LTTE member named Yogan , when the attack occurred and this Yogan had been a former member of the Sea Tigers, the sea faring wing of the LTTE. It was probably due to , therefore , due to the internecine clash brewing between different factions of the LTTE, the communique speculated.
The communique indicated that the explosion that also killed Father Karunaratnam bears all the hallmarks of the brutal and violent acts of the LTTE.

The army said it unequivocally condemns the brutal murders and called the allegations against the army about the Rev. Father’s killing as “baseless” and “shrewd”.

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