CFA abrogation will not halt aid flow

3,743 truce violations by LTTE while Govt protected it:

Dharma Sri ABEYRATNE

The abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement will not affect the foreign aid flow as the LTTE has been perpetrating terrorist activities even though the Government tried its best to protect the Agreement, said Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana yesterday.

The LTTE has violated the Ceasefire Agreement 3,743 times according to the reports of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Minister Abeywardana told a news conference yesterday.

The LTTE assassinated the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, Deputy Commissioner General of Peace Secretariat K. Logeshwaran and MP T. Maheshwaran before the Ceasefire Agreement was abrogated.

In addition the LTTE has brought ‘bomb lorries’ to Colombo to cripple normal life.

They attacked the Air Force camp in Anuradhapura before the abrogation. Hence it is clear that the LTTE had been involved in terrorist activities while the Government protected the CFA.

The Minister pointed out that the LTTE had been involved in arms smuggling during the Ceasefire Agreement period.

“Several LTTE ships which were loaded with arms were destroyed by the Navy before the Ceasefire Agreement was abrogated. Then there is no use of protecting such an agreement,” the Minister said.

“The ceasefire agreement was dead long before,” he stressed. The abrogation would not be a hindrance for peace talks. It will also not affect the rights of the Tamil people.

Regarding media freedom, Minister Yapa said the Government has taken every possible step to safeguard the rights of journalists while protecting media freedom since the Government always stands for journalists and free and fair journalism.

Speaking on the police raid at the house of journalist Poddala Jayantha, he said the police had gone to the house to get some information regarding a person.

The police didn’t have any intention of harassing Poddala other than getting some information since the police haven’t known the house belonged to him, the Minister said.