"Expel Norway from Sri Lanka" – JVP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 11:30 GMT]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the extreme Sinhala nationalist ally of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, has resumed their demand that the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) must expel Norway from Sri Lanka. Speaking at a Media Conference Thursday, August 3, 2006 convened by the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) held at the Colombo Sri Lanka Assembly College, Sri Lankan parliamentarian and JVP Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa called on Norway’s International Development Minister Eric Solheim to withdraw the statement he made last Wednesday. Sri Lanka being a sovereign nation, Solheim has no authority to give orders to GOSL claimed Wimal Weerawansa.

The Norwegian Minister had, on Wednesday, asked both SLA and the LTTE to get back to their former positions.

Weerawansa told his audience that Eric Solheim’s position that Mavilarru Anicut is situated in the LTTE controlled area is an affront to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Condemning Solheim’s statement as being biased in favour of the LTTE, Weerawansa demanded that the GOSL withdraw from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA).

The CFA was brokered by Norway 4 years ago.

Pointing to a British news media organization who he said were originally scheduled to travel to Lebanon from India and who have now arrived in Sri Lanka instead, Weerawansa commented that, to them, the war in Sri Lanka seemed bigger than what was happening in Lebanon.

Remarking that the journalists could not accept the fact that the LTTE were under attack he charged, the journalists had come to Sri Lanka only with the intention of letting the International community know that water was not being supplied to LTTE controlled areas.

Without mentioning the name he rebuked a foreign embassy whose officials had independently visited the Mavilarru Anicut at the request of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who he said had the support of the LTTE. On the other hand they have not shown any concern for those people in Seruvil who are suffering without water, he said.

Weerawansa questioned the motives of those whom he called “white men” who showed sympathy for the incident in Pesalai but showed none for the people in Seruvil.

Weerawansa called on the GOSL to terminate the CFA that’s now in force with immediate effect, asked that GOSL make another agreement with LTTE where the LTTE explicity commits to respect the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. If the LTTE do not agree to this condition then he was going to recommend to GOSL that they must declare war against the LTTE, he said.

The JVP, a Marxist party that led two unsuccessful insurrections to capture state power in Sri Lanka, has ten seats in the parliament.