Ranil says UNF is committed to ‘peace with security’

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 September 2003, 19:03 GMT]
Responding to a query from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, on the issue of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s camp at Kurankupanchan in the Trincomalee district, the country’s Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, said Monday that his government was continuing its efforts to resolve the issue peacefully and that Ms. Kumaratunge should not approach the issue on the basis of political expediency, media sources in Colombo said.

Ms. Kumaratunge last week wrote to the Prime Minister asking what action he would take regarding the LTTE camp at Kurankupanchan and expressed her concern over the deteriorating security situation in the country, especially in the East, sources said.

The LTTE leadership has consistently said the camp had been in existence for a long time in the LTTE-controlled area of Trincomalee, while the Sri Lanka Army says the camp was constructed recently following the ceasefire agreement.

Mr. Wickremasinghe said in his response that the people of the country elected his United National Front government with a mandate for pursuing peace with security, and he was determined to fulfill the confidence the people had placed in his government.

The PM said that he had sought the Norwegian government’s intervention on the LTTE camp issue and also strengthened the security in the East. The Police and Armed forces were fully informed and would ensure law and order, he said, adding that Ministers concerned could brief the President if she wished so.