New SLA commanders said no panacea for normalcy

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2004, 09:02 GMT]
“Normalcy is yet to be restored in Jaffna despite the Sri Lankan government appointing new military commanders for the peninsula," said Mr. Semmanan, the deputy leader of the LTTE’s political division in Jaffna, speaking to the press at the conclusion of a meeting with the Sri Lanka army and Police at the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in the northern town Friday. “We positively assured the Sri Lankan armed forces’ delegation that nobody in the LTTE had ever threatened to bring harm to the person of Maj. Gen. Chandrapala," Mr. Semmanan said.

Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala, the new Sri Lankan armed forces commander for Jaffna, led delegation of military and Police officers who took part in the meeting.

The LTTE delegation urged the Sri Lankan armed forces to allow the people of Jaffna to lead normal lives and to freely ply their trades by leaving schools, homes and temples which they continue to occupy in the peninsula.

The Sri Lankan armed forces delegation said they would do whatever is possible to restore normalcy in the war ravaged northern peninsula.