JVP wants Norway out of peace facilitator role

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 21:37 GMT]
"Norway is an accomplice to the Liberation Tigers in the LTTE's Nationalist struggle and fight for secession. We demand the Sri Lanka Government to relieve Norway from facilitator role," said Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) the Sinhala nationalist ally of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, in a memorandum sent to Colombo press Wednesday, sources in Colombo said. The memorandum was written in Sinhala.

Expressing satisfaction in the appointment of the Swedish Brigadier General Ulf Henricsson to head the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the JVP said, "Norway has not demonstrated sincerity in working towards sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. Instead, Norway is bent on strengthening the separatist motives of the Liberation Tigers. Although we applaud that Norwegian Government has been removed from leading the SLMM, we still have to maintain vigilance to ensure that the Swedish Government does not side with the Tigers.

"During the Sri Lanka Presidential elections, we agreed to work with Mahinda Rajapakse on condition that Norway should be removed from the peace process altogether. We demand that Sri Lanka Government take immediate steps to comply with the agreement," JVP's memorandum said.