No question of Indian involvement, Colombo tells Islamabad
B. Muralidhar Reddy
It seeks independent enquiry into Lahore attack
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has officially conveyed to Pakistan that there is absolutely no reason to suspect any Indian involvement in the Lahore terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on Tuesday. It has asked for an independent enquiry to get to the truth behind the horrific incident.
According to informed official sources, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogolollagama told Pakistan’s top leaders during his talks in Islamabad on Wednesday: “India is fully with us. There is no question of it being involved in the terror attack.”
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was on a state visit to Nepal the day the Lahore attack took place, directed his Foreign Minister to rush to Islamabad to hold talks with Pakistani leaders. Mr. Bogolollagama was also asked to convey Sri Lanka’s condolences and deepest sympathies to the families of the Pakistani security officers and civilians killed in the attack.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani telephoned Mr. Rajapaksa in Kathmandu and profusely apologised to the people and the government of Sri Lanka for the harm caused to some members of the cricket team in the attack. They assured Mr. Rajapaksa that Islamabad was determined to combat terrorism and would work with the international community and Sri Lanka to defeat terrorism.
In response, Mr. Rajapaksa strongly condemned the Lahore attack and asserted that terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, should be countered with a firm resolve worldwide. The Sri Lankan President cut short his visit to Nepal by a day and returned to Colombo on Tuesday evening.
The impression within the Sri Lankan government, based on accounts from cricketers seated near the team bus driver, Mehar Mohammad Khalil, is that the primary objective of the terror attack might not have been to kill the Sri Lankan cricketers. Given the circumstances of the attack and the heavy weapons the terrorists had, they could have easily blown up the coach and the whole cricket team. The plan might have been to target the driver and kidnap the cricketers. But as things developed, some of the world’s best cricketers were in mortal danger and escaped fortuitously, with fairly minor injuries, thanks to the driver’s heroism.
Was the LTTE involved in the Lahore terror strike? While considering it unlikely, Colombo has not ruled out the possibility.
The Hindu : Front Page : No question of Indian involvement, Colombo tells Islamabad
