Sri Lanka rejects West 'lectures' - Lesson for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal

[idune]

Sri Lanka rejects West 'lectures'

Mahinda Rajapaksa: It is my duty to protect the people
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has again ruled out a ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels and says the West should not lecture him about it.

He was speaking a day after visiting UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French counterpart Bernard Kouchner had called for a truce.

Mr Rajapaksa said the rebels still had "a little time left" to surrender.
He said foreign envoys should not preach about civilian welfare or believe "the propaganda of terrorists".
The Sri Lankan military has restricted Tamil Tiger rebels to a 10 sq km (6 sq miles) area of land in the north and believes it is close to defeating them.
See a map of the region
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the area or are in government-run camps for displaced people.
'Winning the peace'

Mr Rajapaksa said: "We have no plans to go for a ceasefire with the Tigers, but they have a little time left to drop their weapons and surrender even though our military operation is at a final stage."
Mr Rajapaksa said foreign envoys were "trying to preach to us about civilians".

"We have seen how Afghanistan is bombed. Those who come to preach to us [have] seen how Afghanistan is bombed. It must be made clear that before accusing others, you must have the strength to know what you do yourself," he said.

The French and UK envoys had called for a truce
"It is my duty to protect the people of this country. I don't need lectures from Western representatives." The UN and EU have persistently called for a ceasefire and expressed concern at civilian deaths. The Sri Lankan government this week said it had stopped using heavy weapons in the conflict zone but the Tamil Tigers say artillery and air attacks are continuing.

Mr Rajapaksa said: "If I say we don't use heavy weapons, that means we don't. But these foreign envoys are prepared to believe the propaganda of a terrorist organisation."The pro-rebel TamilNet website said the UK and French mission had "failed" and the Tigers were expecting "the worst phase of massacre any time soon".
A Tamil Tiger representative, Puleedevan, saying he was speaking from the war zone, told the BBC's Charles Haviland that the rebels would not surrender until they had - as he put it - safeguarded the "legitimate rights" of Tamils, rights which, he said, were all denied to them.

On Wednesday, Mr Miliband said: "Now is the time for the fighting to stop. Sri Lanka's military advances have been spectacular, but winning the peace is as vital as winning the war." He repeated his call for a truce when speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, saying the Sri Lankan government should "give unhindered access to the UN and other aid agencies to provide much needed relief to tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting".

The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since 1983. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war, but that figure could now be far higher.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8026639.stmS

 

[idune]

Sweden FM denied Sri Lanka entry

Sri Lanka has refused entry to Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Mr Bildt was to have taken part in a European diplomatic mission. He is recalling Sweden's top diplomat in Sri Lanka for consultation. The UK's David Miliband and France's Bernard Kouchner will still go on the mission, which is expected to push for a truce between the army and rebels.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said this was not a snub and it could only cope with so many high-level delegations. Sri Lanka has had tense relations with the Scandinavian former monitors of its peace process but its main problems have been with the major ex-mediator, Norway. Mr Miliband and Mr Kouchner are both expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Ceasefire pressure
Mr Bildt told the BBC: "They have said I am not welcome at this particular period of time - they were saying that they can't handle too many people. "There must be some sort of reason but it has to be a rather odd one." Mr Bildt said he was recalling the Swedish ambassador in Sri Lanka for consultation, adding that Sri Lanka did "not seem to be too interested" in its relationship with Sweden at the moment.

However, he insisted it was right for the mission to continue. "Even if only one of us were able to go it would be worth it because we really need to try to pressure everyone to allow international access [to civilians]."

The UN's John Holmes has visited civilian camps in Vavuniya Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said the Sri Lankan move was "a grave mistake... which will of course have repercussions in Europe". Sri Lanka has tried to play down the incident. Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told Reuters: "We have not rejected the Swedish foreign minister. He has been invited to come here next week because we are just overwhelmed at the moment with all these visitors."

He said of possible repercussions: "Mature governments and institutions should not deal with each other based on threats." The BBC's Charles Haviland says officials in Colombo are calling this a "non-issue" but he says the diplomatic spat is a symptom of tension between EU countries and Sri Lanka. EU foreign ministers on Monday joined the UN in calling for a ceasefire in the north-east, where the army is battling the rebels. Diplomatic efforts to bring more help for the civilians in the war zone have so far made little progress.

The United Nations top humanitarian envoy, John Holmes, said on Monday that he had failed to secure agreement from the government on access to civilians.
The Sri Lankan military has restricted the rebels to a 12 sq km (5 sq m) area of land and believes final victory is near. On Monday the Sri Lankan government said it would stop using heavy weapons in the war zone and that its operations were drawing to a close.

However, a Tigers spokesman in the conflict zone, Puleedevan, told the BBC that troops had begun mortar, artillery and rocket fire early on Tuesday morning.
Speaking for the Sri Lankan army, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said no heavy weapons had been used. There is no way of confirming the reports as independent journalists are denied access to the war zone. The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since 1983.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war, but that figure could now be far higher.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sweden FM denied Sri Lanka entry

 

[PeacefulIndian]

Not treading the right path. The more belligerent you become, the more isolated as well.

 

[Sprint]

I do not understand why are people equating apples to oranges.....

Srilanka has no serious border desputes with any part of the world unlike nepal bangladesh and pakistan.

SL army is fighting the inland rebels and LTTE though banned organisation has not been involved in (this is open to correction) any terrorist activity outside srilanka except India (rajiv gandhi case).

Sweden practically has no diplometic levarage on srilanka so if the SL govt turned their back to Swedish ambessador, no big deal. Actually in a way it was a good face saving for Swedes t sell back in thier country. During early and mid 80s when sweds had negative population growth rate they invited people from all parts of the worlds and guess who came there in masses (tamils from srilanka), that is why sweden and norway are often the mediators between LTTE and srilanka govt.

Also it is not that srilanka doesnot come in pressure. India has done it so many times and so has other countries in the world. Remember although Prabhakaram is creation of India and has done enough harm to SL Sl govt is still ready to hand him over to India (though in my opinion India should keep the demand going but never realising it)

So friends match apples to apples...

 

[IceCold]

Maybe we do need to learn lessons from Sri-lanka. I don't know about BD or nepal, but we sure do. I wonder when will Zardari sb say the same or perhaps the PM.

 

[Rafael]

Maybe we do need to learn lessons from Sri-lanka. I don't know about BD or nepal, but we sure do. I wonder when will Zardari sb say the same or perhaps the PM.

Nah, you hve got to give credit where its due.

Recently, govt has taken some serious stance over some very important issues for example "giving blank cheque to US", Pakistani students saga and now its planning to raise the issue of afghan involvement in Pakitsan..


That is why I think US has started giving signals to NS.

 

[yh1]

Good! Carl Bildt is a conservative or right wing politician in Sweden. He was a messenger of EU when he had no job. The question about the relationship of West and Sri Lanka should be where the f'k they had been during decades of civil war in SL.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Maybe we do need to learn lessons from Sri-lanka. I don't know about BD or nepal, but we sure do. I wonder when will Zardari sb say the same or perhaps the PM.

Bangladesh has also to learn from Sri Lanka but not just stop listening to the West but India also. The West is a nuisance - India is a permanent problem which can only be removed like a cancer through painful surgery.

 

[roadrunner]

Good set of gonads shown by the Sri Lankan government, unlike the Pakistani government.

 

[IceCold]

Nah, you hve got to give credit where its due.

Recently, govt has taken some serious stance over some very important issues for example "giving blank cheque to US", Pakistani students saga and now its planning to raise the issue of afghan involvement in Pakitsan..


That is why I think US has started giving signals to NS.

Yes however there is still much to do specially in terms of saying no to the US.
The issue of the afghan involvement in Pakistan is something our government is down playing, telling alone the US won't do the trick, infact it will fall on deaf ears. It would be better if GOP raises the issues on all fronts not just that but the Indian involvement too. Here we have people like Rahman Malik who at one second will say India is involved and completely deny on the second.

 

[luoshan]

'China backing cause of Lanka defiance'

LONDON: The Sri Lankan government has been able to disregard international concern over its civil war with Tamils because of financial and military backing by China, a senior former Indian intelligence official was quoted saying Saturday. The Times newspaper said China has replaced Japan as Sri Lanka's biggest foreign donor giving the island-nation nearly $1 billion last year.

"That's why Sri Lanka has been so dismissive of international criticism," B Raman of the Chennai Centre for China Studies, a former additional secretary in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency.

"It knows it can rely on support from China," he added. The Times said strategic experts believe a billion dollar commercial port that the Chinese are building in the southern Sri Lankan town of Hambantota will eventually become a base for its navy.

"Ever since Sri Lanka agreed to the construction plan, in March 2007, China has given it all the aid, arms and diplomatic support it needs to defeat the Tigers, without worrying about the West," the paper reported.

"China has cultivated ties with Sri Lanka for decades and became its biggest arms supplier in the 1990s, when India and Western governments refused to sell weapons to Colombo for use in the civil war. Beijing appears to have increased arms sales significantly to Sri Lanka since 2007, when the US suspended military aid over human rights issues," it said.

The Times said many US and Indian military planners regard the port as part of a "string of pearls" strategy under which China is also building or upgrading ports at Gwadar in Pakistan, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Myanmar.

 

[khanz]

sri lankans have balls unlike us gotta give it to em we def need to take a page out of their book

 

[ANDUBYLL]

Bangladesh has also to learn from Sri Lanka but not just stop listening to the West but India also. The West is a nuisance - India is a permanent problem which can only be removed like a cancer through painful surgery.

There is no cure for cancer. There would be respite for a few years, but sooner or later, cancer would devour the host body !
Yeh main nahi kaheta, kitabo mein likha hai yaro !

 

[Goodperson]

Bangladesh has also to learn from Sri Lanka but not just stop listening to the West but India also. The West is a nuisance - India is a permanent problem which can only be removed like a cancer through painful surgery.

off topic reply to off topic post

Talk sensibly, Cancerous part is small or part of the body cannot be bigger than the body by your logic if you perform surgery than Bangladesh will drift into Bay of Bengal and Surgery cannot be painful to India.

 

[idune]

indian trolling has begun.....

One things has to be made clear that before rejecting UK and EU lecture, SriLanka had rejected indian lecture. UK and EU stepped in once indian lecture failed to do the job.

There is no telling how indian bully and interference are more dangerous to Bangladesh than western one. Unable to achieve hegemonic goals in South Asia (SA) over last 6 decades, india had signed up for strategic partnership and invited western powers to do indian dirty job; dirty job in exchange for indian participation in countering and encircling China.

This could not be more obvious over the last few weeks of indo-western activities over SriLanka. Furious with rejection UK and western media already in propaganda campaign. Source of their propaganda are rag tag so called indian think tank, ex RAW officials and indian media outlets. So in SA context, yes, western lecture is more than related to indian bully.

But US and western countries failed to realize that at the end india will not be able and willing to deliver what they want from india. As goes with indian trait, indian goal always would be to use US and western power but not become used. And being indian tool to establish its hegemony over smaller SA countries US and western power will permanently damage their standing and interest in the region.