Colombo, March 28: Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on Saturday appealed to the Tiger rebels "to free the civilians held hostage by them" to ensure their safety and said his forces were acting with extreme restraint by not targetting `no-fire` zones despite provocations.
"We appeal to the LTTE to free all civilians who are held
hostage by them so that they can go to safe areas and IDP
villages that are being maintained by the government," the
Presidential Secretariat said in a statement.
Rejecting reports that have accused the government of
acting recklessly and failing to protect civilians, Rajapaksa
said Sri Lankan forces do not fire any artillery or heavy
weaponry into the safe zones where civilians have gathered.
"If the allegations of indiscriminate attacks and
disregard for civilians were true, the Sri Lankan forces would
have overrun the LTTE and liberated the uncleared areas weeks
earlier," the release said.
Rajapaksa, during his meeting with representatives of 11
Tamil parties on Thursday told Tamil and Muslim members that
the armed forces are exercising maximum restraint in the
current phase of the humanitarian operation.
Terming the figure of 40 to 50 civilians deaths daily in
the Wanni an exaggeration, Rajapaksa speculated that the
rebels might be covering their cadres deaths by labelling them
as civilian casualties.
"It is not possible to state with any certainty that the
so-called civilian casualties are not in fact LTTE cadres who
have been killed or injured in combat," Rajapaksa said.
The LTTE`s reticence to issue numbers of cadres killed
and injured gives credence to the assertion that some of the
so called "civilians" are in fact fighting cadres, Rajapaksa
said.
The Presidential secretariat said that Rajapaksa was
clear in his intention to restore democracy to the Northern
Province, just as civil administration has been restored in
the East.
He also informed the Tamil and Muslim party leaders that
it was his intention to conduct local government polls in the
Jaffna peninsula as early as possible, while assuring them of
his willingness to consider the possibility of holding local
polls in the Vavuniya District.
Bureau Report
