Monday 28 February 2011

U.S. and Allies Weigh Libya No-Fly Zone

* “There hasn’t been discussion that I’m aware of related to military intervention beyond that, and a discussion of that nature would have to begin at the U.N.,” a senior administration official said. But, the official added, “I wouldn’t say we’ve ruled anything out, either.”

* But the(Italys) treaty{with Libya) also contains a nonaggression clause that some analysts said complicated Italy’s position in the event of international military intervention in Libya. In it, Italy pledges not to use “direct or indirect” military force against Libya, or to allow the use of its territory “in any hostile act against Libya.”



* An Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Maurizio Massari, noted that Italy had suspended the treaty, not revoked it, and would evaluate how to proceed as the conflict in Libya evolved.

* “We signed the friendship treaty with a state, but when the counterpart no longer exists — in this case the Libyan state — the treaty cannot be applied,” Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said Sunday in a television interview.

* There are several United States and NATO bases in Italy that presumably would be staging areas for any action against Libya, including the United States Sixth Fleet base near Naples.


=====================================================
U.S. and Allies Weigh Libya No-Fly Zone

By JOHN M. BRODER
The New York Times February 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials held talks on Sunday with European and other allied governments as they readied plans for the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent further killings of civilians by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Further increasing international pressure on Colonel Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, Italy suspended a 2008 treaty with Libya that includes a nonaggression clause, a move that could allow it to take part in future peacekeeping operations in Libya or enable the use of its military bases in any possible intervention.

“We signed the friendship treaty with a state, but when the counterpart no longer exists — in this case the Libyan state — the treaty cannot be applied,” Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said Sunday in a television interview.

White House, State Department and Pentagon officials held talks with their European and NATO counterparts about how to proceed in imposing flight restrictions over Libya. A senior administration official said Sunday that no decision had been made, and expressed caution that any decision on a no-fly zone would have to be made in consultations with allies.

A diplomat at the United Nations said that any such action would require further debate among the 15 nations of the Security Council, which was unlikely to act unless there was a significant increase in state-sponsored violence in Libya, including the use of aircraft against civilians.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, was scheduled to meet with President Obama on Monday afternoon at the White House to discuss the deteriorating situation in Libya.

Obama administration officials said Sunday that they were also discussing whether the American military could disrupt communications to prevent Colonel Qaddafi from broadcasting in Libya. In addition, the administration was looking at whether the military could be used to set up a corridor in neighboring Tunisia or Egypt to assist refugees.

“There hasn’t been discussion that I’m aware of related to military intervention beyond that, and a discussion of that nature would have to begin at the U.N.,” a senior administration official said. But, the official added, “I wouldn’t say we’ve ruled anything out, either.”

Italy’s treaty with Libya, signed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in August 2008, calls on Italy to pay Libya $5 billion over 20 years in reparations for its colonial past there. In return, Libya pledged to help block the flow of illegal immigrants to Italy and grant favorable treatment for Italian companies seeking to do business in Libya.

But the treaty also contains a nonaggression clause that some analysts said complicated Italy’s position in the event of international military intervention in Libya. In it, Italy pledges not to use “direct or indirect” military force against Libya, or to allow the use of its territory “in any hostile act against Libya.”

There are several United States and NATO bases in Italy that presumably would be staging areas for any action against Libya, including the United States Sixth Fleet base near Naples. After the treaty was signed, Italy had to explain to NATO that it would respect its multilateral international treaties.

An Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Maurizio Massari, noted that Italy had suspended the treaty, not revoked it, and would evaluate how to proceed as the conflict in Libya evolved.

At the United Nations, there was no formal discussion about Libya on Sunday, as diplomats weighed possible next steps and digested the Security Council resolutions passed Saturday night that imposed an arms embargo and economic sanctions on Libya.

An American official, who discussed United Nations deliberations on the condition that he not be identified, said the Security Council had moved more quickly on Libya than on almost any issue in recent years. The body is poised to take further steps, if warranted, like “a rapid deterioration, a significant uptick in violence,” he said. “In terms of big ideas like a no-fly zone, if the international community is ready, and there is a need to impose a no-fly zone or authorize use of force, that would require another whole debate and resolution.”

Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington, and Rachel Donadio from Rome.

UN: Why Libya? Why not Sri Lanka?

லிபியாவில் அமெரிக்கத் தலையீட்டிற்கு தயாரிப்புச் செய்யும் ஐ.நா.சபை!

லிபியாவில் கடாபி எதிர்ப்பு வன்முறைக் கிளர்ச்சியை ’ஆதரிக்கும்’ ஏகாதிபத்தியவாதிகள்!

These are some shots that show the types of weapons used against the battalion in the city of Misurata. Sent in through Sharek, Al Jazeera's citizen journalist portal.



A defected army officer teaches the use of an anti-aircraft gun to civilians who have volunteered to join the rebel army in Benghazi February 27, 2011. The rebel army is preparing to fight Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Tripoli if necessary, an official in the rebel army said. Via Reuters.

UN Refers Libya to the ICC
Libya 27-02-2011.Timestamp: 10:20pm
Media advisory issued by the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) - a civil society network in 150 countries advocating for a fair, effective and independent ICC and improved access to justice for victims of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – issued in relation to the referral by the Security Council of the United Nations (UNSC) of the situation in Libya to the ICC.
Sri Lanka commends EU decision to re-list LTTE ban .
Ban on the terrorist outfit
27 February 2011 11:56
Sri Lanka today welcommed the European Union’s (EU) decision to re-list the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a banned terror outfit. The EU’s decision came after a comprehensive review of listed terrorist groups. Government sources said the EU’s decision show’s its commitment to eliminate international terrorism and that Sri Lanka would extend its fullest support in this endeavour

The EU’s announcement was made through Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 83/2011 of 31 January 2011, published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The EU terrorist listings made in terms of article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism, proscribes organizations listed operating in EU member countries and freezes their assets.

The LTTE is re-listed among 26 Groups and Entities, on the determination that they “have been involved in terrorist acts within the eaning of Article 1(2) and (3) of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, that a decision has been taken with respect to them by a competent authority within the meaning of Article 1(4) of that Common Position, and that they should continue to be subject to the specific restrictive measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001.”

Saturday 26 February 2011

Find a new global financial order says President Rajapaksa


Post-Global Financial Crisis: Find a new global financial order says President Rajapaksa
By Janaka Alahapperuma
Info Lanka News

The global economic crisis taught the world many lessons. Those lessons varied across nations. But all countries learnt common as well as individual lessons, from this crisis. In general, the crisis left behind, a trail of serious damage across nations and shook the very foundations of the financial structure of the world. However, historians would record that Asian economies came out of this painful era in better shape than their western counterparts. President Mahinda Rajapaksa made these observations addressing the 49th South East Asian Central Bank Governors’ (SEACEN) Conference which was held in Colombo (today) on 25 February.

In his inaugural speech President Rajapaksa said a lot of attention has been paid to regulate and supervise financial institutions which are considered to be too big to fail. Since the fall of major global financial institutions, they have damaged the international financial structure in a permanent manner. By the same token, it is also necessary for the worldwide financial community to focus upon the management of economies that have a global impact, and therefore have become too big to fail. We all know that certain national economies are so large and wide, their financial well-being is vital for the global economic health. In that context, it is essential that such globally influential economies should act in globally responsible manner, so as to not place themselves and indeed others, with whom they have dealings, in danger, he further added.

President Rajapaksa said the SEACEN group has become a highly influential group in the world economy today and underlined the necessity to have a coordinated approach in consultation with multi lateral institutions and other key players rather than unilateral intervention on the part of a single nation. Commenting on the theme of the conference - "Post-Global Financial Crisis: Issues and Challenges for Central Banks of Emerging Markets", the President said the blatant application of double standards; the obvious policy contradictions and inconsistencies; the stubbornness of large economies to face realities; the unfortunate attempts to politicize multi-lateral financial organizations; and the lethargy in handling urgently needed financial bail-outs, will probably surface as distinct causes that aggravated the crisis.

Deputy Minister of the Finance and Planning Geethanjana Gunawardena, Governor of Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Deputy Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Naoyuki Shinohara, Governor National Bank of Cambodia Dr. Chea Chanto were also present.

Following is the full text of the Address made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa:

Your Excellencies, Governors, ladies and gentlemen,

At the outset, let me thank the Board of Governors of SEACEN for inviting me to inaugurate the 46th SEACEN Governors’ Conference and High Level Seminar. It is indeed a pleasure and privilege for me to do so, and I must thank all of you for selecting Sri Lanka as your host country for this most important event. I see your presence here today as a celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and as an acknowledgement of the elimination of terrorism from our midst. In this background, we do hope you have an excellent conference and fruitful meetings so that you may carry wonderful memories of our people’s progress, ability and friendship.

It is clear that the SEACEN group has become a highly influential group in the world economy today. With the very recent entry of the People’s Bank of China to this group, it has further strengthened its reach and impact across the world, and I believe SEACEN’s voice would now be even stronger.

My dear Governors, you have selected “Post-Global Financial Crisis: Issues and Challenges for Central Banks of Emerging Markets” as the theme for your deliberation at this year’s Board of Governors’ Conference. As we all know, the serious studies that have taken place on this broad topic among many central bankers, economic stakeholders, analysts and others have been extensive and wide. I believe the main reason for such in-depth attention on the subject has been that, almost all nations have suffered immensely through the crisis. Many would also carry the scars of this massive financial disaster, for many years to come.

At the same time, historians would record that Asian economies came out of this painful era in better shape than their western counterparts. Perhaps the Asian crisis in the late 90s and the subsequent counter measures implemented by the Asian economies enabled them to develop the resilience, strength and wisdom to face the new crisis in an appropriate manner. This ground reality then suggests that a better prepared country with sound macro-economic fundamentals and a strong financial system would be able to face shocks in a more successful manner, than those who may be less prepared.

My dear friends, the global economic crisis taught us many lessons. The lessons varied across nations. But all countries learnt common as well as individual lessons, from this crisis. In general, the crisis left behind, a trail of serious damage across nations and shook the very foundations of the financial structure of the world. It is therefore, clear that if we are to safeguard the world economy in the future, we would need to build a new financial order and a model that will better equip us to face crises of this nature.

In this endeavour, a lot of attention has been paid to regulate and supervise financial institutions which are considered to be “too big to fail”. This is indeed commendable, since the fall of major global financial institutions damages the international financial structure in a permanent manner. By the same token, it is also necessary for the worldwide financial community to focus upon the management of economies that have a global impact, and therefore have become “too big to fail”. We all know that certain national economies are so large and wide, their financial well-being is vital for the global economic health. In that context, it is essential that such globally influential economies should act in globally responsible manner, so as to not place themselves and indeed others, with whom they have dealings, in danger.

We may perhaps reflect on a recent case study which illustrates this position clearly.

Of late, many economic analysts have pointed out as to how the world has been anxiously watching while massive quantities of new money were injected by certain advanced nations into their economy, and through such infusion, into the entire world. It is widely expected that such infusion, while possibly stimulating growth and employment within the issuing nation, would have a massive negative impact on the rest of the world in time to come. Hence, they argue that it may have been more appropriate, if such intervention was done in consultation with multi-lateral institutions and other key players. It would have ensured that a coordinated approach could have been agreed upon, rather than being a unilateral intervention on the part of a single nation. A similar approach in relation to currency values, trade practices, country bail-outs and other structural interventions are also being advocated for the greater health of the world economy.

Your Excellencies, my dear Governors, a deep study of the crisis would reveal many defects and inconsistencies in the world economic system. The blatant application of double standards; the obvious policy contradictions and inconsistencies; the stubbornness of large economies to face realities; the unfortunate attempts to politicize multi-lateral financial organizations; and the lethargy in handling urgently needed financial bail-outs, will probably surface as distinct causes that aggravated the crisis.

We must also not be fooled into thinking that the crisis is now over. What we see at the moment is perhaps a relative calm in the world’s financial landscape, as a result of the interventions of multi-lateral organizations such as the IMF, many Governments and Central Banks. It is vital that this “calm” be made use of to implement sustainable and carefully thought-out policies to avoid a repeat of a similar or any other crisis. In my view, the highly eminent group of very senior leaders of multi-lateral institutions and influential Governors such as yourselves, would be the proper forum to deliberate such matters. The economic world therefore looks to you to propose a satisfactory way forward in the future, and we are very confident you will deliver.

My dear friends, at the end of World War 2, the IMF and the World Bank were created to safeguard the world economy and the economies of member countries in the event of an economic crisis, and to stimulate development. At the same time, nations created Central Banks in their respective countries as key financial and economic policy institutions to guide the respective countries towards stability and growth while dealing with shocks that may affect the economy. In that context, we welcome the recent efforts of the IMF to enhance the role of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as a major reserve asset, in order to enhance worldwide currency stability

The recent crises also taught us that existing global currencies in the SDR basket such as the US Dollar, Euro, Sterling and Yen were probably insufficient to play the role of reserve currency in turbulent times. The search for alternatives led to the price of gold and other commodities rising, creating a new set of challenges. In that scenario, we welcome the suggestion by the IMF of including emerging market currencies such as the Chinese Renminbi in the SDR basket. However, given the distinctive nature of emerging markets, which are still to reach near optimum levels of development, it may be wise to approach this issue without pre-conditions, so as to fast track these necessary reforms in the global financial architecture.

Your Excellencies, my dear Governors, it is very refreshing that we are all here in Colombo to search for ways to manage the current turmoil in the world economic environment in a sustainable manner. In order to be truly successful, we have to solve the economic problems of our people, who are our ultimate stakeholders. The people of our respective nations have entrusted their Governments with authority and resources to provide them with a safe economic environment where they can achieve their economic hopes and aspirations. When a country establishes a Central Bank, the people transfer a significant part of that duty and responsibility to you as well. Accordingly, as Governors, you are also responsible to the people of your respective countries.

At the same time, when sovereign nations subscribe to the collective objectives of a multi-lateral financial institution that pledges to maintain global economic and financial stability, a part of the sacred trust of billions of human beings, pass onto those multi-lateral institutions as well. Hence, such organizations too, shoulder a great responsibility towards the billions of people who indirectly rely upon them to make the right decisions to improve their lives. We all know that within these multi-lateral organizations whose decisions affect the entire world, those with a larger investment wield greater authority and power. Accordingly, in an indirect manner, the entire world places great trust in large powerful economies. Hence, it is perhaps time for the world economic community to remind such powerful economies that with such authority and rights, onerous duties and responsibilities also arise.

My dear friends, as the SEACEN group, it is our wish that you will be at the forefront to rebuild the world economy and proactively reform the international monetary system. Our region offers a wealth of experience and knowledge to the world. Let us get together and deliver upon the expectations placed upon us. Let us pledge to do all in our power to ensure that this world, with all its knowledge, technology and understanding, will never have to experience another economic crisis of this magnitude or nature again.

May the Blessings of the Noble Triple Gem, be with you always.

Thursday 24 February 2011

அம்மாவுக்கு அஞ்சலி!

மயானகாண்டம்

காடையன் டக்ளஸும் காட்டுமிராண்டி ராஜபக்ச ராணுவமும் பார்வதி அம்மா மயானத்தில் பாசிச வெறியாட்டம்.
ENB
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Occupying SL military desecrates ashes of Parvathi Amma
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 08:53 GMT]

The ashes of Parvathi Amma cremated Tuesday and waiting for ritual collection were desecrated by occupying SL military in Jaffna Tuesday night. Three dead dogs with gun shot injuries were put on the cremation spot and the ashes were scattered by running over the spot by military vehicles. Local people witnessed the movement of military vehicles in the location Tuesday night. Former TNA parliamentarian, Mr. MK Sivajilingam, guardian to the interests of Parvathi Amma, came out with strong condemnation of the desecration.
In Saiva tradition, the ashes are ritually collected the day following the cremation, to dissolve them in waters such as sea, river etc.
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தமிழீழ தேசத்தின் தேசிய அன்னையின் அஸ்தி இனந்தெரியாதோரால் நாசம்


பார்வதியம்மாளின் அஸ்தி நேற்று இரவு இனந்தெரியாதோரால் மிகவும் கேவலமான முறையில் நாசமாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அவரை எரியூட்டிய இடத்தில் நாய்களை சுட்டுப் போட்டதுடன் அவரது அஸ்தியும் தாறுமாறாக அள்ளி வீசப்பட்டிருந்தது.

இதுகுறித்து மேலும் தெரியவருவதாவது,

நேற்று மாலை பார்வதியம்மாளின் பூதவுடல் அஞ்சலி நிகழ்வுக்குப்பின்னர் ஊறணி மயானத்தில் தகனம் செய்யப்பட்டது. இரவு 7 மணிக்குப்பின்னர் அங்கு கூடியிருந்த மக்கள் கலைந்து சென்றனர். இன்று காலை மயானத்துக்குச் சென்று பார்த்தவேளை அவரது அஸ்தி எரியூட்டப்பட்ட இடத்தில் இருந்து அள்ளி தாறுமாறாக வீசப்பட்டிருந்தது. அத்துடன் மூன்று நாய்கள் சுடப்பட்டு அரைகுறையாக எரிக்கப்பட்ட நிலையில் அவரது அஸ்தியுடன் போடப்பட்டும் இருந்தது.

அதேவேளை நேற்று மாலை மயானத்திற்கு வந்த சிலர் இறுதிக்கிரியைகளை நடத்திய ஐயர் யார் என சிங்களத்தில் மிரட்டும் தொனியில் விசாரித்திதாகவும் தெரிவிக்கப்படுகிறது

பதிவு Feb 23, 2011 / பகுதி: முக்கியச் செய்தி

Sunday 20 February 2011

பூக்களின் பூஜை

தாய் நிலத்தைக் காதலிக்கக் கற்றுக்கொள்!

பெற்றதாய் சுமந்தது பத்துமாதம்
நிலம் சுமப்பதோ நீண்டகாலம்.
அன்னை மடியிலிருந்து கீழிறங்கி
அடுத்த அடியை நீ வைத்தது
தாயகத்தின் நெஞ்சில் தானே.
இறுதியில் புதைந்தோ
அல்லது எரிந்தோ எருவானதும்
தாய்நிலத்தின் மடியில்தானே.
நிலமிழந்துபோனால் பலமிழந்துபோகும்
பலமிழந்துபோனால் இனம் அழிந்துபோகும் 
ஆதலால் மானுடனே!
தாய்நிலத்தைக் காதலிக்கக் கற்றுக்கொள்.

புலவன்:புதுவை இரத்தினதுரை

பூவரசம் வேலியும் புலினிக் குஞ்சுகளும் பக்கம் 88

அம்மாவின் இறுதிக்கிரிகை பற்றிய தகவல்கள்

ஒரு கொடியேற்றுவோம், ஒருதாய் மக்கள் நாம் என்போம்!

பருத்தித்துறை நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதியை நேரில் சென்று மிரட்டிய இந்திய தூதரக அதிகாரி!

பருத்தித்துறை நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதியை நேரில் சென்று மிரட்டிய இந்திய தூதரக அதிகாரி!


சிறீலங்கா அரச படைகளினால் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட தமிழக மீனவர்களை விடுவிக்கவேண்டும் என பருத்தித்துறை நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதியை யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் உள்ள இந்திய தூதரக அலுவலக அதிகாரி நேரில் சென்று மிரட்டியதாக யாழ் தகவல்கள் தெரிவித்துள்ளன. இது தொடர்பில் அவை மேலும் தெரிவித்துள்ளதாவது: சிறீலங்கா கடற்படையினரால் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட 112 மீனவர்களுக்கும் எதிர்வரும் 28 ஆம் நாள் வரை தடுப்புக்காவல் உத்தரவை பருத்தித்துறை பகுதி நீதிமன்றம் விதித்திருந்தது.

இதனை தொடர்ந்து தமிழகத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட பெரும் கொந்தளிப்பினால் இந்திய மத்திய அரசு அவசர நடவடிக்கையை மேற்கொள்ளும் நிலைக்கு தள்ளப்பட்டிருந்தது. இந்திய வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சர் எஸ் எம் கிருஸ்ணா, சிறீலங்கா வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சரை தொலைபேசியில் மிரட்டிய அதே சமயம், யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் உள்ள இந்திய துணைத்தூதரக அதிகாரி மகாலிங்கம் என்பவர் கடந்த வியாழக்கிழமை (17) பருத்தித்துறை பகுதி நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதி சிறீநிதி நந்தசேகரனின் இல்லத்திற்கு சென்று மீனவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுவிக்க வேண்டும் என எச்சரித்துள்ளார்.

எனினும் தமிழகத்தில் நடைபெறவுள்ள சட்டசபை தேர்தலை முன்னிட்டு, இந்தியாவின் அழுத்தம் அதிகாரிக்க கொழும்பு மாவட்ட பிரதம நீதிபதி இந்த விடயத்தில் தலையிட்டு மீனவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுதலை செய்துள்ளார் என அவை மேலும் தெரிவித்துள்ளன. இதனிடையே, சிறீலங்கா கடற்படையினரின் பாதுகாப்புடன் அழைத்துச் செல்லப்பட்ட தமிழக மீனவர்களை இந்திய கடற்படையின் உயர்மட்ட அதிகாரி ஒருவரே வந்து பொறுப்பேற்று சென்றுள்ளதாக தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.

Feb 19, 2011 / பகுதி: செய்தி பதிவு

தேசியத் தாயார் பார்வதி அம்மா காலமானார்.


தேசியத் தாயார் பார்வதி அம்மா அவர்கள் தமிழீழ நேரப்படி 20.02.2011 அன்று அதிகாலை 6.30 மணியளவில் காலமானார்.தமிமீழத் தேசியக் கொடியை அரைக் கம்பத்தில் பறக்கவிட்டு அன்னாருக்கு தேசிய அஞ்சலி செலுத்துமாறு புலம் பெயர் வாழ் தமிழர்களை வேண்டிக் கொள்கின்றோம்.


“I do not know why Kalaignar Aiya [Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi] sent me back,” Parvathi Amma, who was admitted to Valveddiththu’rai (VVT) hospital told TamilNet in May 2010.

=== புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள். ===

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Lanka rejects Sudan-type referendum, highlights disparity in situations

1977  இல் நடந்த வாக்கெடுப்புக்கு பதில் என்ன?
1985  திம்புக்கோரிக்கைகளுக்கு பதில் என்ன?

Lanka rejects Sudan-type referendum, highlights disparity in situations

February 14, 2011, 9:47 pm
By Shamindra Ferdinando

Responding to ongoing efforts by overseas LTTE activists to have a referendum in Sri Lanka like the recent one in Sudan, the Sri Lankan government says those supporting the move have conveniently ignored the vast difference in the two situations.

Former Secretary General of the SCOPP (Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha told The Island that the move to demand a referendum in Sri Lanka revealed total ignorance of both history and political principles. He said: "In Sudan you had a situation, in which not only did the writ of the government not run in some areas, but also the administration was not able to supply basic services to people in those areas."

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) led by one-time LTTE legal chief V. Rudrakumaran and some pro-LTTE NGOs want the UN to pressure Sri Lanka to agree to a referendum.

MP Wijesinha said that the government, throughout the conflict, had provided services in all provinces, health and education for instance, including in the limited areas controlled by terrorists. "Successive government the whole time paid the salaries of and issued instructions to public servants in those areas, and they communicated with and travelled regularly to meetings in the rest of the country. Significantly, though such public servants were under tremendous pressure, they continued to work loyally, and the Government Agents affected for instance continue in service with appropriate promotions."

The MP went on to say: "Sadly this was not well known outside Sri Lanka, and a former French Ambassador for instance, who was one of the most positive European envoys in the period when many were under terrorist influence, told us he had been surprised to find how much we continued to do for people in the areas under terrorist control. The impression sought to have been created in Paris was quite otherwise. Significantly a senior member of the UN, which had also been trying to control assistance programmes, but soon learned that government should take decisions albeit happy to receive advice and support, told me that many people coming to Sri Lanka were in error, thinking that we were a country like Sudan, but they had soon learnt the truth."

"I cannot comment on whether particular attitudes contributed to making the situation in Sudan worse, but I am glad we were able to clarify things here and also get rid of the terrorism that was preventing us from serving all our people well. Naturally those who still espouse separatism will continue to try to disrupt the services we provide, and will not care about making people suffer as they pursue their own ends. I hope they will not be encouraged."

قمع مسيرة سلمية في البحرين - الديه يوم الغضب 14 فبراير 2011

Monday 14 February 2011

Middle East and North Africa rocked by protests.

Middle East and North Africa rocked by protests

Shock waves from the ouster of presidents in Tunisia and Egypt continued to roll across North Africa and the Middle East on Monday, with peoples long subject to autocratic rule demanding to be heard.
Despite many states cautiously welcoming the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, their own populations have been seized by the momentum and are demanding greater freedoms and reform.

Following is a breakdown of events, both current and planned, in the Arabic-speaking world and in Iran.

ALGERIA:
Opposition leaders planned a second protest march in the capital despite a long-standing ban on demonstrations, and France called on Algiers to allow anti-government protests to take place freely and without violence.

BAHRAIN:
Bahraini police used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in the eastern village of Nuwaidrat, as security forces deployed in the tiny Gulf kingdom following Facebook calls for a February 14 "revolt."
EGYPT:
The new military regime called on workers to end a wave of strikes and civil disobedience that has threatened to paralyse the country in the wake of the fall of Hosni Mubarak's government.
IRAN:
Thousands of defiant Iranian opposition supporters in Tehran staged what they said was a rally supporting Arab revolts as riot police fired tear gas and paint balls to disperse them, witnesses and opposition websites said.
IRAQ:
Baghdad will on March 29 host its first annual Arab summit since the US-led of invasion of 2003, in the wake of popular uprisings that transformed the political landscape of the volatile but long autocratic region.
JORDAN:
Justice Minister Hussein Mujalli joins a sit-in held by trade unions and describes a Jordanian soldier serving a life sentence for killing Israeli schoolgirls in 1997 as a "hero," demanding his release.
LIBYA:
Facebook groups numbering several hundred members have called for demonstrations to mark a "day of rage" in Libya on February 17 modelled on similar protests in other Arab countries.
MOROCCO:
Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi was to meet the opposition to discuss parliamentary polls, with the impact of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia weighing heavily on the talks.
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES:
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas reappointed Salam Fayyad as premier and tasked him with forming a new government after his cabinet resigned.
SYRIA:
Woman blogger Tal al-Mallouhi, 19, gets five years in prison after being found guilty by a security court of "divulging information to a foreign country." Her blog focuses on the Palestinians, not Syrian politics.
TUNISIA:
The country marked a month since the overthrow of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
YEMEN:
Pro-democracy protesters clashed violently with police and supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with clashes also reported in Taez south of the capital, where thousands of people joined anti-Saleh demonstrations.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Young boy leads chants at Feb. 5, 2011 solidarity rally for democracy in...

Where is the next upheaval?

Where is the next upheaval?
The shoe-thrower's index The Economist

Feb 10th 2011  from PRINT EDITION

BY PUTTING together a number of indicators that we believe feed unrest,and ascribing different weights to them, we have come up with a chart of Arab countries’ vulnerability to revolution. Some factors are hard to quantify and are therefore discounted; the data on unemployment, for example, were too spotty to compare. The chart below is the result of ascribing a weighting of 35% to the share of the population that is under 25; 15% to the number of years the government has been in power; 15% to both corruption and lackofdemocracy indices; 10% for GDP per person; 5% for an index of censorship and 5% for the absolute number of people younger than 25.

Saturday 12 February 2011

PFLP: Egypt's revolution brings an end to the era of Camp David

PFLP: Egypt's revolution brings an end to the era of Camp David


Comrade Abu Ahmad Fuad, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said on February 11, 2011 that the Egyptian people have changed the course of history in the region through their revolution, and expressed his confidence that the Egyptian people would see their revolution through to completion.

In an interview with Ajras al-Awda, Comrade Fuad said that "We know that there are still battles to be fought, we know that the revolution is far from complete, we know that there are many forces still trying to make sense of the revolution, and we know that there is much time to come to congratulate each other; nonetheless, we warmly congratulate the great Egyptian people and declare that we stand with them until they achieve all of their demands."

The fall of the regime and the departure of the dictator Hosni Mubarak make us confident that the revolution will be completed, said Comrade Fuad, and we trust that the revolutionary people will not stop until all of their aims are achieved. "The people of Egypt have paid a great price for their freedom and the freedom of their nation," he said. "They accomplished the departure of the tyrant, whose hands were covered with the blood of the Egyptian people, whose coffers were filled with their looted wealth."

Comrade Fuad emphasized that the challenge, and the struggle of the Egyptian people in the post-Mubarak era is rebuilding Egypt, and returning Egypt to the center of an Arab nation eager to welcome Egypt's enhanced role, long lacking due to the natural result of years of the rule of tyrants.

He said that, looking towards Egypt, one could not help to be confident that Egypt would rise, and that Egypt's people are confirming with every action that they will continue until victory. He called for trials and accountability of all of those who looted, plundered and victimized Egypt for years, yet failed to suppress its people's dignity and commitment to rights and freedom.

Furthermore, said Comrade Fuad, "We are convinced, as we have always been, that the Egyptian people have created a shift in the history of the region; in fact, in world history. Egypt is the heart of the world, and the revolution pulses like an engine through its veins. The people of Egypt knew that their country had become junior partners with U.S. imperialism and Zionism, the very forces who were behind all of the disasters which befell Egypt and the Arab nation. We know that this is a big step towards returning the Palestinian issue back on the correct path to total liberation."

He concluded his remarks by expressing his salutes to the Egyptian people, who have returned the Arab nation to life, to dignity and the road to liberation.

Furthermore, the Press Office of the PFLP issued a statement, congratulating the people of Egypt and the Arab nation for their victory against tyranny and subjugation, and saying that "the victory of the great Egyptian revolution is also a victory for the Palestinian cause and the Arab nation as a whole."

The statement continued by noting that "the people of Egypt will be able to achieve the full objectives of their revolution for freedom, democracy and independence, and they will end the era of Camp David and restore Egypt's historically significant role. The fall of tyranny and subordination in Egypt, in the form of the despotic
regime of Hosni Mubarak, is a result of the steadfastness of Egypt's masses, and this historical revolution was triggered by the Egyptian youth and their free people.

The PFLP and all Arab people today welcome their victory that restores Egypt's leading role in the protection of Arab national security and the Palestinian cause." Said the statement, "The triumph of the Egyptian people's revolution is a turning point in the history of the Arab nation. It paves the way for the construction of a new Arab era with no room for the dominance of Zionism and imperialism or the subjugation of the capabilities of the Arab nation...These events in Egypt and the historic transformations to follow have direct consequences for the Palestinian cause and will help the Palestinian cause to end the Oslo agreements and its ensuing approach, and rebuild the Palestinian national movement."

Comrade Dr. Rabah Muhanna, member of the Political Bureau of the PFLP, said on February 11, 2011 in Gaza City that the victory of the revolution in Egypt and Tunisia and the wind of democratic change in the Arab world show that the Arab people collectively say no to tyranny, no to U.S. hegemony, and no to poverty. He noted the leading role of workers, youth and women in the Egyptian movement, saying that the revolution came as a result of decades of injustice and oppression. He stressed that the Palestinian people consider the Egyptian revolution and the fall of the subservient reactionary Arab regimes as an important step on the road to liberation.

Furthermore, Comrade Muhanna expressed that it is time for the Palestinian people - in the West Bank, Gaza, Occupied Palestine 48, in the refugee camps, and everywhere in exile and diaspora, to speak with one voice and say that the people want to end the division. He called on the Palestinian masses to act under the slogan "The people want to end the division," as a necessary step towards rebuilding the Palestinian liberation movement.
Source: PFLP (Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine) English Web.

தேசிய ஜனநாயகப் புயல்!

Palestine - Gaza ,Tunisia , Egypt, Algeria, Yeman , Bahrain ------------!?
Algeria protesters push for change


Pro-democracy demonstrators, inspired by the Egyptian revolution, ignore official ban and march in the capital Algiers.

Last Modified: 12 Feb 2011 20:56 GMT

Algerian security forces and pro-democracy protesters have clashed in the capital, Algiers, amid demonstrations inspired by the revolution in Egypt.

Heavily outnumbered by riot police, at least 2,000 protesters were able to overcome a security cordon enforced around the city's May First Square on Saturday, joining other demonstrators calling for reform.

Earlier, thousands of police in riot gear were in position to stop the demonstrations that could mimic the uprising which forced out Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's long-serving president.

Security forces closed all entrances to Algiers and arrested hundreds of protesters, sources told Al Jazeera.

Elias Filali, an Algerian blogger and activist, said human rights activists and syndicate members were among those arrested at the scene of the protests.

"I'm right in the middle of the march," he told Al Jazeera. "People are being arrested and are heavily guarded by the police."

Officials banned Saturday's opposition march but protesters were determined to see it through.

Peaceful protests

Filali said the demonstrators were determined to remain peaceful, but he claimed that the police "want the crowd to go violent and then get them portrayed as a violent crowd"

Protesters are demanding greater democratic freedoms, a change of government and more jobs.

Many demonstrators in Algeria have been inspired by the events unfolding in Egypt and Tunisia [AFP]

Earlier, police also charged at demonstrators and arrested 10 people outside the Algiers offices of the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), as they celebrated Mubarak's downfall, Said Sadi, RCD leader, told the AFP news agency.

"It wasn't even an organised demonstration. It was spontaneous. It was an explosion of joy," he said.

Mubarak's resignation on Friday, and last month's overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's president for 23 years, have electrified the Arab world.

Many are left wondering which country could be next in a region where a flammable mix of authoritarian rule and popular anger are the norm.

"The timing is absolutely perfect. [Mubarak's departure] couldn't have come at a better time," Filali told Al Jazeera in the run-up to the protests.

"This is a police state, just like the Egyptian regime [was]."

Filali said Algeria's government was "corrupt to the bone, based on electoral fraud, and repression".

"There is a lot of discontent among young people ... the country is badly managed by a corrupt regime that does not want to listen".

Police on alert Said Sadi, the RCD leader, had said earlier that he expected around 10,000 more police officers to reinforce the 20,000 who blocked the last demonstration on January 22, when five people were killed and more than 800 others hurt.

Police presence is routine in Algeria to counter the threat of attacks by al-Qaeda fighters. But Filali called the heavy police presence in the capital on Saturday "unbelievable".

At May First Square, the starting point for the planned march, there were around 40 police vans, jeeps and buses lined up, Filali said.

At several road junctions, the police had parked small military-style armoured vehicles which are rarely seen in the city. Police standing outside a fuel station, about 2km from the square, were wearing anti-riot body armour.

The latest rally is being organised by the National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD), a three-week-old umbrella group of opposition parties, civil society movements and unofficial unions inspired by the mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt.

Demonstrators have been protesting over the last few months against unemployment, high food costs, poor housing and corruption - similar issues that fuelled uprisings in other north African nations.

Earlier this month, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria's president, said he would lift emergency powers, address unemployment and allow democratic marches to take place in the country, in a bid to stave off unrest.

"The regime is frightened," Filali said. "And the presence of 30,000 police officers in the capital gives you an idea of how frightened the regime [is] of its people." Wider implications

Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the world economy because it is a major oil and gas exporter, but many analysts say an Egypt-style revolt is unlikely as the government can use its energy wealth to placate most grievances.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Amnesty International, the London-based rights group, said "Algerians must be allowed to express themselves freely and hold peaceful protests in Algiers and elsewhere".

"We urge the Algerian authorities not to respond to these demands by using excessive force".

The government said it refused permission for the rally for public order reasons, not because it is trying to stifle dissent. It said it is working hard to create jobs, build new homes and improve public services.

Other Arab countries have also felt the ripples from the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Jordan's King Abdullah replaced his prime minister after protests.

In Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh promised opponents he would not seek a new term as president.

The Bahraini government has also made several concessions in recent weeks, including promising higher social spending. Activists there have called for protests on February 14, the tenth anniversary of Bahrain's constitution.


Source: AlJazeera Agencies

A silent military coup behind Hosni Mubarak's exit

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi



A silent military coup behind Hosni Mubarak's exit
Associated Press
Cairo, February 12, 2011First Published: 13:07 IST(12/2/2011)

It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days - its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself. The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore order after days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and much of the rest of the Arab nation. "This is in fact the military taking over power," said political analyst Diaa Rashwan after Mubarak stepped down and left the reins of power to the armed forces. "It is direct involvement by the military in authority and to make Mubarak look like he has given up power."

Army troops backed by tanks and armored fighting vehicles were given a hero's welcome by the protesters angry over brutal treatment by the police. The goodwill was reciprocated when the military vowed not to use force against protesters, a move that set them apart from the much-hated police who operated with near impunity under Mubarak. The generals adopted a go-slow approach, offering Egyptians carefully weighed hints that it was calling the shots. They issued statements describing the protesters' demands as "legitimate" and made halfhearted calls on the demonstrators to go home and allow normal life to resume.

Rather than quit the protests, the demonstrators turned out in ever greater numbers. Mubarak offered one concession after another, but they all fell short of the protesters' demands that he immediately leave.

The military was clearly torn between its loyalty to the regime and the millions of protesters. Mubarak is one of their own, a former air force commander and a hero of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. But as the president continued to defy the growing crowds and cling to power, the Egyptian army moved more definitively toward seizing control for the first time in some 60 years. Thursday brought the surprise announcement that the armed forces' highest executive body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was in "permanent session" - meaning that it was on a war footing. State TV showed defense minister Hussein Tantawi presiding over a table seating some two dozen stern faced generals in combat fatigues - but no sign of commander in chief Mubarak. His newly appointed vice president, former army general and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, was not there either - indicating a rift between the civilian and military leadership.

A statement, tellingly referred to as "communique number 1" - phrasing that in the Arab world suggests a coup - made no mention of Mubarak or Suleiman.

The council, it said, met to "discuss what measures and arrangements could be taken to safeguard the homeland and its achievements and the aspirations of the great Egyptian people." Translation: The generals are in charge, not Mubarak, not Suleiman nor the Cabinet.

The communique set the stage for what the crowds of demonstrators expected would be Mubarak's resignation on Thursday night. Instead, Mubarak announced he would stay in office and hand over power to Suleiman, who told protesters to go home and stop watching foreign news reports.

The protesters were furious - and so were the generals. "Both of last night's addresses by Mubarak and Suleiman were in defiance of the armed forces," Maj Gen Safwat el-Zayat, a former senior official of Egypt's General Intelligence, told al-Ahram Online, the Internet edition of Egypt's leading daily, on Friday. Protest leaders pleaded for the military to take over after Mubarak's speech, saying the country would explode until the army intervened.

If Mubarak had stepped down, handing Suleiman his presidential powers in line with the constitution would have kept his regime largely intact after he had gone, something that would have left the protesters unhappy.

In contrast, a military coup would provide a clean break with a regime they hated for so long, opening up a wide range of possibilities - suspending the constitution that many protesters saw as tailored to keep Mubarak in office and dissolving a parliament formed by an election marred by widespread fraud. A coup seemed to be the best way forward.

The first official word the protesters received from the generals on Friday, however, was discouraging.

A second military communique contained what appeared to be a reluctant endorsement of Mubarak's blueprint for a way out of the crisis, though it also projected the military as the ultimate guarantor of the country's highest interests. El-Zayat said the language in the statement was an attempt to avoid an open conflict. Later on Friday, with millions out on the streets demanding that he step down, Mubarak finally did just that. He may have been denied the chance to announce his own departure - say goodbye to the people he had ruled for nearly 30 years. Suleiman announced the decision for him.

Alternatively, he may have not wanted to go on television to say he was stepping down after less than 24 hours after insisting to serve out the remaining seven months of his current term. It was a humiliating end.

Keeping up appearances, The military later issued a third military statement praising Mubarak as a leader who has done much to his country. It hinted that the military would not be in power for long, saying the armed forces were not a substitute for a legitimate administration. But it gave no clue as to what its plans are. "The truth is that even the senior military now at the top of the power structure under Mubarak almost certainly have no clear idea of what happens next," Anthony Cordesman of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a commentary on Thursday. "It will be days before anyone know how well the transition will function, who goes and who stays, and how stable the result really is."

(Source: The Hidustan Times Sat,12 Feb 2011 World)

Friday 11 February 2011

Egypt: "The people have brought down the regime."



End of Mubarak era as protests topple president

Vice President Omar Suleiman said a military council would run the affairs of the Arab world's most populous nation. A free and fair presidential election has been promised for September.

A speaker made the announcement in Cairo's Tahrir Square where hundreds of thousands broke down in tears, celebrated and hugged each other chanting: "The people have brought down the regime." Others shouted: "Allahu Akbar (God is great).


The 82-year-old Mubarak's downfall after 18 days of unprecedented mass protests was a momentous victory for people power and was sure to rock autocrats throughout the Arab world and beyond.


Egypt's powerful military gave guarantees earlier on Friday that promised democratic reforms would be carried out but angry protesters intensified an uprising against Mubarak, marching on the presidential palace and the state television tower.


It was an effort by the army to defuse the revolt but, in disregarding protesters' key demand for Mubarak's ouster now, it failed to calm the turmoil that has disrupted the economy and rattled the entire Middle East.


The military's intervention was not enough.


The tumult over Mubarak's refusal to resign had tested the loyalties of the armed forces, which had to choose whether to protect their supreme commander or ditch him.


The sharpening confrontation had raised fear of uncontrolled violence in the most populous Arab nation, a key U.S. ally in an oil-rich region where the chance of chaos spreading to other long stable but repressive states troubles the West.


Washington has called for a prompt democratic transition to restore stability in Egypt, a rare Arab state no longer hostile to Israel, guardian of the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia and a major force against militant Islam in the region.


The army statement noted that Mubarak had handed powers to govern the country of 80 million people to his deputy the previous day -- perhaps signalling that this should satisfy demonstrators, reformists and opposition figures.


"This is not our demand," one protester said, after relaying the contents of the army statement to the crowd in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. "We have one demand, that Mubarak step down." He has said he will stay until September elections.


The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist opposition group, urged protesters to keep up mass nationwide street protests, describing Mubarak's concessions as a trick to stay in power.


REFORMS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE


Hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied across Egypt, including in the industrial city of Suez, earlier the scene of some of the fiercest violence in the crisis, and the second city of Alexandria, as well as in Tanta and other Nile Delta centres.


The army also said it "confirms the lifting of the state of emergency as soon as the current circumstances end," a pledge that would remove a law imposed after Mubarak became president following Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981 and that protesters say has long been used to stifle dissent.


It further promised to guarantee free and fair elections and other concessions made by Mubarak to protesters that would have been unthinkable before January 25, when the revolt began.


But none of this was enough for many hundreds of thousands of mistrustful protesters who rallied in cities across the Arab world's most populous and influential country on Friday, fed up with high unemployment, a corrupt elite and police repression.


Since the fall of Tunisia's long-time leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, which triggered protests around the region, Egyptians have been demonstrating in huge numbers against rising prices, poverty, unemployment and their authoritarian regime.


EMERGENCY LAWS
World powers had increasingly pressured Mubarak to organise an orderly transition of power since the protests erupted on January 28 setting off an earthquake that has shaken Egypt sending shock waves around the Middle East.


Mubarak, 82, was thrust into office when Islamists gunned down his predecessor Anwar Sadat at a military parade in 1981.


The burly former air force commander has proved a far more durable leader than anyone imagined at the time, governing under emergency laws protesters say were used to crush dissent.


The president has long promoted peace abroad and more recently backed economic reforms at home led by his cabinet under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. But he always kept a tight lid on political opposition.


Mubarak resisted any significant political change even under pressure from the United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military and other aid into Egypt since it became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, signing a treaty in 1979.


(Cairo newsroom, writing by Peter Millership; editing by Mark Heinrich)

ஒபாமா நிர்வாகமே சர்வாதிகாரி முபாரக் அரசுக்கு முண்டு கொடுக்காதே!

Wednesday 9 February 2011

இலங்கையை எகிப்தாய் மாற்ற என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

இலங்கையை எகிப்தாய் மாற்ற என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

பக்சபாசிசத்துக்கு மாற்று UNP ஐ,தே.கட்சியோ , JVP மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணியோ அல்ல!


மற்றும் இவற்றில் இருந்து ’பிரிந்து சென்ற’ எந்தக் கிளைகளுமோ அல்ல!


மேலும் ரொட்ஸ்கிய திரிபுவாதிகளும் அல்ல!


தமிழ்மக்களின் பிரிந்து செல்லும் உரிமையை (சுயநிர்ணய உரிமையை), அங்கீகரித்த ஒரு புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை முன்னணியே ஆகும்.


இதை சிங்கள மக்கள் மத்தியில் கட்டியெழுப்புவது ஒடுக்கும் சிங்களப் பெருந்தேசிய இனத்தில் உள்ள புரட்சியாளர்களதும், ஜனநாயகவாதிகளினதும் உடனடி அவசியக் கடமையாகும்.


இன,மத, சிறுபான்மை மக்களான மலையக இஸ்லாமிய மக்களின் மத்தியில் உள்ள புரட்சிகர ஜனநாயக சக்திகளும், புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை முன்னணிகளை கட்டியெழுப்பப் பாடுபடவேண்டும்.தீவிரமாக உடனடியாக செயலில் இறங்க வேண்டும்.


ஈழத்தமிழ் அதிகார அரசியலின் குறுந்தேசியவாத, ஏகாதிபத்திய விசுவாச, இந்தியவிரிவாக்க அரசாதரவு அடிமைத்தனத்தை எதிர்த்து, ஒற்றையாட்சி சமரசத்தை எதிர்த்து, அதிகாரப் பரவலாக்க சந்தர்ப்பவாதத்தை எதிர்த்து, சர்வதேச சட்டவாத மாயையான நாடுகடந்த அரசாங்கத்தை எதிர்த்து,மாவீரர்களின் தமிழீழத் தாயக அரசியல் இலட்சியத்தை நிறைவாக்க ஈழப்புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக சக்திகள் தேசிய சுயநிர்ணய உரிமையை உயர்த்திப் பிடிக்கும் புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை இயக்கத்தைக் கட்டியெழுப்ப வேண்டும்.


இதன்மூலமே நாடு பரந்த தேசபக்த பாசிச எதிர்ப்பு ஐக்கிய முன்னணியைக் கட்டியெழுப்பி மக்கள் ஜனநாயக குடியரசை நிறுவ முடியும்.


இத்தகைய ஒரு அரசியல் மாறுதலை நிகழ்த்தும் வரையில், ஈழத்தமிழர்களுக்குத் தீர்வு பிரிவினையே ஆகும்!

ஈழத்தமிழர்களின் பிரிவினைக்காக நம் குரலை உயர்த்தும் அதேவேளையில் மேற்குறிப்பிட்ட அரசியல் மாறுதல் நிகழவும் நாம் மிக உறுதியாகப் போராடுவோம்.

=====   புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள் (ENB)    =====

நடனம்: எந்தக் கலாச்சாரத்தில் இந்த அற்புதத்தை அடக்குவது?

Sunday 6 February 2011

Egyptian military detains Al Jazeera journalist Ayman Mohyeldin

பிந்திய செய்தி: விசாரணையின் பின் அய்மான் மொகைல்டீன் சில நாட்கள் கழித்து விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்டார். எனினும் இவர் தற்போது விடுதலைச்
சதுக்கத்தில் பணியாற்றுவதில்லை.

Egypt detains Al Jazeera journalist

Channel calls for immediate release of correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, detained by Egyptian military.

Last Modified: 06 Feb 2011 19:14 GMT

Al Jazeera is calling for the immediate release of Mohyeldin, who has earlier reported from Tunisia and Gaza

An Al Jazeera correspondent reporting on the popular uprising in Egypt has been detained by the Egyptian military near Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Ayman Mohyeldin's arrest by the army on Sunday prompted a call by the channel for his immediate release.

Dozens of journalists have been detained, injured and threated while covering events in Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the president.

Nadia el-Awady, president of the World Federation of Science Journalists, told Al Jazeera that both foreign and Egyptian media workers were being specifically targeted during the protests.

Speaking about her experiences reporting from Tahrir Square, she said: "There were pro-Mubarak civilian-clothed people planted within the square that were trying to instigate other protesters to get angry.

"They tried to create this kind of mob mentality among protesters to get angry at the journalists."

Al Jazeera, which has dedicated rolling coverage to the uprising in Egypt, has several times been targeted by Egyptian security forces.

Abdel Fattah Fayed, the channel's Cairo bureau chief, and Mohammed Fawi, a journalist, were arrested on Saturday but later released.

Other journalists from the channel have also been briefly detained and last week armed men attacked the Cairo bureau, destroying some equipment.
Source: ALJAZEERA

Thursday 3 February 2011

Day of departure march February 4, 2011 Egypt

மனித நாகரீகத்தின் மாபெரும் சின்னங்களில் ஒன்றான எகிப்திய தேசத்தை தங்கள் தோள்களில் சுமக்கும் புதிய இளம் தலைமுறையே,


விடிகாலை உனது விடுதலைப் புரட்சியில் தீர்மானகரமான பங்காற்றப்போகின்றது.

எக்காரணம் கொண்டும் விடுதலைச் சதுக்க முற்றுகையை விட்டுக் கொடுக்காதீர்கள்!

அதைக் காக்க முடியும் என்பதை தாங்கள் நிரூபித்துள்ளீர்கள். தொடருங்கள்!

இங்கே நீங்கள் ஊன்றி நிற்கிற வரையில் அது அமெரிக்காவைக் குலுக்கும், உலகைக் குலுக்கும், முபாரக்கை உங்கள் காலடியில் வீழ்த்தும்.

இந்த முற்றுகை சுயெஸ் கால்வாயை சுற்றி வளைத்தால் அமெரிக்காவின் முதுகெலும்பு முறிந்துவிடும்!

அடுத்த காலடியை வைக்க முன் உங்கள் சொந்தப்பலத்தை நீங்கள் சரிவர மதிப்பீடு செய்யவேண்டும்.

உங்கள் பலம் என்பது உங்களுக்குப் பின்னால் எந்த நிலைமையிலும் பின்வரத்தயாராக இருகின்ற மக்கள் திரளாகும்.மக்கள் திரள் மட்டுமேயாகும்.

(எகிப்திய இராணுவத்திலும், ஏகாதிபத்திய வாதிகளின் ஜனநாயக சீர்திருத்த நாடகங்களிலும் தாங்கள் சலனப்படக்கூடாது.எதிர்க் கட்சிகளையும் கவனம் இன்றி நம்பக்கூடாது.)

விடுதலைச் சதுக்க முற்றுகையைப் பாதுகாத்துக்கொள்வதற்கான மக்கள் பலத்தில் இருந்து தங்களைத் தனிமைப்படுத்தும், பலவீனப்படுத்தும் எந்த சாகச முயற்சிகளிலும் தாங்கள் இறங்கக் கூடாது.

இவை எமது தோழமையான ஆலோசனைகள்.

தங்கள் ஜனநாயகக் கிளர்ச்சி வெற்றி பெற புரட்சிகர வாழ்த்துக்கள்!

என்றும் தோழமையுடன்

புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்.

Boston Lanka News: Feb. 3, 2011

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Mubarak supporters open fire on protesters (0:58) : Reuters

Mubarak supporters open fire on protesters (0:58) : Reuters

                                                       Reuters 02 Feb 2011 (0.58)

குழந்தைகள்,சிறுவர்கள்,பெண்கள்,முதியவர், இளவயதினர் என இலட்சக்கணக்காக விடுதலைச் சதுக்கத்தில் கூடி அமைதி ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுவந்த நிராயுதபாணியான மக்கள் மீது முபாரக் பொலிஸ் குண்டர் படை சரமாரியாக எந்திரத் துப்பாக்கிப் பிரயோகம்.

ஐவர் பலி! நூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் படுகாயம்!


முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் படுகொலையை பார்த்து ரசித்ததுபோல், முபாரக் நடத்தும் படுகொலையை பார்த்து ரசிக்கின்றது சர்வதேச சமூகம்!


எகிப்திய மக்களே முபாரக்கின் பாசிச ஆட்சியை மாற்ற ஒன்றுபட்டுள்ள தங்கள் தேசிய வலிமையை தகர்க்க அனுமதியாதீர்!

உலகத் தொழிலாளர்களே ஒடுக்கப்பட்ட தேசங்களே,

உலகெங்கும் அமெரிக்கத் தூதரகங்களை முற்றுகையிட்டு மக்கள் விரோத முபாரக் அரசுக்கு ஒபாமா வழங்கும் இராணுவ உதவிகளை உடனடியாக நிறுத்தக் கோரிப் போராடுங்கள்!

ஆட்சி மாற்றத்துக்கான எகிப்திய வெகுஜன மக்களின் புரட்சிகரக் கிளர்ச்சி வெல்க!
 
====  புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள் ====

Protest Day 7: Calls for Change Continue as Thousands Defy President - The Takeaway



Clashes break out in Tahrir Square - Middle East - Al Jazeera English


எகிப்திய சர்வாதிகாரி அமெரிக்க கைக்கூலி முபாரக்கே; போராடும் எகிப்திய வெகுஜன மக்கள் மீது கை வைக்காதே!

விடுதலைச் சதுக்கத்தை சுற்றிவளைத்து எதிர்ப்புரட்சி வன்முறையை போராடும் மக்கள் மீது கட்டவிழ்க்கும் பொலிஸ் குண்டர் படையை திரும்பப்பெறு!

== புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள் ==

Tuesday 1 February 2011

LTTE was really never interested in peace


LTTE was really never interested in peace
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
==================================================================

சமாதானத்துக் கெதிராக சண்டையிட்டவர்கள் நாங்களா?

நாடுகடந்த தமிழீழ அரசாங்கமே,
நெடியவன் தமிழ் நெற்றே,
புலம்பெயர் தமிழ்ப் பேரவைகளே, 
நெடுமாறன், வை கோ, திருமாவளவன் கும்பலே;

அமெரிக்காவுக்கு எதிராக குரல் எழுப்பாமல் வாயடைத்துப் போனது ஏன்?

அமெரிக்கப் பிச்சை இல்லையேல் அடிவயிறு கருகுமென்பதலா?
ஓ நந்தலாலா!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: The LTTE, the so-called Tamil Tigers, have been on our terrorist list since 1997. One of the most brutal, lethal terrorist organizations in the world.

As the Sri Lankan army was pushing north into the Tamil areas, the predominantly Tamil areas that were controlled by the LTTE for more than two decades, they displaced, the Sri Lankan army displaced a large number of Tamil civilians and they all began to move northwards. The LTTE systematically refused international efforts to allow those internally displaced persons to move south. To move away from the conflict areas where they could have been given food and shelter and so forth. So they systematically basically refused all efforts and in fact violated international law by not allowing freedom of movement to those civilians. So had the LTTE actually allowed people to move south, none of this would have happened in the first place, so it’s important to make that point. I think that often gets lost in the debate on this.

Secondly, the LTTE often deliberately put its heavy artillery in the midst of civilian encampments, precisely to draw fire so that people would get killed in the hopes that there would then be international outrage and there would be essentially demands on the Sri Lankan government to stop the fighting and [agree to] some sort of negotiated settlement.

The Sri Lankans, not without reason, argued that the LTTE was really never interested in peace and that they had always used ceasefires as a way to regroup and rearm themselves, so they essentially refused any efforts to resume the peace process.

So we faced this very very difficult situation. On the one hand we wanted to see the defeat of a terrible terrorist organization that had been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of civilian casualties. On the other hand we wanted to ensure that there were not going to be civilian casualties as a result of this. I have to say, both sides were guilty of massive human rights violations that caused the deaths of many many civilians. I think, just to say what I said earlier, which is for this country now to recover from this experience I think there needs to be a reconciliation process, there needs to be new elections that are held in the north so that a new indigenous leadership can emerge, and I think there also needs to be some sort of accountability mechanism so that the Sri Lankan nation can put this episode behind them and that they can be confident that those who were responsible for the deaths that took place will be held accountable.
=====================
"Campbell Conversations"
Interview
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
WRVO Radio
Syracuse, NY
January 28, 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTION: Welcome to the Campbell Conversations. My guest today is Bob Blake. Since 2009 he’s been Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. Prior to that he was the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Bob, welcome to the program.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Thank you, Grant. It’s a pleasure to be here.

QUESTION: On a recent piece in the New York Times Jim Yardley called the region that you deal with, quote, “perhaps the most politically complicated region on earth.” Would you agree with that?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Yes, it does have its complications, but it’s also an enormously rewarding region, one I think where we have a lot of opportunities to really advance our interests.

QUESTION: What makes it so complicated? Maybe that’s a dumb question, but what are some of the things that --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: First of all, we have about a quarter of the world’s population. We have a lot of countries that are still relatively young countries, that are still emerging democracies, so they don’t have necessarily the most developed institutions. They’re very young countries, most of them. About half of the population of South and Central Asia is under the age of 25. Of course in many cases the governments are run by people who are 70 or above and sometimes out of touch with the views and the needs of the younger people. So there are a lot of those kind of natural tensions that arise as a result of things like that.


We have in many of our countries problems with governance, with corruption, human rights problems, and yet it’s an extremely important region for our national interests and one that I think President Obama and Secretary Clinton and the rest of the team devote an enormous amount of time and attention to.

QUESTION: I wanted to get into some of the importance of the relationships with those, but let me follow up quickly on this. Is one of the other problems or complications in this area, has a lot of countries with many different groups that are not only fractured, but a lot of tension there and history of tension. Is that something that marks that area or is that just all around the world?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: It’s hard to make generalizations about South and Central Asia, because the Central Asian part of it is so different from the South Asian part. But one of the interesting trends in South Asia is that for the first time in the history of South Asia now we have popularly, democratically elected governments in all of South Asia, which is really quite a remarkable achievement when you think about it. The last two to join the democratic club were the smallest. The Maldives, the Republic of the Maldives which in 2008 had a democratically elected president for the first time after 30 years of rule by another ruler. And then Bhutan which has been ruled by a king since its inception. The king himself very wisely decided that it was time to have a parliamentary democracy, so he himself stepped down and essentially convinced the population of Bhutan that it was better to have a parliamentary democracy. So they now have a functioning opposition. That’s quite an interesting transition that’s taking place there.
So again, I think there are some positive trends that are also quite evident in the region. Countries like Sri Lanka or Nepal have come through long-term civil strife.

QUESTION: I wanted to get back into that with you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: -- now emerging to sort of new opportunities with varying degrees of success. But still, I think the longer term trends largely are positive in South Asia.

QUESTION: And you’re here to give a speech titled “The India Model -- The Beneficial Rise of an Economic Power.” So what briefly is the Indian model and why is it important?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: First of all, our relations with India have undergone an enormous transition over the last ten years or so and I really date that to the post-9/11 world where both of our countries realized that we had a lot of common interests and many common values. So we began to work much more closely, not just on counter-terrorism and military cooperation, but in a huge wide range of areas. It was helped along by the fact that we have three million Indian-Americans here in this country who also have done so much to help build a bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress and in the wider community for improving relations with India. And India has the same. All those Indians [that] went back to India and I think have an enormous impact in terms of supporting the rise of a partnership with the United States.

What you see now is cooperation between our two countries and governments in virtually every field of human endeavor, which is an enormous change and transformation in just ten years.

President Obama had a landmark visit there in November, his longest foreign trip during his presidency and announced a lot of new areas of cooperation where for the very first time we’re not just cooperating bilaterally, but we’re cooperating at the global strategic level to, for example, encourage agricultural production in Africa, to work on women’s empowerment in Afghanistan, to work on open government around the world. These are areas that, again, ten years ago it would have been almost unthinkable for our two countries to be working together in third countries and trying to promote global peace and security and prosperity. Yet now here we are. It’s really been a remarkable change.

The India model that I’m going to be talking about is really one based largely on local consumption and innovation and enterprise because of the changes and the reforms that have taken place in the Indian economy over the last ten years and twenty years, that were started by the current prime minister when he was finance minister in 1990. India had a terrible balance of payments crisis that they faced, so they had to change and they had to move away from their own import substituting socialist model towards a much more open system. He really led the way and now he’s the prime minister of India.

That in itself is a great story, and it’s in very sharp contrast to the more export-oriented model of China which is much more devoted to, and their prosperity is based on the continued success of their exports. Whereas India is much more internally driven and therefore quite an important model.

QUESTION: What do you think is the most important thing about present-day India that most Americans don’t know?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Probably most Americans are not aware of, again, the striking changes that have taken place in India. India now has a middle class of 300 million people, all of whom are very well educated, who are very global in their orientation and outlook. That middle class is going to grow to 600 million people over the next 20 years. That’s roughly the size of the current European Union, which by the way isn’t going to change very much over that same time period. So they’re going to be a huge and important influence around the world.

And they’re a country, again, that wants to work very closely with the United States which is again a very important partner for us, where we need countries like India that are democracies, that are market oriented economies, and are countries that are willing to step out and work with us to take responsibility for managing the global system. India is one such partner.

QUESTION: I’m Grant Reeher and I’m speaking with State Department official Bob Blake.

Just a minute ago you were talking about the President’s trip to India following the mid-term elections and I remember this being billed as kind of a drumming up business, deal-making trip. The emphasis was on jobs I think particularly in the aftermath of the mid-terms. But you talked about all different kinds of things that are important in this relationship. I want to come back to a couple. But one is obviously this business part, the deal-making. I wanted to get your sense of how does the value of that stack up against this concern we always hear about our out-sourcing jobs to India. How should we weigh these two things?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: You mentioned earlier what are some of the things that perhaps Americans don’t know very much about India. One of the other things that Americans don’t know much about is the fact that India, because of the growth of its private sector, has increasingly become an important investor in the United States and is creating jobs by virtue of that investment. So increasingly the relationship, the trade and investment relationship is very balanced and it’s really no longer possible to talk about a huge outflow of jobs from the United States. As you say, during the President’s trip he and Prime Minister Singh announced new trade deals worth roughly $15 billion with $10 billion in U.S. export content creating roughly 50,000 new jobs for us here in the United States.

The other side of that is that Indians are now investing roughly $4.5 billion a year in the United States and also creating a lot of jobs. So increasingly it’s a two-way street and I think you’re going to see more and more of that as the Indian economy develops.

So it really isn’t appropriate to talk any more about a significant out-flow. It is a much more balanced picture and I think that helps us, but it also helps India because it’s going to make it more sustainable.

QUESTION: So that’s an old stereotype, I guess.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Yes.

QUESTION: You also mentioned the contrast between the India model as you described it and the China model. So one of the things I was wondering about and thinking about this relationship with India and the importance of it for us is has it become more important as China’s economy has grown and our relationship with China has become arguably more problematic or more complicated? Is India perhaps a counterweight to China in some way for us?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: We don’t look at it that way. Obviously we have very important partnerships with both of these countries, and both of them are going to be extremely important countries that we have to deal within the 21st Century, and hopefully we can enlist their help to again, help manage the international system. So we face different challenges in each country. I’m not really an expert on China so I can’t really talk as much about that, but just to say that India also sees it that way. They have their own very important relations with China. They see them on their own merits. They don’t see any kind of collusion with the United States against China. Their fastest-growing economic partnership is with China in terms both of trade and investment. So --

QUESTION: I think we sometimes think of them as rivals though, don’t we?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: In some cases they can be rivals, but I think the Indians, again, are looking as much as possible to try to engage the Chinese and they do have border disputes and things like that, but I think because of that growing economic partnership there is an incentive on both sides to manage those and try to resolve them.

QUESTION: You also mentioned earlier 9/11 and I was curious as to whether the relationship with India also has something to do with our complicated relationship with Pakistan. That we could somehow get some more leverage with Pakistan based on what we do with India. How does that fit into the calculations here?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: For a long time we used to say that U.S. relations with India and Pakistan were hyphenated. That is that we tried to make progress with each of them kind of along similar lines. Increasingly I think we’ve de-hyphenated our relations with India from our relations with Pakistan because it is such an important relationship and has so many different aspects to it.

But Pakistan, of course, is equally important and arguably our most important foreign policy priority right now, perhaps with the exception of Afghanistan. It’s our largest aid recipient, it’s a country that has a great many challenges but has also done a lot particularly on the counter-terrorism front.

I think the President, Secretary Clinton and everybody else are devoting an enormous amount of attention to developing our strategic dialogue with the Pakistanis, and have made a lot of progress. But again, there are many many challenges there.

My piece of this is to help on the India-Pakistan side where we have a great interest in promoting better ties between our two friends. We’ve always said that it’s important for them to determine the pace and the scope and the character of how they will improve their relations, but again, we can always offer ideas.

It’s particularly important now in the kind of post-9/11 world. As many of your listeners know, there was a terrible attack in Mumbai, what they call their 26/11, November 26, 2008, when approximately 175 people were killed by an attack caused by Lashkar-e-Taiba which is a group that is based in Pakistan. That was a searing moment for the Indians because it played out on national television for three days and people were able to see for the first time the faces of suicide attackers who came in with the express purpose of killing not only Indian civilians, but some Americans. Six Americans were killed during those attacks. And the Indians showed a lot of restraint in not retaliating at that time, but at the same time I think were there to be another attack and were there to be similar numbers of civilian casualties, and were there to be any kind of allegations of Pakistani involvement, there would be a lot of domestic pressure for some sort of retaliatory act. That would be very damaging to our interests.

The Pakistanis have been very good about redeploying approximately 140,000 troops from their Indian border to the Afghan border where these sanctuaries are, where a lot of the groups that are attacking our troops in Afghanistan are based. So it’s very important that they maintain that focus and that they, if anything, increase the number of troops going into that area. Were there to be another attack like that, of course they’d have to redeploy many troops back to the Indian border, and that would certainly not be in our interest.

So we have done a lot to improve our counter-terrorism cooperation and our intelligence cooperation to prevent such an attack from occurring. And it’s part of, again, the widening scope of relations between our two countries.

QUESTION: I’m Grant Reeher and you’re listening to the Campbell Conversations. I’m talking with Bob Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. We’ve been talking about India’s importance in the world and the importance of the United States’ relationship with that country.

In 2008 the Bush administration broke new ground for India’s relationship with other nuclear powers by forging an agreement that permits civilian nuclear trade with the United States. At that time that move was criticized by many as rewarding bad behavior. India didn’t sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and had tested bombs in ’74 and in 1998, so I wanted to ask you at this point what’s been the effect of this agreement so far?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: First of all let me say that while there was some criticism, it passed with overwhelming support in the United States Congress. Again, showing the bipartisan support for improving relations between our two countries.

We see enormous opportunities in this civil nuclear deal. First of all, it’s important for us to help India to meet its energy demands. Like China, they have very fast-rising energy needs. We’d like to make sure that they don’t source too much out of Iran, for obvious reasons. So we’d like to help them to diversify their sources of energy. We think civil nuclear is a very good possibility. We also have a number of efforts underway to help with renewable energy development. The President announced some of those during his recent trip.

During the President’s visit in November we completed all of the government-to-government aspects of the civil nuclear deal. The Indians agreed to ratify the main international convention that governs this kind of thing-- the liability part of this called the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, and to ratify it within a year. So that was a very important undertaking. And a number of other smaller steps were taken as well. So all the government piece of this is done now, and now it’s up really, first of all, for the Indians to ratify the CSC, but also more importantly, for the companies to begin actual negotiations.

The Indians have set aside two reactor sites that most likely will be in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, two very important states in India. So there are going to be very very significant export opportunities for American civil nuclear firms. We’re doing everything we can to, again, lay the basis for those exports so that they can proceed as quickly as possible.

QUESTION: Some people worried at the time that this would send the wrong message to countries like Iran and North Korea, that it would lead them to accelerate their own development of their nuclear capabilities. You don’t think that’s happened?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: I don’t think it has. First of all because India has always had a very good non-proliferation record. The heart of the civil nuclear deal and the reason that other countries may not be eligible for it is that while they haven’t signed the NPT, they have a very strong non-proliferation record. And our judgment was that it was better to bring them into the non-proliferation system and have them be part of enforcing and strengthening the non-proliferation system, and that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.

QUESTION: In case you’ve just joined us, you’re listening to the Campbell Conversations, and my guest today is Bob Blake, Assistant Secretary of State.

I’ve got to ask you a couple of questions about your previous experience in Sri Lanka. Before you took on your current position at the State Department you were Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. While you were in that position the country was going through a civil war that had some really gruesome levels of violence and cruelty.

The first question, just a base one, what was that experience like for you in that time period?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: It was a very searing time for the country and I think a searing time for me personally, because the government of Sri Lanka went from being involved in a peace process with the LTTE which is the terrorist organization at that time, to making a decision after suffering many attacks from the LTTE that they were going to try to defeat them militarily. Most of us believed it couldn’t be done, but they disproved a lot of the skeptics. But they did so at a very high cost. Many many civilians were killed during that and particularly at the end of that conflict. It points now to the need for very serious reconciliation and accountability efforts to take place so that the country can be unified and it can again I think realize the promise that Sri Lanka has always had.

QUESTION: You just mentioned this and I wanted to follow up on it. There’s a recent piece in the New Yorker, I’m sure you’ve read it, about the conflict by John Lee Anderson. In that piece he writes about exactly what you just mentioned, the fact that despite, one of the points I wanted to ask you about here, despite the brutality with which the Tamil insurgency was extinguished, the government’s response is held up by some strategists as a model for effectively putting down a terrorist insurgency. And the model, to quote Anderson, is “deny access to the media, the United Nations, and human rights groups; isolate your opponents and kill them as quickly as possible; and segregate and terrify the survivors, or ideally, leave no witnesses at all.” Do you think that accurately captures what was done?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: I’m not sure I’d call that a model for how I’d want to see --
QUESTION: Exactly.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: But I think it’s important to be balanced in this. The first thing to recognize is the LTTE bore a large part of the responsibility for this. If you read the public statements that I and the EU and the Norwegians put out during the course of this conflict, we were always careful to urge both sides to protect civilians. The LTTE --

QUESTION: Just to clarify, that’s the Tamil group, Tamil Tigers.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: The LTTE, the so-called Tamil Tigers, have been on our terrorist list since 1997. One of the most brutal, lethal terrorist organizations in the world.
As the Sri Lankan army was pushing north into the Tamil areas, the predominantly Tamil areas that were controlled by the LTTE for more than two decades, they displaced, the Sri Lankan army displaced a large number of Tamil civilians and they all began to move northwards. The LTTE systematically refused international efforts to allow those internally displaced persons to move south. To move away from the conflict areas where they could have been given food and shelter and so forth. So they systematically basically refused all efforts and in fact violated international law by not allowing freedom of movement to those civilians. So had the LTTE actually allowed people to move south, none of this would have happened in the first place, so it’s important to make that point. I think that often gets lost in the debate on this.
Secondly, the LTTE often deliberately put its heavy artillery in the midst of civilian encampments, precisely to draw fire so that people would get killed in the hopes that there would then be international outrage and there would be essentially demands on the Sri Lankan government to stop the fighting and [agree to] some sort of negotiated settlement.

The Sri Lankans, not without reason, argued that the LTTE was really never interested in peace and that they had always used ceasefires as a way to regroup and rearm themselves, so they essentially refused any efforts to resume the peace process.

So we faced this very very difficult situation. On the one hand we wanted to see the defeat of a terrible terrorist organization that had been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of civilian casualties. On the other hand we wanted to ensure that there were not going to be civilian casualties as a result of this. I have to say, both sides were guilty of massive human rights violations that caused the deaths of many many civilians. I think, just to say what I said earlier, which is for this country now to recover from this experience I think there needs to be a reconciliation process, there needs to be new elections that are held in the north so that a new indigenous leadership can emerge, and I think there also needs to be some sort of accountability mechanism so that the Sri Lankan nation can put this episode behind them and that they can be confident that those who were responsible for the deaths that took place will be held accountable.

QUESTION: You had anticipated my final question which is what needs to happen next. Thank you.

The very last thing, this show always ends with three short questions that are asked of everyone who appears on it, so here they are.
The first is, what is the title of the chapter of life you’re currently living?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: The chapter of the life I’m currently living is “New Challenges”. Maybe that’s true for all Foreign Service officers, always. I’ve been in my job now for 25 years working in the State Department. We always look for new challenges, and that’s one of the reasons it’s such fun to be a Foreign Service officer. But it’s particularly true now that I’m responsible for this very sensitive region.

QUESTION: Secondly, what is your worst trait?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: My wife and my secretary would say that my worst trait is my congenital inability to say no. Anybody who asks me to do anything, I will almost always say yes. That means that oftentimes my hours are quite long and I end up doing things that probably I shouldn’t be doing, but it’s because of, again, my enthusiasm for the job that I’m doing and the love of my work.

QUESTION: I’ll try to remember to ask for a State Department grant before you’re out of there. [Laughter].

Finally, what professional or creative achievement in your life so far has surprised you so much?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: If you’d told me 25 years ago when I was entering the Foreign Service that I would be an American Ambassador and that I would become an Assistant Secretary of State I probably would have said you’re completely out of your mind. But I feel enormously privileged to be in this job and to have again, the opportunity to make a difference. That’s what the Foreign Service is all about. Every single day of our lives, no matter what you’re doing in the State Department, you have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives and I think that’s why I’ve been in for 25 years. That’s why it’s fun to come here and talk to a lot of the young students in a place like Syracuse and tell them about what I do and hopefully encourage them to join as well.

QUESTION: That was Bob Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. Bob, thank you so much for talking with me.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE: Thank you, Grant, it’s a pleasure.

http://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/in/rmk/2011/155628.htm

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