War time FM: Gaddafi execution reveals western double-standards
The Island October 21, 2011, 9:39 pm
By Shamindra Ferdianndo
Sri Lanka’s wartime Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that the public execution of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi near Sirte by troops loyal to the interim administration installed by the West had revealed the duplicity of those attacking Sri Lanka over accountability issues.
The much touted "Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ was nothing compared to videos of the execution of Gaddafi, Bogollagama told The Island in a brief interview yesterday. The West couldn’t wash its hands off Gaddafi’s execution due to the presence of coalition military personnel, including advisors in Libya, the former MP said. The execution of a man pleading for his life highlighted the abuses committed by those fighting for the interim administration, he said, recalling the controversial circumstances, under US Special Forces killed unarmed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a raid in Pakistan a couple of months ago.
As both the British and the French had claimed credit for spearheading the campaign against Gaddafi, they, too, should be answerable for the excesses on the part of the rebel forces.
Bogollagama pointed out that unlike the unsubstantiated ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ and the controversial ‘Darusman report’ authentic videos of bin Ladens killing and Gaddafi’s execution should prompt an international probe.
The London headquartered Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group (ICG) now spearheading the anti-Sri Lanka campaign at the behest of the LTTE could now take up the Libyan issue, the former MP said. "Don’t forget they declined an invitation from the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in support of their campaign for international inquiry," Bogollagama said.
Recalling ongoing attempts to challenge Sri Lanka’s membership at the Commonwealth over accountability issues, Bogollagama said that the grouping should take up the Libyan issue. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting would be held in Perth, Western Australia at the end of this month. Referring to the recent moves against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva and the UNGA, Bogollagama said that the Commonwealth, too, was being used by interested parties to undermine Sri Lanka.
