FOR SOVEREIGN NATIONS LIKE FINLAND AND DENMARK TO BE INTIMIDATED BY A TERRORIST GROUP IS UNACCEPTABLE, SAYS COHONA
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
Los Angeles:- For a sovereign nation to be intimidated by a recognized terrorist group and withdraw is something which is unacceptable said Dr. Palitha Cohona , head of Sri Lanka’s Peace Secretariat commenting on the withdrawal of Finland and Denmark from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).
He was being interviewed by the BBC’s Sinhala service Sandeshaya on the withdrawal of the two European Union members from the monitoring mission.
Cohona said he could not comment in detail since the decision of these European Union nations have not been conveyed officially.
But Cohona further said withdrawing due to a terrorist intimidation would create unhealthy precedents for the future.
Dr. Cohona assured that there is no danger of starting a war in Sri Lanka.
The Tamil Tigers insisted that all European Union members should withdraw from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission after the European Union listed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or Tamil Tigers as they are also known , as a terrorist group.
The separatist rebel group said the European Union members could no longer be accepted as neutral after they named them terrorists and demanded their pull out.
The rebel group said Finland, Denmark and Sweden should leave by September 1. The only other Eropean Union member Sweden said it would stay on for now.
When Denmark and Finland withdraw two thirds of the monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission would be gone. The other members, Norway and Iceland are not members of the European Union. They said they could not manage the monitoring mission by themselves.
According to the Ceasefire agreement only Nordic countries could send representatives to work as monitors.
The monitoring mission could be reconstituted only with the consent of all parties.
Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Sri Lanka had yet to be formally informed of the Danish and Finnish decision, but was "against any unilateral move".
The French news agency AFP quoted him as saying” There is a ceasefire agreement and according to that any decision to change the SLMM must be done through consultations with all."
