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PRESIDENT KUMARATUNGA DECLINES AN INVITATION TO VISIT NORWAY AND TELLS TAMIL TIGERS ARE NOT TRUE TO THE CEASEFIRE PACT By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles March 14, 07:51 PM:President Chandrika Kumaratunga most courteously declined an invitation by King Harald Vof Norway to visit his country and deliver a lecture at Oslo’s Nobel Institution sent through the visiting deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen in Colombo The Norwegian leader was visiting Sri Lanka to avert a crisis in the peace process and repair damages caused by the sinking of a Tamil Tiger cargo vessel allegedly carrying weapons and ammunition, by the Sri Lanka Navy. Norway acts as a facilitator of the peace process. President Kumaratunga told Helgessen that she was extremely thankful for the King of Norway for the invitation but she would decline it at this time. She said it could be considered in the future. During a discussion in the Presidential House she told the visiting Norwegian leader that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had not dedicated itself to implement the provisions of the ceasefire agreement it had signed with the Government of Sri Lanka. She said she was very much concerned about the rapidly increasing violations by the LTTE. Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris making a statement about the discussion said the talks between the two took a period of two hours. During his Sri Lankan visit Helgessen also visited Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leaders Anton Balasingham and S. Thamilselvan Peiris said during the discussions no details were discussed about the sinking of the LTTE vessel by the Sri Lanka Navy because an investigation had already begun about the incident by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. But President Kumaratunga strictly maintained the position that the sunken ship of the LTTE was a rogue ship carrying weapons and ammunition for the separatist rebels. 14/03/03 go2lanka.com) |