by Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
July 4, 2014, 7:08 am
Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has directed that senior military officers as well as heads of those institutions coming under him meet US ambassador Michele J. Sison or her representatives only in his presence.
The decision was taken consequent to Ambassador Sison refusing to allow the head of the USAID in Colombo to meet Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa unless she, too, was invited to the same meeting.
The US embassy has told the Defence Ministry that as the USAID is under the purview of the Colombo mission and its head can meet Mr. Rajapaksa only in the presence of the ambassador.
Defence Secretary Rajapaksa told The Island last night that he wanted to discuss with USAID head an alleged move to influence the local electorate through a voter education project called ‘Election Support through Voter Education (ESVE) programme. It was nothing but a ruse to turn people against the government, he said. Calling the US project ‘Operation Regime Change’, the Defence Secretary said that political parties should take up this issue.
The government would like to know whether the USAID was still going ahead with the project which would further undermine bilateral relations, the Defence Secretary said.
The US made its move ahead of President Mahinda Rajapaksa seeking the views of members of his party as well as constituents whether they would prefer presidential or parliamentary polls first. Members were asked to fill up a questionnaire at a workshop at Beruwela attended by President Rajapaksa himself.
Responding to a query, an irate Defence Secretary said that he had sought a meeting with the USAID head as it had called for applications from NGOs to carry out the project. Had the embassy called for applications for the same purpose, he would have definitely discussed the issue with ambassador Sison, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said.
Perhaps, Ambassador Sison had realized that it was a mistake to authorize what he called a political exercise aimed at undermining the government of the host country, the Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary said. The government had a right to know the basis on which the US had decided to launch a political project and the amount of funds made available to NGOs, he said. All those receiving funds for the implementation of that particular project would be investigated, he stressed.
Asked whether the US had funded or intended to fund NGO projects meant to educate voters in other countries and consulted the Ministry of External Affairs before the launch of the project, a US embassy spokesperson told The Island: "The embassy has no comment."
Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that the US embassy had access to the Northern and Eastern Provinces as well as terrorist detention facilities in accordance with overall government policy. The government also welcomed visits by diplomatic representatives of other countries as well and military commanders briefed them the Defence Secretary said. But from now on there would be restrictions on meetings, he said, adding that he intended to request other ministries to do as the US envoy had done.
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4 comments:
Bravo ... Gotabhaya!
Please tell them how to DO UNTO as DONE UNTO!
INDEED it is "nothing but a ruse to turn people against the government!"
Sison wants a FREE HAND to undermine Sri Lanka under various pretexts with a Dollar here and a Dollar there channeled to NGOs bought lock, stock and barrel with American peanuts.
No way, Jose'! Michelle, my belle ... you are not dealing with Native Americans! No land here to be bought with blankets and beads!
Apita epa eka angalakwath,
Anunungey dey mey maha polowey!
Nodemu api eka angalakwath
Anununta mey apey mau polowey!
EXTRADITE these terrorists to Sri Lanka and put them to work breaking rocks for infrastructure development in prison ... for the rest of their miserable lives!
Make them wear Black & White striped suits as prison convicts; not Tiger Stripes I am afraid ... but, it is the best we can do!
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Malaysia arrest four LTTE operatives suspected of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 04, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Police have arrested four suspected Tamil Tigers alleged of trying to revive Sri Lanka's defeated terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam using Malaysia as a base.
The four suspects are believed to be of senior leaders in the terrorist organization now defunct in Sri Lanka but active overseas and trying to make a comeback.
The men, arrested by the Malaysian Police yesterday in a series of anti-terrorism operations in Klang Valley, are suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, Reuters reported.
One of the suspects was wanted for his involvement in the assassination attempt on the then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga 1999, the Malaysian police said.
The four are being detained by the Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD).
Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told Reuters that the suspects "were planning to reactivate the group by making Malaysia as their base of operations". Some activists, he said, had exploited their status as refugees to pursue illegal activities.
According to the Malaysian police one of the suspects was an explosives expert, and another is alleged of facilitating planned attacks on Sri Lankan consulates in India. The fourth man is accused of gathering intelligence for the group.
The police confiscated counterfeit passports of multiple nations, counterfeit rubber stamps of the Immigration Department and foreign embassies and other documents, Khalid said.
"Police believed that one of three other suspects, who holds a United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identity card, is a LTTE bomb expert," Khalid was quoted as saying.
"Another suspect was identified as an accomplice to another suspect, whom SB-CTD arrested on May 14 for involvement in a plan to attack foreign consulates in Chennai and Bangalore," he said in a statement.
"The man was also involved in forging travel documents and student passes, and in human trafficking activities," Khalid said.
The arrest comes after Malaysia's Counter Terrorism Division of the police's Special Branch on May 15 arrested three suspected LTTE operatives and deported them to Sri Lanka.
Following the arrest in May the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division of Malaysian police hunted down more suspected members of LTTE who are believed to be hiding in the country.
Sri Lanka militarily defeated the LTTE terrorist organization responsible for killing thousands of civilians in May 2009 but the overseas network of the LTTE remained active.
Sri Lanka recently started to crack down on the former LTTE cadres attempting to revive the LTTE in the island.
Great! Diversify our markets NOW to cope with even TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD.
When Billary Clinton, who bungled US Foreign Policy with her "Arab Spring" fiasco leaving US interests in tatters everywhere, is elected by the ever adoring Democrats to the US Presidency, we will need those new markets!
Let me echo that immortal refrain ... again
Apita epa eka angalakwath,
Anunungey dey mey maha polowey!
Nodemu api eka angalakwath,
Anununta mey apey mau polowey!
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SL's foreign policy being geared to ensure maximum benefit for country - GL
DailyNews.lk
July 4, 2014
Sri Lanka's foreign policy is being geared to ensure maximum benefits for the country by building relationships with extensive areas of the globe which have been neglected, and economic diplomacy is fast emerging as the major component of the nation's foreign relations, External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris said in Colombo yesterday.
He was delivering the keynote address, as Chief Guest, at the inauguration of the international conference on "Sri Lanka in World Affairs" organised by the Department of International Relations of the University of Colombo at the University's Senate Hall.
The Chairperson of the University Grants Commission, the Vice - Chancellor of the University of Colombo, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and the Head of the Department of International Relations made presentations at the inauguration ceremony.
Minister Peiris said that foreign policy has to be seen as an instrument for advancing the country's core national interests.
He referred to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's initiative in strengthening South-South co-operation, especially in his role as Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, and the new focus on Sri Lanka's relations with the African continent.
He said that action has been taken already to establish diplomatic relations with more than 20 African countries, and that resident Missions have been set up in Nigeria and Uganda, as focal points of activity in West and East Africa, respectively. Increased airline connectivity has resulted in a significant expansion of tourism as well as business activity, he pointed out. The value of Sri Lanka's exports have reached their highest threshold today, the minister said.
Prof. Peiris said that President Rajapaksa's participation in the Group of 77 + China Summit held two weeks ago in Bolivia, had provided a unique opportunity for Sri Lanka to cultivate closer relations with Latin American countries.
"Our major markets for spices, especially cinnamon, are in the Latin American region," he said.
Sri Lanka played a major role in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Algiers, during the week preceding the Bolivia Summit, he continued.
The minister make reference to Sri Lanka's role with regard to such matters as the Post - 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the economy of Island States - issues which will be taken up during the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in September.
Among the themes discussed at the conference were Sri Lanka - India relations, regional integration, the Indian Ocean, politics of the Sri Lankan diaspora and post-war reconciliation. Leading scholars from Sri Lanka and overseas, including academics from Japan, Sweden and the United States participated.
We hasten to recall that the bastion of Liberte', Egalite', Fraternite' .... Republican France ... has passed laws that FORBID face coverings (worn by Moslem women) in public.
More generally, the trend is to enforce the dictum "When in France, do as the French do!" echoing the older dictum of Imperial Rome.
Should Sri Lanka also adopt the values of that French bastion of European Virtue and Democracy?
It is good that the Muslim Community in Sri Lanka is implementing that change by ITSELF, recognizing the need to conform to Sri Lankan Cutural Values and Sensibilities.
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Drive to Avoid Black Abayas in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
July 04 (NIE) A leading Muslim organization in Sri Lanka is conducting a campaign to persuade Muslim women to abjure the black abaya, the loose outer garment worn as a cloak to cover the body from the shoulders to the feet and wear coloured ones in order to make the Islamic sartorial custom acceptable to the Sinhalese majority in the country.
"Bring your black abayas, we will give you coloured abayas," says an announcement from the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL),a network of Muslim organizations.
"The back abaya and the niqab, the face covering which is less commonly worn, have been creating negative feelings among the majority Sinhalese-Buddhists. When everybody is in black, it gives the impression that we are a uniformed force. And the niqab has raised security concerns," observed Mohammad Dahalan, Advisor to the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulama (ACJU).
One of the main reasons for the anti-Muslim feelings among the majority Sinhalese-Buddhists, which led to devastating riots in Aluthgama and Beruwela in June, is the cultural alienation of the Muslims from the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese feel that the Muslims have wantonly drifted from the general Lankan cultural milieu by adopting Arab culture wholesale. The increasing exclusiveness among Muslims has created fears about a secret dalliance with Islamic terrorism now sweeping the world - a concern expressed many times by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
N M Ameen, President of MCSL said that new abyas are being made. Vice President Hilmy Ahamad said that the distribution will begin in ten days.
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