By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
January 28, 2014
*EU polls monitors’ report used as evidence
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) would probe the nexus between the LTTE and the five-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a senior MoD spokesman told The Island yesterday.The official said that the investigation would focus on the close relationship between the LTTE and the TNA since late 2001, when the political grouping recognised the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people. Based on the findings, legal action would be taken against TNA members, the MoD said.
The international community, too, would be informed of the TNA’s pro-LTTE activities during the conflict, the MoD said.
The TNA consists of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), the TELO, PLOTE, EPRLF and TULF.
The MoD official was responding to a recent resolution adopted by TNA-led Northern Provincial Council to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to inquire into the alleged atrocities against civilians during the military offensive against the LTTE.
The MoD official said:
"We intend to investigate senior TNA members including those in Parliament and the Northern PC. The investigation is aimed at ascertaining how the TNA influenced the LTTE strategy leading to war in mid 2006."
Asked whether the MoD had irrefutable evidence to support allegations against the TNA, the official said that following parliamentary polls in December 2001, an EU Election Observation Mission had revealed that the TNA had been backed by the LTTE to win the majority of seats in the Northern and Eastern districts.
The MoD said some senior TNA representatives had even attended the passing out parades of the LTTE’s child soldiers. Photographic evidence was available, the MoD said. "We will also inquire into the circumstances under which the TNA on behalf of the LTTE ordered Tamil speaking people to boycott presidential election in November 2005." The TNA made the announcement on November 10, 2005 in Kilinochchi, the then nerve center of LTTE operations in the Northern Province.
The MoD acknowledged that there hadn’t been a comprehensive investigation into the TNA-LTTE nexus though some military officers felt an inquiry was a necessity. Responding to a query, the MoD said that except for last presidential polls in January 2010 when the TNA backed former army commander General Sarath Fonseka, the alliance had worked closely with the LTTE at the general elections in 2001 and 2004.
