Colombo, Feb 24: Admitting that there was
international pressure on it to go for a ceasefire with the LTTE, Sri Lankan government on Tuesday said it would not bow to calls for a truce as the rebels were on the brink of total defeat.
"We are not ready for a ceasefire and the war against
terrorism is at the last stage," Prime Minister Ratnasiri
Wickremanayake said at a function here.
"Some countries are pressurising us to go for ceasefire
agreement. They think Sri Lanka is a colonial country and it
should abide by what they say," he said.
Stating that Sri Lanka was a democratic country,
Wickremanayake added it was the government of the people and
that the policies were drafted according to their wishes and
expectations.
"We will listen only to the people (of the country)," the
Prime Minister said while ruling out any ceasefire with the
LTTE which he said was waging a war against the government.
"We cannot listen to the concerned international body or
community which is putting pressure on us to accept a
ceasefire agreement with LTTE," he said.
"Our (Sri Lanka's) sovereignty must be respected and
there should be no condition. We will not yield to any
pressure," he said.
"Democracy and terrorism cannot sleep in one bed,"
Wickremanayake said adding he had mentioned this even during
his address to Parliament when he had just taken over as the
Prime Minister in November 2005.
"Terrorism will have to be finished. Only then democracy
will survive," he said adding the government's policy was to
ensure that terrorism did not recur.
"After terrorism is eliminated, the whole concentration
would fully be on all round development of the country," he
said.
"We do not want to give terrorism another chance," he
said apparently reiterating the government position that
LTTE's had in the past called for ceasefire and truce talks
and abandoned them mid way to re-commence the battle with the
security forces.
"We will not allow terrorism to be passed on to the next
generation in Sri Lanka," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 00:00