Colombo, Aug 31: President Chandrika Kumaratunga has challenged Opposition and United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to deny publicly that he was unaware of details of the Dec 18 LTTE suicide bomb attack on her at an election rally in Colombo. Addressing a party convention in Central Uva Province, 220 km from Colombo on Wednesday, she alleged that Wickremesinghe was aware of details of the assassination attempt on her life. “I challenge Wickremesinghe to deny it publicly and clear his name if the allegation is false,” the State-controlled Daily News reported quoting Chandrika. She charged that another UNP MP was also involved in this conspiracy and had constant talks with the LTTE leadership. She said she escaped death, but had still risked her life to assure a peaceful Sri Lanka for the future generation. “This is my pledge and I am committed to it until peace is achieved.”
The LTTE never wanted peace and the UNP too has allied with it to eliminate the People`s Alliance (PA) leadership, ``Or else, how did Wickremesinghe definitely tell that he would become the President and hand over Chandrika to Pirabhakaran?`` she asked.
The PA, headed by her, would never do anything in secret. Neither would it discuss, nor enter into any negotiations until the LTTE gave up arms. ``We pledge to destroy terrorism and implement our political solution to end war and achieve lasting peace in the country,`` she said. —UNI