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13-03-2006

IGP says Balasingham admitted they were terrorists

By Sunil Jayasiri

Accusing the LTTE of committing most of the killings in the country starting with that of former Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa, IGP Chandra Fernando yesterday said LTTE Chief negotiator Anton Balasingham had directly and categorically told him in Geneva that they were a terrorist out-fit.

Referring to the LTTE’s demand for the immediate disarming of other armed groups in the country, the Police Chief said that as a terrorist armed organization, the LTTE had no right to demand the disarming of another armed group.

“It is a ridiculous suggestion. A terrorist group cannot demand other armed groups be disarmed, and they do not have any right to make such a demand,” he said in an interview with the Daily Mirror.

Referring to Paragraph 1.2 (a) of the CFA, which stated ‘Neither party shall engage in any offensive military operation, the firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids, ambushes, assassinations, abductions, destruction of civilian or military property, sabotage, suicide missions, Mr. Fernando said the LTTE had openly brought weapons and other items to Colombo and engaged themselves in violence.

Mr. Fernando referring to the LTTE claim that there are several paramilitary groups operating in the country at present said “In Sri Lanka, we have only one paramilitary group and that is the Special Task Force (STF). The STF is assisting in police work and that is all,” he said.

The Police Chief however, said that as the law enforcement force of the country, the Sri Lanka Police will not hesitate to take legal action against any group carrying arms illegally. “If we have information, we will take action against any groups carrying arms illegally,” he said.

The IGP also rejected LTTE allegation about the existence of a militant group called ‘Jihad’ in the country.

Speaking about the alleged link between the Colombo underworld and the LTTE, the police chief said, “There are several instances, where we were able to discover underworld figures with weapons allegedly given by the LTTE”.

Expressing his Department’s achievement on drug raids island-wide, IGP Fernando said that large stocks of drugs had been taken into custody in the recent past during countrywide operations.

Source-Daily Mirror