Communist Party of India(M) to campaign against pro-LTTE parties

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST) SAYS IT WILL CAMPAIGN AGAINST PRO-LTTE PARTIES IN TAMIL NADU

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) while demanding India’s Central government’s intervention to get release of the Tamil fishermen abducted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) severely criticized some Tamil Nadu political parties who were desperately trying to white wash the Tamil Tigers in the murder and abduction of the fishermen.

“The Communist Party of India (Marxist)” said the party in a statement, “ has decide to do a vigorous campaign in the Tamil Nadu to counter the false propaganda of the pro-LTTE parties.”

Tamil Nadu’s CPI (M) Secretary N.Vardarajan said that the the killing of five and abduction of twelve of Kanyakumari fishermen by the LTTE give a new turn in the sufferings of the Tamil masses in the region.

He said in the past the ruling DMK, had its own inconsistencies regarding the Tamil Tigers but he was glad the party has decided not to support the LTTE due to its bitter experiences with them.

In the affairs of the Tamil people in the region the crimes by the LTTE against the fishermen have a taken a center stage, alleged the leftist party.

“Just as the people in the State were agitated over the attacks on fishermen, the CPI (M) wanted the Centre to intervene in the matter to evolve a strategy to ensure a lasting solution to the problem and prevent attempts to create bitterness between India and Sri Lanka,” Vardarajan further said.

On the demand by certain parties for retrieval of the Katcha Theevu from Sri Lanka, Mr. Varadarajan said international accords could not be abrogated to fulfil their wish. However, he stressed the need for ensuring that the rights of the Indian fishermen to rest in the island and dry their nets there were protected.

The plea by some outfits to arm the Tamil Nadu fishermen with weapons for self-defence was also not acceptable to the CPI (M), as it would lead to unnecessary problems. The safety of the fishermen could be ensured only by stepping up of vigil by Government agencies, he pointed out.

On arguments such as the LTTE was the only force that had taken on “chauvinistic forces” in Sri Lanka, Mr. Varadarajan said the country had learnt several bitter lessons during the last 25 years after the outbreak of ethnic conflict in the island in the early 1980s.

“It should not be forgotten that incidents such as the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had made a big impact on Indian politics. These arguments would only whip up passion but would not help in solving the ethnic problem in the island, he pointed out. Even while urging the Central Government to find a political solution to the ethnic problem, the CPI (M) pleaded with the State Government to provide more assistance to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, Mr. Varadarajan said.

Mr. Varadarajan commended the stand taken by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi that his Government would not support the LTTE. Though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had shown inconsistency on the issue in the past, it had taken a firm stand now, thanks to its previous experience, he said.

The LTTE could not be treated on a par with the national liberation movements as in Palestine and Nepal in view of its failure to take other like-minded outfits along with it, he said.

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Both sides claim Tamil fuel storage tanks destroyed

BOTH AIR FORCE AND PRO TIGER WEBSITE SAY FUEL STORAGE TANKS DESTROYED

By Walter Jayawardhana

The Ministry of Defense announced that its air force fighter bombers pounded on Ramanathapuram, East of Iranamadu in the rebel stronghold of Maulativu at a strategic base.

 

The rebel controlled Tamil Net said the Sri Lanka Air Force dropped bombs at Vaddakkachchi and destroyed a fuel storage belonging to the “private sector.”The Tamil Net said the pounding took place at 7.30.

The Ministry of Defense said, “Sri Lanka Air Force fighters pounded on a pre-identified LTTE base at Ramanatpuram east of Iranamadu, in the Mullaittivu District today morning , Monday the 07th of May.

“The SLAF supersonic fighter jets pounded on a strategic LTTE base at Ramanatpuram East of Iranamadu at 07.25 am and the SLAF confirmed that the LTTE base was completely destroyed in the successive air raids.

“According to the Air Force sources, a large complex of buildings including a fuel storage, large stock of arms, ammunition and explosives were completely destroyed.

The sources further said that the targeted LTTE base was used by the LTTE terrorists for their recent training activities.

The aerial reconnaissance reports of the attack indicated that the flame lasted for hours after the attack.

“The intelligence sources revealed that the target has been accurately identified through timely ground information received from reliable sources.”

The Ministry of Defense website published aerial photos and a video depicting the fuel storage on fire.

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LA JUDGE WITHDRAWS HER JUDGEMENT FAVORING LTTE

LOS ANGELES JUDGE WITHDRAWS HER OWN JUDGEMENT FAVORING PKK AND TAMIL TIGERS OF SRI LANKA IN A 16 PAGE VERDICT

By Walter Jayawardhana

A federal judge in Los Angeles has withdrawn her own judgment favoring Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers and the PKK terrorist group in Turkey delivered last November.

The ruling highly criticized by section of the press and legal quarters and US justice department was withdrawn by the judge on Friday may 4 in a 16 page order, Last November, the federal judge said President Bush acted unconstitutionally when he designated 27 groups and individuals including the Tamil Tigers as terrorists in 2001. The judge reconsidered the issue at the government’s request.

Judge Audrey Collins of Los Angeles in her new ruling said, that American supporters of Kurdish and Tamil separatist groups lack standing to challenge the terrorist designations, which applied toOsama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and others linked to militant Islam.

“Plaintiffs have pointed to no instance of their being issued a specific threat or warning that … they would be designated,” the judge wrote in a 16-page order Friday. “Plaintiffs’ fear of designation is ultimately based on speculation. Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot establish a genuine and immediate threat that they will be designated by the President,” the judge further wrote.

In November, Judge Collins ruled that Mr. Bush’s designations were “unconstitutionally vague” because he set forth no criteria for inclusion on the list and established no mechanism to get off of it. A terrorist designation typically freezes all assets in America belonging to a group or individual. Americans are also barred from doing business with or providing aid to those on such lists.

The judge’s about-face was quickly seized upon by the Justice Department, which filed a copy of the decision Monday with a Texas judge handling a case against leaders of an alleged Hamas front, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

Judge Collins left open the possibility that groups or individuals with close ties to the 27 entities on the September 2001 list could mount a new challenge to the designations. Legal experts said her new ruling could lead to many more cases of litigation in the form of appeals.

She has not said, ‘I’ve determined it’s constitutional,’” a lawyer for the plaintiffs, David Cole said. An appeal is planned, The New York Sun quoted him as saying

Judge Collins also ruled that the government successfully cured a constitutional problem stemming from language in Mr. Bush’s order that permitted freezing the assets of those “otherwise associated with” designated terrorist entities. In January, the Treasury Department issued regulations that define that relationship to mean owning or controlling a terrorist entity, or providing “financial, material or technological support, or financial or other services” to such a group.

The plaintiffs claim the definitions are still too vague, particularly catchall terms such as “other services.” However, Judge Collins said the new definition made what was prohibited clear enough.

The lawsuit was brought by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of groups and individuals who said they wanted to support nonviolent activities of two groups on a State Department terrorism list, the Tamil Tigers and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK.

Mr. Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, said the statute invoked by the president’s order, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, gives him t too much authority. “It’s very much like the blacklists of the McCarthy period. The president can designate anybody he wants for any reason, or no reason at all,” Mr. Cole said.

In her new ruling, the judge lifted earlier injunctions against applying parts of Mr. Bush’s order to the parties that brought the lawsuit. Despite the sweeping implications of her previous decision, she never blocked the executive order’s application to Al Qaeda and others not directly involved in the litigation.

The New York Sun said, Judge Collins, an appointee of President Clinton, has issued a series of decisions curtailing the federal government’s authority in terrorism cases. In 1999, she ruled that a criminal law banning the provision of “personnel” or “training” to terrorist groups was unconstitutionally vague. In 2003, she ruled that a ban on “expert advice and assistance” to terrorist groups contained in the USA Patriot Act was also void for vagueness.

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Tamil terrorists could strike nuclear installations in India

SRI LANKA SAYS TAMIL TERRORIST COULD STRIKE THE NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS IN INDIA

By Walter Jayawardhana

Explaining the changing security situation in South Asia due to a terrorist organization possessing an air wing for the first time in world‘s history, Sri Lanka government said the capability of the nascent air force of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) allows the group to strike India’s nuclear installations at any time.

Currently, Sri Lanka’s only international Airport at Colmbo is closed during the night time since all bombing happened during mid night.

Dr. Palitha Kohona the Sri Lanka government’s Foreign Secretary said, “There is an air threat which has a range of 200-300 nautical miles, and this range brings within it not only cities within Sri Lanka, shipping in the Indian Ocean, but also the nuclear installations of India.”

“And we are talking about a terrorist organisation that did not hesitate to murder the prime minister of our neighbour,” he further added. He was referring to the 1991 suicide bomb killing of the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at a place close to the Tamil Nadu capital of Chennai, where the rebel group enjoyed the freedom of movement and procuring arms.

During all the three times of air attacks the rebel air force were able to return to their base in the rebel strong hold of Kilinochchi unscathed after dropping gravity bombs to the intended targets. The LTTE military spokesman Rasiah Ilantheriyan has vowed to send more bombing sorties to Colombo and other military installations.

The Sri Lanka government has wanted India to get more involved in bringing in a solution to Sri Lanka’s lingering terrorist menace.

In the 1980’s it was the Indian government of the late Indira Gandhi who trained, funded and armed the terrorist group for being more close to the US government when Sri Lanka was ruled by a pro-Western and right wing President J.R. Jayewardene. But India realized that what it created was also becoming a threat to them, Rajiv Gandhi sent Indian Peace Keeping troops to Sri Lanka. 1200 Indian soldiers died at the hands of the Tamil Tigers. Hence the bad experience of losing troops and losing the country’s leader, India has been reluctant to get involved in the problem too deeply.

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Interim committee to take up Gilchrist’s ball

Sri Lanka believes Adam Gilchrist’s use of a squash ball as a batting aid in the World Cup final was “unethical” and may take the matter up with world cricket chiefs, officials said Monday.

Gilchrist, whose record-breaking 149 led Australia to their fourth title, said later that he had a squash ball in one of his gloves to give him a better grip.

“I had a squash ball in my bottom-hand to help with my grip in training and I decided in this World Cup to use it in a match,” he said.

The revelation caused uproar here, with Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan saying the matter could be taken up during next month’s International Cricket Council (ICC) annual general meeting.

“We are of the opinion that it was unethical for Gilchrist to use a squash ball to give unfair advantage,” Mathivanan told AFP.

He said Sri Lanka could call on the ICC’s cricket committee for stringent application of “Law 42” on fair and unfair play to ensure only the approved protection equipment was used.

Mathivanan said Sri Lanka Cricket would discuss the issue before deciding whether to raise it in London. via Wijeya Newspapers

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