COLOMBO, Aug 31: The European truce monitors on Wednesday blamed the Sri Lankan military for the killing of 17 aid workers affiliated to the Action against Hunger, a Paris-based charity.
The aid workers were killed in the predominantly Muslim town of Muttur in early August at the height of a battle between the army and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).
“Concluding with the supporting information from the persons interviewed and the conversations with the representatives of the international community the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission – the team of European monitors) is, with the obtained findings, convinced that there cannot be any other armed groups than the security forces who could actually have been behind the act,” a statement released by the outgoing SLMM chief, Ulf Henriccson, said.
Dr Palitha Kohona, a government spokesman, said the ruling was ‘uncalled for’.
“There were all possible steps being taken by the government to investigate the killing. This ruling by the SLMM comes in the midst of a judicial inquiry,” Dr Kohona told Dawn.
WASHINGTON PRAISED: The Sri Lankan government has lauded what it called heightened international awareness to curb terrorism, days after the FBI used an anti-terror law to bust an ammunition smuggling network allegedly used by the Tamil Tigers.
In a special operation by the United States, undercover detectives posing as State Department officials met Tamil Tiger agents in a New York apartment this week. During the meetings the LTTE men tried to bribe the Americans so that they used their influence for removing the guerilla outfit from the list of terrorist organisations.
