COLOMBO: Caught in a web of criticism over reports of Britain being likely to get involved in Sri Lanka’s turbulent peace process, the Sri Lankan government has pledged to prevent a proposed visit of a group of British parliamentarians to monitor the ground situation in the war-struck north and east.
A group British parliamentarians were expected to arrive in the country following a House of Commons debate recently on the deteriorating security situation in Sri Lanka.
While a protest march against the move was being held in Colombo on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told parliament that no foreign country will be allowed to interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs, stating that the proposed visit by the British parliamentarians will be prevented.
Mr Bogollagama said Britain had not officially informed the Sri Lankan government of its intention to send a team of MPs to Colombo to study the ground situation, particularly in the north and the east.
“We will not allow them to visit anywhere if the British government does not inform us officially. But they can visit our country as tourists”, the foreign minister said. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Patriotic Front, a civil body aligning itself with Sinhalese nationalistic thinking, carried out a protest march through the capital to reach the British High Commission, and handed over a communique addressed to the British High Commissioner.
“We have clearly told Britain that Sri Lanka does not want it to interfere in matters relating to our country. We have reminded Britain that Sri Lanka is no longer one of its colonies”, a spokesman for the group said.
Last week reports confirmed that a British parliamentary group had decided to work towards arranging a summit in London between the Sri Lankan government, the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Norwegian government who are currently facilitators in Sri Lanka’s bloodied peace process.
The British parliament had formed an all-party group headed by Labour MP Keith Vaz to promote ‘peace with justice and dignity’ for Tamils in Sri Lanka and work towards finding a solution to the ethnic conflict in the country, diplomatic sources said.
Coinciding with the decision to send its parliamentarians to the war-torn northeast was Britain’s stand to suspend aid payments to Sri Lanka until a commitment was given to resume peace talks.
Britain which had agreed to give US$5.9 million to help Sri Lanka pay down its debts to the World Bank, stopped the programme last Thursday after making only half of the payments, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo said.
Sri Lankan government was nonchalant about Britain’s decision to stop aid suspension which came days after the Tamil Tiger rebels launched an air raid on Colombo, forcing the only international airport in the country to close at night fearing a repeat of the attack. “We are fighting terrorism. We cannot let terrorism prevail. But we are working on long term political proposals based on power devolution”, Defence spokesman Keheliye Rambukwella told Dawn.
