Under US law, more than 20 individuals have been successfully prosecuted for providing support to the LTTE! WHO WILL PUNISH THE SINHALA PERPETRATORS?

US response to The Island editorial

I write in response to points raised in your editorial "Making a mockery of Patriot Act" that appeared in the February 19th edition of The Island.

The editorial describes a pending case before the US Supreme Court, "Holder vs. the Humanitarian Law Project". Since the case is ongoing, we cannot comment on the points the author raises regarding the case. We take great issue, however, with the characterization of the US position toward the LTTE. The United States was one of the first countries to designate the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization. Subsequently, under US law, more than twenty individuals have been successfully prosecuted for providing support to the LTTE, including four individuals who were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences by a US federal court last month. Additionally, to counter the LTTE terrorism threat, the United States provided: counterterrorism training for hundreds of Sri Lankan law enforcement officials; a radar-based maritime surveillance system and several Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) to the Sri Lankan Navy to help them detect, interdict, and destroy LTTE arms shipments; and the US Coast Guard Cutter "Courageous" to the Government of Sri Lanka that intercepted and destroyed several LTTE vessels that were smuggling weapons. It is grossly inaccurate to suggest that the US somehow turned a blind eye to the LTTE.

Equally disturbing is the editorial’s characterization of US policy toward the end of the conflict. First, no US military plane landed in Sri Lanka without prior permission from the Government of Sri Lanka. Second, there was no US plan or attempt to evacuate LTTE leadership from the country. The truth is that the United States publicly urged the LTTE to "lay down its arms". We were deeply concerned for the safety of the roughly 300,000 civilians trapped in the no-fire zone, and all of our actions, public and private, aimed to minimize the civilians’ suffering and hardship. In no way whatsoever, did the US try to "rescue an outlawed terrorist organization".


Jeff Anderson
Director
Press, Cultural and Educational Affairs
U.S. Embassy Colombo


Editor’s Note:


As regards US assistance, this is what former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka (2003-2006) Jeffrey Lunstead told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Feb. 24, 2009, among other things: "The US military relationship with Sri Lanka is almost nil, with the military assistance terminated. US development assistance is relatively small."

Our reference to an abortive attempt by the US to negotiate the evacuation of trapped Tigers a few weeks before the decimation of the LTTEleadership in May was based on an exclusive news item, How Lanka averted a US move to evacuate LTTEleadership, in this newspaper on Dec. 24, 2009. It read, "About two months before the final battle on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon in May, the United States offered to evacuate top LTTE leaders and their families.

The unprecedented proposal had been made by the then US Ambassador in Colombo Robert Blake after the Co-Chairs of the Sri Lankan peace process, spearheaded by the Norwegians, agreed that the LTTE could no longer halt the army advance.

Although a section of the press in March 2009 speculated that the US was exploring the possibility of evacuating civilians trapped in the war zone, it can now be revealed that the actual move was to evacuate the LTTE leadership. Well informed sources told The Island that the US plan envisaged taking over 100 persons, including Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sea Tiger leader Soosai, Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman and their families.

Sources said that Ambassador Blake went to extent of calling US experts to Colombo to work out modalities regarding the deployment of US assets to evacuate the LTTE leadership and discussed the possibility of deploying US vessels to carry out the evacuation.

Sources said that an aircraft from Hawaii carrying US experts touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport following a dispute over formalities regarding landing rights. Sources said that the US embassy had alerted the government to the impending arrival of the aircraft only after it was airborne.

Responding to The Island queries, sources said that at one point the Sri Lankan government had suggested that Ambassador Blake also consult New Delhi regarding the controversial evacuation plans."

Strangely, nobody sought to dispute our news item at that time. Why ?


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