BEWARE OF DIPLOMATIC ATTACKS: GL PEIRIS

Prasanna Silva to return soon

External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris yesterday said the country needed to be more conscious of discreet ambushes by groups sympathetic to the LTTE rather than economic sanctions brought by the international community.

“The danger now lies not in economic sanctions, but the real danger is seen in attempts such as the litigation filed by the British Tamil Forum, against British Foreign Secretary calling for the diplomatic immunity of Major General Prasanna Silva to be cancelled so he can be tried for war crimes charges,” he said.

However the minister said the diplomatic immunity of any Lankan diplomat could not be cancelled without the consent of the Lankan government. It is also understood that Major General Silva will return to the country soon, as his term of office has ended.

The minister also said although the military arm of the LTTE could never be revived, the groups sympathetic to their cause were still carrying out a focused effort to achieve their objectives. “Groups which are commit- ted to the objectives of the LTTE by no means have given up, they are continuing their effort—it is only their methods which have changed. They are relentlessly pursuing imperatives at international level,” he said. He further said that Sri Lanka needed to comprehend a valuable lesson from the Arab Spring and that so long as the people of this country remained vigilant to the dangers and tactics of foreign forces—no harm would befall.

“The danger now lies not in economic sanctions, but the real danger is seen in attempts such as the litigation filed by the British Tamil Forum, against British Foreign Secretary calling for the diplomatic immunity of Prasanna Silva

“In the Arab Spring, foreign forces did not enter the scenario immediately. Instead they did something beforehand—they drove a wedge between the people and the government and it is only after this objective was achieved that they were able to go into these countries. Therefore the Sri Lankan people need to be vigilant to these tactics,” he said.