Govt. firm against Special
Envoy – President tells Brown

After the exodus of over 60,000 civilians to cleared areas witnessed yesterday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa deemed the request made by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a pause in military action as ‘unnecessary.’
During a telephone conversation initiated by the British Prime Minister on Monday (20)
President Rajapaksa observed that this movement of civilians had evoked a completely new situation and he had instructed that additional consignments of food, medicine and other essentials be dispatched to those civilians who are now sheltered in the cleared areas.
He explained that the people took to fleeing to the cleared areas amidst shooting and other forms of intimidation by the LTTE, now holed up in the NFZ, pointing out that he was committed to providing the required facilities and conditions.
With regard to the political process, the President explained the steps taken to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, adding that he envisages the holding of Local Government elections in the Jaffna District within the next two months.
On inquiry by Prime Minister Brown with regard to the status of his Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa informed that Sri Lanka’s position on the non-acceptability of the said appointment remained unchanged.
President says Tamil civilians freed from terrorist hell
Stating that 30 years of conflict was brought to an end in three short years, President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said that the Tamil civilians in the north have been freed from the terrorist hell. Speaking at Temple Trees yesterday, he added that the civilians escaping the LTTE fall into the arms of the SL military and expressed gratitude for releasing them from the hell they were in.
“The innocent Tamil people were burdened by the terrorists who taxed them, deprived them of food, and sold their produce at low prices. But the whole island also lived in fear, from Colombo to Hambantota as the blast in Akuressa proved the terrorist reach. But this was a challenge and in three years we have overcome them.”