ENB 08122007

SAARC legal experts to meet in Colombo: Pranab

Sandeep Dikshit
To finalise text of legal assistance agreement for tackling criminals and checking undesirable activity

The way forward: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee welcomes his Pakistan counterpart Inam-ul-Haq and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik at the 29th SAARC Ministers meeting in New Delhi on Friday.
NEW DELHI: As the first step towards setting up a SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) security network, legal experts from the eight member-countries will meet in Colombo to finalise the text of a mutual legal assistance agreement, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday.
Talking to journalists after a meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers, Mr. Mukherjee discounted suggestions of discord over the agreement that was aimed at “tackling criminals and checking undesirable activity.” He felt the text would be finalised in Colombo by April next year.
“No disparate views”
“In our deliberations, there were no disparate views even when it was specifically mentioned that the agreement should be expedited in order to operationalise it quickly. I do hope when we have discussions [on the finalised text] we will arrive at a conclusion and go by it,” he said.
Mr. Mukherjee, however, felt that for a viable security network, first there should be an exchange of information as many SAARC countries were victims of terror. “Therefore, hard, real-time exchange of information is an important aspect that we will have to take into account.”
Social projects
The meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers resolved to operationalise the SAARC Development Fund, initially on the basis of India’s unilateral commitment of $ 100 millions. The fund was envisaged to have a corpus of $ 300 millions and India hade made the offer even before the fund was conceptualised. The amount would be earmarked for social projects and work would begin soon, said Mr. Mukherjee.
The meeting also saw a SAARC Declaration on Climate Change, in which the Foreign Ministers called upon the international community to honour its commitments with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.
The Declaration said the way forward must include provision of adequate resources to tackle climate change without detracting from the funds for development, effective access and funding assistance for transfer of environment-friendly technologies, and adoption of binding GHG (greenhouse gas emission) reduction commitments by developed countries with effective timeframes. The Ministers emphasised the need for equitable burden sharing.
The Ministers also stressed that contributions to the global effort to tackle climate change should be in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. “We also believe that developed countries must assume greater commitments in line with their responsibility.”
The Hindu

Row over UK's Labour Party MPs support to LTTE
8 Dec 2007, 1942 hrs IST,RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL,TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updatesLONDON: A row has broken out over the attendance of three of Britain's governing Labour Party MPs, including the high-profile Goan-origin Keith Vaz and Ealing Southall's new representative Virendra Sharma, at a several-thousand-strong expatriate Tamil event to pay their respects to those who died in the "Tamil liberation struggle".
The Sri Lankan High Commission here has protested at Vaz's attendance, describing it as an act that shows he is "partisan to a proscribed terrorist group". Vaz currently chairs the influential parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, which has oversight of Britain's counter-terrorism laws. The LTTE, referred to by the Sri Lankan authorities, is proscribed in Britain. Under the UK Terrorism Act, the Tigers are banned from raising funds, holding property or operating in any form and it is an offence to glorify their activities, or incite others to support them.
The Sri Lankan High Commission claimed the event was organised by apologists for terrorists, and more particularly, by "a front organisation of a terrorist group for fundraising and propaganda purposes".
But according to Tamilnet, which describes itself as "a news and feature service that focuses on providing reliable and accurate information on issues concerning the Tamil people in Sri Lanka", the "over 25,000 expatriate Tamils in Britain...gathered to mark 'Tamil Remembrance Day' to pay their respects to those who had died in the Tamil liberation struggle. The event (was) organised by Tamil National Remembrance Foundation, an association of families of Tamils who had fallen in the Tamil struggle".
Tamilnet said the annual event, which saw its largest attendance ever, was particularly relevant in the context of the "resumed conflict in Sri Lanka".
The gathering row over the attendance of high-profile British Asian MPs came after it became clear LTTE leader V Prabhakaran's so-called 'Heroes Day' address was broadcast live on large screens across the south-east London venue, with Vaz, Sharma and another Labour MP Joan Ryan in the audience.
The Sri Lankan authorities are understood to object to the MPs' presence at an event used by Prabhakaran to call for "the entire Tamil-speaking world to rise up for the liberation of Tamil Eelam" and praise the LTTE's use of suicide bombers with the words: "The immeasurable dedication and sacrifice of our heroes is delivering a message to the Sinhala nation."
But Vaz, who jointly chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils with Liberal Democarat MP Simon Hughes, who sent a message to the rally, insisted he was "not really interested in (the contents of Mr Prabhakaran's speech). I was there to deliver a message from the all-party group, which is what I do. I was there to deliver a message from my constituents. I have many Tamil people in my constituency."
He and his party colleague Ryan said they had been unaware Prabhakaran was due to speak, a defence described as ludicrous by observers who said the LTTE hierarchy's rallying calls are standard procedure for a rally such as this. At every previous 'Heroes Day' commemorated in the UK, Prabhakaran's speech has been televised to rapt audiences.

Why no ban on LTTE: UNP
Thursday, December 06,2007 COLOMBO:

The UNP Wednesday queried in Parliament as to why the Government was reluctant to ban the LTTE despite urging foreign nations to do so in their respective countries. UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake posed this question to the Government during cross talk triggered by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama condemning UNESCO which had criticized the Air Force attack on the ‘Voice of Tigers’ radio station in Kilinochchi.Chief Government Whip Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had on Tuesday told the media the Government had no immediate intention of slapping a ban on the rebels as it could hurt possible chances of peace talks in the future.“The Government asked the international community to proscribe the LTTE but it is not done here,” Mr. Karunanayake said.Minister Fernandopulle however shot back asking what the UNP stand was on banning the LTTE.The cross talk erupted after the Government registered its ‘strong protest’ against UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuuru condemning the air strikes on the ‘Voice of Tigers’ operated by the LTTE. Making a special statement to the House, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Parliament that on hearing the statement by UNESCO the Sri Lankan Ambassador in France and UNESCO Permanent Delegate Chitrangani Wagiswara was instructed to register Sri Lanka’s protests with the UN organisation.
The Foreign Minister said in a letter sent to UNESCO the Government had informed UNESCO the VoT is neither legal nor legitimate and its programme content promotes and glorifies terrorism and hence cannot be considered a civilian radio station. In the same vein, those employed at the VoT facility cannot be considered as civilian media personnel, he said.
Noting that the LTTE radio facility was in contravention of any internationally accepted norms and that no international convention could give protection to this illegal station operated by a terrorist group, the letter asserts that being a propaganda organ of a terrorist group, the VoT station was a legitimate target in the fight against terrorism in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka extends State of Emergency
[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2007, 19:39 GMT]

Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 126 votes. 141 parliamentarians from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituent parties Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) voted for the motion. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also voted with the government, parliamentary sources said. Mano Ganeshan from the Western Peoples Front (WPF) and T.Maheswaran from the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and thirteen parliamentarians from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against the motion. Other parliamentarians of the UNP who were present at that time of voting abstained, parliamentary sources said.
The State of Emergency has been extended every month since August 12, 2005

France strongly condemns Sri Lanka bomb blast
Date : 11/30/2007 PARIS, Nov 29 (KUNA) --

France strongly condemned Thursday the bomb blast that killed 18 people in Sri Lanka Wednesday and urged the combatants there to seek a political solution to the conflict."France firmly condemns the attack which yesterday caused the deaths of eighteen people," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascale Andreani said in a press statement.France "expresses its entire solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and sends its sincere condolences to the families and dear ones of the victims, as well as to the Sri Lankan authorities," the official added."France recalls that only a political settlement can bring a lasting solution to this conflict which has torn Sri Lanka apart for the past 30 years, " the spokesperson remarked.