The Hindu : It was the pilot's decision, says Norway

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 09, 2002

International

International

It was the pilot's decision, says Norway

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO MAY 8. Responding to growing criticism of its role in Sri Lanka, Norway has described as "regrettable'' last month's incident in which a seaplane transporting Anton Balasingham, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was flown over the east coast and absolved him of blame for the controversial flight path.

Instead, the responsibility for the flight path, which took the Maldives-bound plane over a stand-off between the Sri Lankan Navy and a flotilla of Tiger boats in the Trincomalee seas, has been fixed on the pilot. The flotilla had been cordoned off by the Navy at Foul Point, 8 nautical miles south of the eastern port of Trincomalee, when taking military authorities by surprise, the tiny seaplane flew low over the blockade.

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has said that the flight path had endangered the life of Mr. Balasingham, political advisor to the LTTE leader, V. Prabakaran. Alerted by the Navy, Air Force jets were about to scramble to intercept the aircraft and were ordered to stand back in the nick of time when the plane's identity was discovered. Nearly two weeks after the incident, the Norwegian Embassy today issued a statement clarifying that the passengers had no role to play in determining the flight path of the seaplane. ``The flight path out of Sri Lanka was decided by the pilot on the aircraft, and him alone,'' the statement said.

Absolving the LTTE and Mr. Balasingham of responsibility for determining the flight path, the statement said the pilot approached the passengers and told them of the flight path only after the plane was air-borne. ``It is regrettable that the aircraft by such a route ended up near the incident between the Navy and the LTTE on the east coast of Trincomalee. These incidents were, however, in no manner connected,'' it stated.

The statement follows an admission by the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka ceasefire monitors that the naval blockade itself was a result of a "terrible mistake'' on their part of not passing on information to the Government about the flotilla's movements that the LTTE had given them. The Government of Sri Lanka, which had allowed Mr. Balasingham to leave as he entered the country, directly from LTTE-controlled territory, had given the pilot of the Maldivian seaplane a "time window.'' The pilot had not specified any flight path to the authorities either on his way in or on the return journey. But on the way in, the plane had flown in through the west coast of Sri Lanka, a shorter route to Male than the east coast.

The statement said all arrangements for the flight were cleared between the Maldivian Government, the Sri Lankan Government and the Norwegian embassy here. ``LTTE was not involved and was only informed of the time of arrival and requested to prepare for the landing and loading,'' it said. The plane was taking the Balasingham couple to Male on the first leg of their journey back to London where they live. They had arrived in northern Sri Lanka a month earlier for consultations with Mr. Prabakaran on the peace process.

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