Date:03/11/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/11/03/stories/2002110305140100.htm

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Prabakaran's guilt proved: Kadirgamar

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI Nov. 2. The Colombo court verdict against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief, V. Prabakaran, has only "confirmed" the "well-founded suspicions" among the people of Sri Lanka that he had directed assassinations and mass-murders of innocent people, Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister and now Senior Adviser to the President, said here today.

Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Kadirgamar, who is close to the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and liaises with the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe on her behalf, said: "What is new is that this suspicion has been transformed into a legal certainty by proof beyond reasonable doubt over at least one incident — the bombing of the Central Bank".

He said the Government and people of Sri Lanka must now "adopt a mature attitude to the new problem created by the verdict. In a democracy, we must applaud the courage of the judge. We must not be driven by gusts of emotion when assessing the political consequences of the verdict.

``We cannot pretend that negotiations with the LTTE for a political solution to end the armed conflict, by President Premadasa, President Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe were predicated on the basis of Mr. Prabakaran's presumed innocence of criminal conduct, while he was presumed guilty. I know of no law in Sri Lanka that prohibits the conduct of negotiations with a person convicted of a criminal offence — even the most heinous crimes. The situation is different in countries that have laws prohibiting any dealings whatsoever with a terrorist organisation".

Mr. Kadirgamar said the ban on the LTTE was lifted only recently. But negotiations had taken place with the Tigers even when it was banned.Asked about the progress in the peace talks (in Thailand), he said it was time to take up the core issues.

The opposition People's Alliance was calling for `transparency' in the process and accommodation of the aspirations of all people — Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese alike. "There are many stakeholders in this process", he noted.

Mr. Kadirgamar questioned the wisdom of going ahead with an internationally-funded rehabilitation programme without substantive progress in the talks with the LTTE. "I am sure international donors will want complete accountability for the moneys received and projects implemented. We can certainly insist on the Government's accountability to the people and Parliament.

But what about the LTTE," he asked. The least that the LTTE could do, he said, was to "recognise the role of the Central Government in rehabilitation".

The "good faith" of the LTTE had also come under suspicion in the wake of "arms smuggling, extortion, abductions, insensitivity to the aspirations of other citizens and the flaunting of its independent regime", he said.