International

Humanitarian operation a model for the world: Rajapaksa

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday said that through the planning and strategies that defeated the LTTE, the island nation had endowed the world with the true art of humanitarian operations, even as the Defence Ministry announced that some of the curbs on transport of cargo into the Northern Province were being lifted.

Addressing a ceremony to commemorate war heroes here, Mr. Rajapaksa said when the troops were making their battle plans they also had to make political plans to win the attention and confidence of the public.

“The terrorists had a built a colossal propaganda network throughout the world. At each step we took forward, we knew the terrorists were ready to accuse us for human rights violations. No matter how many air strikes were launched or long range weapons used, we planned all such attacks to ensure that no civilian would get hurt. Hence, this mission was called a humanitarian operation,” he told the gathering.

The Defence Ministry, in a separate announcement, said the government had decided to relax the stringent security procedure on transportation of goods to the North. Under the new arrangements permitted cargos will not unload at main security check points, including Medawachchiya.

But, the cargo from Jaffna to Colombo would be checked under the earlier procedure. The personnel and vehicle checks would also carry on, he added.

Due to the operations against LTTE, all vehicles and people arriving at Medawachchiya from both North and South were subjected to stringent security checks.

“The relaxation of the security procedure is aimed at facilitating the flow of transport to the north to speed up the reconstruction drive there,” it said.

Meanwhile, the U.N. said that with the return of 1,000 families for resettlement in Ampara district on Thursday, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and partners had assisted in first government-organised return to the district in seven years.

“In addition to accompanying today’s process, the agency is distributing emergency shelter kits that can be used as a temporary measure,” it said. “The UNHCR said that prior to this return, de-mining/clearance of unexploded ordnance was completed and the IDPs were provided an opportunity to engage in a ‘go and see’ visit to ensure that they were able to make an independent and well-informed decision,” said the U.N.

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