'We want to catch Prabhakaran alive' says President
"People must know who these terrorists are"
We are continuing with operations to free the civilian
hostages held by the LTTE. We would like to catch Prabhakaran and other
leaders alive to be dealt with under the law for all their crimes and
after that if necessary send Prabhakaran to India to face justice there.
So said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview
with CNN-IBN on Tuesday (April 28) at Temple Trees, Colombo.
President Rajapaksa said "We don't want to kill them.
We want to get them alive and tell the world 'these are the terrorists',
these are the people. They are the people who have deprived the Tamil
people of their rights in Sri Lanka. For 30 years they were suffering
without development and nothing else".
Below are excerpts of President Rajapaksa's
interview:
CNN-IBN: So have you instructed your army to
ceasefire?
President: No. It is not ceasefire. We are
freeing the people who are kept there as hostages. That is my duty. So
the army is now only helping the civilians. We want to get the civilians
out from them. It was at the Security Council where we finally thought
that we have to do this because for the first time we made a statement
saying that we are not using heavy weapons and attacks. An area which
was called a no-fire zone was declared by the army on a day-to-day
basis. So we managed to send them (civillians) to the no-fire zone. And
the LTTE also took them there thinking that they can escape from the
sea. But now they realized that they can't move forward. But still they
are using heavy weapons inside. They have heavy weapons inside the
no-fire zone.
CNN-IBN: So the hostage rescue operation
continues?
President: Continues. Yes.
CNN-IBN: So what happens to the LTTE leaders
who are there inside? Do you believe they are still there?
President: Yes. The intelligence report says
they are still there but we are waiting. We have called for and asked
them to surrender, lay down their arms and surrender. They have never
done that. As far as we can say either they have to surrender or face
the army. That's all.
CNN-IBN: So the army will eventually clear the
area?
President: Yes. They will do that. These are
very clear instructions.
CNN-IBN: So you have given the army very clear
instructions not to compromise in the battlefield with regard to the
fact that the LTTE are holed up there and let them make anything easier
for them?
President: No no. I mean now it almost over
between them because either they have to surrender or there is no option
for them. This is only a six-square km area so we will be cleaning up.
And till the last hostage is taken out from the LTTE hold, we will
continue. We are not bothered about Prabhakaran or any other person.
CNN-IBN: If you catch Prabhakaran alive will
you hand him over to India?
President: First he has to go through our
trial. First he will have to face that trial and then we might send him
there.
CNN-IBN: So the laws of the land will ctach up
with all the top LTTE leaders?
President: Oh yes. Definitely. Why not? We have
to do that.
CNN-IBN: But you will also look into India's
request to extradite?
President: Certainly. I will be sending them.
Why should I keep them. If anybody wants them they can take them.
Because I think India has a right because he is the man who killed Rajiv
Gandhi, one of the greatest leaders in India. So the people must deal
with him and the government too - any government, whichever government
comes to power - they have to deal with this man. This is my personal
view. We will tackle him in our country for the things he has done.
CNN-IBN: So the instructions to the army are
very clear- catch the top LTTE leaders dead or alive?
President: You know I would prefer to catch
them alive. We don't want to kill them. We want to get them alive and
tell the world 'these are the terrorists', these are the people. They
are the people who have deprived the Tamil people of their rights in Sri
Lanka. For 30 years they were suffering without development, and nothing
else. They built bunkers people were never given food, whatever the
government sent them, no education. The children of LTTE leaders on the
other hand were educated in various universities and colleges abroad.
But not these people. They are suffering. They were given cyanide and a
gun - a T-56 - in their hands. Prabhakaran's son and daughter all were
given roses and a university education. So they must know, the people
must know who they are. That's why I want them alive.
CNN-IBN: And what happens to the LTTE cardres?
Those who were recruited?
President: Today we have given clear
instructions that they must be rehabilitated. We want to rehabilitate
them. I have seen some of these young ones who have surrendered today -
about 50 people and we are going to rehabilitate them. We have some
cadres who have confessed. One confessed to having killed about 126
people. He is responsible but even then we will rehabilitate him.
CNN-IBN: So you will begin a programme of
reintegrating them into the mainstream society?
President: Yes. We have to do that. Otherwise
should we lock them up and keep them there? Feeding them? Why should we
do that? If we can change them we will do that. We want to change them.
Rehabilitate them. Use them for our society, for our development for
this country. We have to get their talent.
CNN-IBN: What is your political vision in the
post-conflict phase? How will you assure the Tamils that their political
rights are protected in this country?
President: We have been protecting that from
the beginning.
What we are trying to do is implement the the Indo-Sri
Lanka treaty and the 13th amendment. The 13th amendment was introduced
and even Prabhakaran signed it agreeing to it and then suddenly he
changed his mind. The 13th amendment is a part of our Constitution but
unfortunately it was not implemented because of Prabhakaran and his
crowd, because of the LTTE. So now we will have to implement that. And
we have I have categorically said that it will be 13 plus 1. We called
an all-party meeting, invited all the Tamil parties but unfortunately
the proxy of the LTTE the TNA didn't come for talks. We call them
proxies because they were actually the people representing the LTTE in
Parliament and abroad. But still we are trying to get them down and we
will have a dialogue with them and the other political parties.
CNN-IBN: So you have a plan?
President: I have a plan. Whatever we did, the
government, we had a plan. Clear this area, defeat terrorism from this
country and then give them a political solution.
CNN-IBN: Is it possible for you to sketch out
the political solution?
President: I think I must not impose any
political solution on the people. It must come from the people. So I
don't want to say that 'I'm going to give this and that'. Let the people
tell me. All the propositions must come. We must all get together and
decide on that.
CNN-IBN: What do you thinks about the political
drama that has happened in Tamil Nadu in the last few days?
President: I don't want to comment on that. I
don't want to. It's not done, no? You must know better than me. And the
people must know, the voters know. I was listening to one of the
interviews on TV and I think it was very clear what the general feelings
are.
CNN-IBN: So your belief is that these
politicians are only staging protests for the elections?
President: I said no comments. Why do you want
to go into that?
CNN-IBN: As regard the LTTE, as you said the
worst is over. It's just a small task that needs to be done. How will
you dismantle the LTTE support structures that exist?
President: So this is where the international
community comes in. They must help. There are organisations that collect
money and buy weapons. I think this is where we would like to see other
countries take action. We will not allow anyone else to reorganise LTTE
again or reorganise terrorism again in this country.
CNN-IBN: And what about the humanitarian crisis
that the world is also concerned about?
President: There is no crisis as such but
suddenly when 2, 00,000 people come to your side fleeing from the LTTE
clutches, we have to provide them food and shelter and we have managed
to do that. If you go around Sri Lanka you will see in temples,
churches, other organizations all have we have managed to mobilize
people and provide them with basics. And some of the countries of course
are helping. When it come to development that is a crisis. This is where
the international community must come in and help us in the
reconstruction of destroyed areas.
CNN-IBN: How about supplies to the small area
where civilians are still trapped?
President: We have already informed ICRC, they
are ready to supply what we need. It's our responsibility to supply
basics and we must deliver it to civilians. ICRC will take it forward.
That's why we want to finish off as soon as we can. There are 5,000
people even as many as 10,000 still trapped.
CNN-IBN: India's role tactical and moral
support - do you think you are in a position to talk about it?
President: The moral support or whatever
support India gave us is what they should have given to us. It's their
duty to help us at this stage.
CNN-IBN: Was that a demand that you made when
you visited India in 2005? You said that you would come to power and
wipe off terror.
President: I can't make demands of anybody. I
should not demand from a neighbouring country. I request.
CNN-IBN: So your request was complied to?
President: Yes. We understand what terrorism
is. He was the man who killed Rajiv Gandhi. India knows what terrorism
is for it is facing terrorism from the North. You know what happened in
Mumbai. |
