Sacrifices not in vain - Foreign Secretary Dr. Kohona
Sri Lanka has after 26 year of struggle defeated one
of the most brutal terrorist organisations in the world. It was not an
easy task and many thousands of lives had to be sacrificed to achieve
this, Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona.
"Today we have enormous challenges before us to ensure
that these sacrifices were not in vain. We must grab this opportunity to
rebuild our country, to restore confidence and re-integrate all members
of our community," he said. "This will include rehabilitating and
re-integrating combatants who for various reasons participated in pro-LTTE
activities. Forgiveness must be a key word in our approach consistent
with the most valued traditions of our culture," Dr. Kohona said.
"The Government is totally committed to ensuring that
a sustainable peace is achieved. We hope that the international
community and international organisations will contribute pro-actively
to realising our dream. At this point, we hope that the international
community would appreciate the enormity of our achievement which was
substantially our own.
I also take this opportunity to express our gratitude
to our friends who stood by us faithfully during this dark period of our
history."
Courtesy: Daily News |
