Sri Lanka president calls for outreach to Tamils

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 5:18 AM Posted by Beijing News


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's president urged the military on Wednesday to win over the Tamil people and to ensure they live without "fear or suspicion" in the wake of the army's victory over Tamil separatist rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed a military parade and victory ceremony that commemorated the government's defeat of the Tamil Tiger separatists last month after more than a quarter-century of conflict.

The government has held a succession of celebrations over the past two weeks, to the delight of the majority Sinhalese community. But many Tamils fear even harsher security crackdowns and worry their appeals for a greater voice in the government will now be brushed aside.

Speaking in the Tamil language, Rajapaksa reached out to the minority group, saying the war was fought against the rebels, not against Tamils.

"Beloved soldiers now the war against the terrorists is over, you must now win over the hearts of our Tamil people," he said. "You must protect the Tamil-speaking people, and they must live without fear and suspicion. That is the responsibility of all of us."

The U.N. estimates tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed or wounded in the last months of fighting, and nearly 300,000 are being held in overcrowded displacement camps in the north.

Rajapaksa's speech was followed by a two-hour parade that included tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery pieces. Naval craft skimmed the waters off the coast, jets flew overhead and paratroopers jumped out of planes.

The rebels had been fighting for a separate state for Tamils in the north and east after decades of marginalization by Sinhalese-dominated government.

Rajapaksa has promised to give greater power to the minority in the wake of the military victory.

On Wednesday, he called for rapid development of the north, which was long controlled by the rebels.







A Siberian tiger cub is seen with its mother at a zoo in China. REUTERS/China Daily

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