PRESS CONFERENCE BY SRI LANKA FOREIGN MINISTER

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SRI LANKA FOREIGN MINISTER

Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, speaking at a Headquarters press conference this morning, called for resolute international action to end the presence and fund raising activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in certain affluent countries. It was not impossible for those activities to be stopped by the governments concerned, he said, adding that "that could be very salutary". He would be pressing the governments for that action. There should be laws against fund raising for terrorist purposes, he stated.

In response to a question, he said he had appealed in talks with the United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright yesterday that the United States should follow the action of the United States Senate and formally declare the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organization. He had been informed by the Secretary of State that the matter was being closely studied and that a decision could be expected shortly. He hoped that the decision, when it was made, would be "to declare the LTTE a terrorist organization". The consequences of such a declaration could be very helpful to his Government as far as the fund-raising activities of the LTTE were concerned, he added.

He also told a questioner that there were "very propitious signs" that agreement could be reached on a United Nations convention against terrorism during the current General Assembly session, although many difficulties still remained. He had been informed that a large measure of agreement had been reached on a number of questions. "As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we are very keen that this convention should be put before the General Assembly this year, because the quicker it is done, the better for all concerned." He added that not merely was there going to be a convention in United Nations terms, but that State parties would be obliged to change their domestic legislation to bring it into line with the convention. There were many benefits to come from the convention, he said, and "for Sri Lanka, it is literally a matter of life or death".

Asked what sort of international legal action could be taken against adults responsible for recruitment and use of child soldiers, he said consideration should be given to making it a war crime. "The Government of Sri Lanka would certainly go along with that", he said. He had discussed the issue with the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Olara Otunnu, who was studying the impact of armed conflict on children. He said Mr. Otunnu had volunteered to speak to governments and representatives of terrorist groups on the subject.

Asked whether his Government would support India's claim for a permanent seat on the Security Council, he said it would be premature "to go into the question of individual countries at the moment". He said the thinking of the

Non-Aligned Countries was that there must be at least one permanent representative from each region of the world. In Africa, there were some problems as to whether there should be one or more representatives. He had heard of a similar problem with regard to Latin America. As regards Asia, it was not known whether there were any other declared candidates besides India. The Asian region had not decided how best to deal with the issue. The Non-Aligned Countries had indicated that more time and consultations were needed to resolve the issue and that they could not be stampeded into making a decision within the next two months.

A correspondent commented that there had been reports of Tamil youths from Sri Lanka turning up in southern India. Were the reports true, and if so, who were the youths? Could they be Tamil Tigers' members regrouping there as they had done before, or were they escaping recruitment? The Foreign Minister said some could be refugees fleeing the conflict or going to south India in search of "greener pastures". His Government had no evidence of the LTTE regrouping there, although that did not mean that it might not be happening. Both the central Government of India and the State government of Tamil Nadu were "definitely against encouraging the LTTE". With a vast coastline such as south India's, he said anything was possible, but "this time I would say it could not be with the patronage of either the central Government or the State government. We are very satisfied with that".

A correspondent asked the Minister whether his previous optimism about international action against terrorism had been realized and what his hopes were for the future. He replied: "To a large extent, my hopes had been realized. There is a very clear realization now that terrorism cannot be tackled by one country alone". He was inclined, he said, to think that the "thinkers on the LTTE side must be getting a little worried. They could not be overjoyed".

The Minister also told another questioner that his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister in New York had not centred on any specific issue. Asked what role young people could play to bring about an end to conflicts, he said Mr. Otunnu had told him that he intended to mobilize the media and non- governmental organizations for a campaign to raise awareness about the effects of war on young people. He also appealed for resources for Mr. Otunnu's new office.

Asked what should be done to stop the arms flow to the Tamil Tigers, he said that the Sri Lankan Government knew that the arms were arriving from Ukraine, Cambodia, Afghanistan and from the clandestine world arms markets. He also illustrated the other sources of arms by informing correspondents that the LTTE had claimed that it hijacked a recent consignment of mortar shells ordered by the Sri Lankan armed forces from Zimbabwe. The consignment had been loaded on-board a ship at the Mozambique port of Beira. The Minister said there was some degree of cooperation with other governments to intercept arms bound for the LTTE.

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