Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Sri Lanka planning to lift 'terrorist' ban on Tamils abroad...

Sri Lanka's new government Wednesday announced plans to remove 16 groups and hundreds of Tamils from a list of "foreign terrorists" as part of reconciliation with its largest ethnic minority.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the previous administration of hardline president Mahinda Rajapakse had linked overseas Tamil outfits to the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which was crushed by his forces by May 2009.

"They banned several Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups... for their alleged links to the LTTE," Samaraweera told parliament. "This was done to build up the hysteria about the LTTE regrouping."

A further 424 individuals, some of whom had been dead for years, had also been listed as terrorists and banned.

Announcing a review with a view to lifting the banning and terrorist classifications, the minister said the action was part of new President Maithripala Sirisena's reconciliation plan. Official sources said the lifting should happen soon.

"Reviewing this list of individuals and entities is an important exercise at this juncture when the government of President Sirisena is seriously committed to expedite the reconciliation process," the minister said. Full story...

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