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| Sri Lanka |
| Britain: Tamils arrested as Sri Lankan army declares victory |
| 2009-05-21 |
| [ADN Kronos] British police arrested 10 people after a protest by Sri Lankan Tamils in central London turned violent on Tuesday. The demonstrators had gathered to protest in front of the parliament building in support of the Tamil minority targeted by the government's military offensive in northeast Sri Lanka. That's not the same as the Tamil minority that's represented in parliament... The protest occurred as Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa declared the country "liberated" from Tamil Tiger militants after a 26-year war. He declared them 'liberated' after Porky was 'dead'. Rajapaksa made the announcement in a speech to the country's parliament, a day after the military said that rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed. Anybody want to bet that six months from now somebody's looking into charges of government involvement in Porky's "murder"? Hundreds of Tamils have been calling on the British government to do more to stop the war in Sri Lanka. It's stopped now, so shuddup. Now the government has declared victory over Tamil militants after a 25-year separatist war. That's what I just said. Only I thought it was 37 years. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan television channels broadcast footage of a body purported to be that of Prabhakaran, the head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. But Tamil media outside Sri Lanka have denied the army's claims that their leader is dead. "Lies! All lies! He's had that hole in his forehead for years!" Pictures broadcast on Tuesday showed the top half of a body clad in the Tigers' uniform. The forehead was covered by a cloth, the eyes were open and the face was bloated. It wasn't bloated. He was a big fat guy. BFGs look like that. The footage also showed a copy of a military ID tag written in Tamil, bearing the number "0:01", and what appeared to be a Tamil Tiger identity card bearing Prabhakaran's photo. Somebody lifted his wallet at the bus station? Earlier, in a nationally televised live broadcast, President Rajapaksa claimed that the government's victory marked "a day which is very, very significant - not only to us Sri Lankans but to the entire world". It shows that the Peace Processor® isn't the path toward solving a problem involving people who use assassination and intimidation as favored political tools, and who've set up an armed organization within your country, complete with suicide boomer corps, cyanide capsules worn as talismans, extensive child conscription, and corvee labor. "Today we have been able to liberate the entire country from the clutches of terrorism," he said. "We have been able to defeat one of the most heinous terrorist groups in the world." "The EU will probably try to put our leadership on trial for it, but after the Tigers the EU doesn't really scare us a whole lot." After speaking in his native Sinhala, President Rajapaksa switched to the language of the Tamil minority, saying ethnic and religious divisions should end. "We must find a homegrown solution to this conflict. That solution should be acceptable to all the communities." "With justice for all and malice toward none..." The government is facing a humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations estimating that 8,000 people were killed and another 250,000 displaced in the past four months of the conflict. The government and the Tamil Tigers alike were criticised by the UN and other aid organisations for not allowing civilians to leave the conflict zone. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 But Tamil media outside Sri Lanka have denied the army's claims that their leader is dead. And Che lives. morons. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-05-21 13:30 |
| #1 From The Belmont Club: The Tigers, Time Magazine says, were bad guys and thoroughly deserved to be defeated. “The Tamil Tigers taught terrorists everywhere the finer (or more savage) points of suicide bombing, the recruitment of child soldiers, arms trafficking, propaganda and the use of a global diaspora to collect resources.” Now they’re defeated, but the world shouldn’t celebrate. Why? Because Sri Lanka did it the wrong way. Time lists the wrong lessons a casual observer might be tempted to draw. Brute Force Works Negotiations Don’t Collateral Damage Is Acceptable The Press Should Shut Up |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-05-21 10:53 |