Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda on wednesday dismissed LTTE’s allegations that the Sri Lanka Army is responsible for the killing of three LTTE cadres and wounding two of them in an isolated LTTE post in the uncleared area of Pullumalai close to Mahaoya in the East.
Lt. Gen. Kottegoda said" We don’t move into uncleared areas " and the army is not interested in the LTTE‘s internal problems.
He was addressing newsmen at the Army Cantonment at Panagoda.
"In fact when the LTTE cadrers were being gunned down in the East by the Karuna faction few months ago, they levelled charges that the army was supporting the Karuna faction. Before I became the Army commander on a request by the President, I went on a special mission to the east and convinced the LTTE Ampara - Batticaloa leader. Tambiraja Ramesh that the army had no hand in these killings which he accepted.
We are committed to a negotiated settlement to the North - East problem, "the Army Commander said". The LTTE is violating the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) at will and their actions are very provocative. Our soldiers have always acted with restraint and have abided by the CFA most of the time." If at all the army has violated the CFA, they have not repeated it a second time". The leadership has seen to it that it doesn’t happen again, "he said," but where the LTTE is concerned the CFA has been violated repeatedly and the Scandinavian facilitators have failed to force the LTTE to abide by the CFA regulations.
Since the CFA was signed the LTTE have violated it more than 3000 times.
"Once the LTTE tried to cross into the government controlled areas in the East to move to Wanni threatening the army but the truce monitors have failed to take any action against these violations of the CFA. "SLMM have no teeth to enforce the rules" he pointed out.
Explaining about the recent killings in the East and certain other areas he said the Army is not in a position to protect every individual in the country. The LTTE on the pretext of engaging in political activity launch other operations.
Intelligence operatives of any organisation will be targeted by the enemy and you should be aware of the fact, he added.
