The LTTE is finding it very difficult to feed the 73 civilians and two soldiers they are holding in their camp at Toppigala, said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe yesterday.
“There are Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim civilians in the group taken hostage by the LTTE. The Tigers have no alternative but to release them as they cannot afford to maintain them as they are under siege and confined to a small jungle area in Toppigala,” Brigadier Samarasinghe told the media at the weekly cabinet press briefing at the Information Department.
Quoting a civilian who had allegedly escaped from the LTTE clutches he also said that the LTTE leaders are demanding Rs.15 million and food parcels to release civilians in sheer desperation. He also said 43 LTTE cadres surrendered to the security forces last week.
Mass Media and Information Minister, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, said the cross over of his former colleagues, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyarachchi, has not weakened the government. Politicians in the past have changed parties.
They are doing it right now and they will do the same in the future too he said. “In a democracy they are free to express any ideas and future plans and we have nothing against their conduct,” minister Yapa said.
Asked whether there was a government hand in the hacking in to of the pro LTTE web site, Tamil Net, he said the government had nothing to do with it and the government knew nothing about the black out of the Tamil Net. Asked about the strictures made recently in the Supreme Court and a Magistrate Court on Ministers Jeewan Kumaratunga and Jagath Pushpakumara, Minister Yapa declined to comment. When suggested that under a civilized administration the two ministers should have been sacked or they should have resigned, he said “no comments”.
(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/06/22/news/12.asp)
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