SRI LANKAN PRIME MINISTER MEETS NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS

THE ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY

Press Release
14 August 2004

They had a constructive discussion covering issues such as the political and economic situation in Sri Lanka, the long-standing development co-operation between the two countries and the status of the peace process. Mr. Rajapakse and Mr. Bondevik both expressed hope that the direct talks would soon be resumed after a 16 months long stalemate.

Prime Minister Rajapakse said that the Government of Sri Lanka appreciates the contribution made by the Government of Norway in facilitating the establishment of a cease fire agreement in the country and in laying the foundation for a credible peace process and helping to move it forward. “The President and I and our Government is totally committed to seeking a negotiated settlement to the ethnic crisis and are fully appreciative of Norway’s efforts and initiatives in this regard”, Prime Minister Rajapakse stated.

Prime Minister Rajapakse underlined the importance of the parties going back to the negotiation table and said that everybody in Sri Lanka and the international community should do their utmost to contribute to a conducive atmosphere for the peace process.

Further, Prime Minister Rajapakse said that his Government is fully committed to the development of Information Communications Technology in Sri Lanka for the benefit of the people. “ICT offers unique opportunities for uniting our divided society. Any assistance that the Government of Norway would render in this area will be appreciated”, he said.

Prime Minister Bondevik said that he believed the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are committed to the process and that President Chandrika Kumaratunga is determined in her efforts to proceed towards talks.

The Road to Reconciliation, 2010

Investment and Education for Development
(January 21, 2011)

Speech by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha at the BizPact Investment Forum, Public Library Jaffna, January 6^th 2010.
Stability and Confidence for Revitalization - entrepreneurship and education amongst the resettled
(January 21, 2011)

The process of resettlement is proceeding apace now, with well over 120,000 persons having gone back to locations in the Northern Province. Of these the more complex returns were to areas previously under the control of the LTTE in sections of Mannar and Vavuniya and in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
Civil Military Liaison - The key to social progress
(January 21, 2011)

In the long hard haul that the process of resettlement has entailed, perhaps the most remarkable factor is the role played by the military. After the enormous effort involved in defeating the LTTE, there was no respite for the soldiers. Instead they have continued to work at a level of intensity that is sadly not recognized.
Overcoming constrictions and tyranny - The oppression of the LTTE in Mullaitivu
(January 21, 2011)

One reason why I suspect reconciliation will be easier in Sri Lanka than in many places that have suffered conflict is the level of suffering inflicted by the LTTE on the Tamil people. There was also an extraordinary hierarchical system, which gave great advantages to the privileged whilst the others had to serve them unquestioningly.
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(January 21, 2011)

There has been so much interest about resettlement and rebuilding in the North that the East has been comparatively neglected. I had not been there for six months myself, which was sad for that was an area I had been in constantly from the eighties onward.
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(January 21, 2011)

Trincomalee has always struck me as a magical place, and I have often wondered whether we might not all have been much better off had President Jayewardene moved the capital there rather than ten miles down the road from Colombo to a place that had no merit, even in his eyes, except for its name. And, even if that idea might be fanciful, our failure over nearly half a decade to develop decent communications, to improve connections between the different areas of Sri Lanka, has struck me as a mark of monumental foolishness, which certainly contributed to the spread of resentment and then terror.
Individual Innovations and Initiative
(January 21, 2011)

Trincomalee is associated in my mind with two individuals, whose life and work continue to provide guidelines for effort. The first was Denzil Kobbekaduwa, who was in charge of the area when I visited in 1988, to check on the schools furniture project. That was the time of the IPKF, and one could sense some tensions, even though in general officers on both sides behaved with perfect conviviality at army headquarters.
Independence Day Celebrations at the Rehabilitation Centres
(January 21, 2011)

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(January 21, 2011)

After the Independence Day celebrations at the Rehabilitation Centres in Vavuniya, I visited a couple of areas that had been resettled. I had been particularly anxious to get to the Rice Bowl in Mannar, since that had been the initial target for rapid resettlement. In the days when the hostile claimed that we intended to keep the displaced permanently in Vavuniya, we were well aware that the President was pressing for rapid cultivation by the returnees.
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I had not been to Amparai for the whole of 2009, so I was wholly unprepared for the tremendous progress the District had registered since my previous visit in the middle of 2008, as Head of the Peace Secretariat. Then the citizens’ committees we met were still worried about security considerations, about restrictions on movement that restrained economic activity, even about the occasional massacre perpetrated by the tiny groups of Tiger guerillas who had survived the clearing of the East.

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SRI LANKAN PRIME MINISTER MEETS NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER IN ATHENS

THE ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY Press Release14 August 2004

The Road to Reconciliation, 2010

Disclaimer

THE ROYAL NORWEGIAN EMBASSY

Press Release
14 August 2004