Minister Samaraweera further stated that the report noted that a total of 13 LTTE supporters were arrested in Malaysia in 2014. Like the report that preceded it, covering the calendar year 2013, it mentioned that the LTTE’s network of support continued to operate - shockingly, under the very regime that claimed to have eradicated this threat once and for all.

 

 

Minister Samaraweera said "What should then be debated is not whether this government is aware of a report that has been produced every year since 2004, but why the post-war counter-terrorism strategies of the Rajapaksa regime have failed so miserably…

 

 

"It is clear that we must now employ new strategies to ensure the future security of all Sri Lankans. 

 

 

“This Government is firm in its resolve to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. This is, and always will be our consistent policy with regard to terrorism. Our nation has been torn apart by acts of terror for several decades in its history. We are sadly all too familiar with the bombs at market places, in city centers, trains and buses, places of worship and commercial establishments. We have all been affected in some form or another by the brutal violence of a conflicted nation. The responsibility of ensuring that this country never regresses back to an era of violence and terror is not one that should be confined to any one party, any one Government or any one leader. It should be the collective and shared responsibility of all,” he added.

 

 

“This government’s approach is very different. We are using soft power and diplomacy, while ensuring our borders remain strong and our maritime security remains firm, to win the hearts and minds of all those who may oppose the state – whatever ethnic, religious, class or cultural group they may represent,” he said.

 

 

The Foreign Minister said it is the government’s intention to remove the base of support of violent radical groups, by diminishing their popularity and legitimacy among the populations who might otherwise sustain them with material and moral support.

 

 

Therefore, Minister Samaraweera urged the Leader of Opposition to join hands in this journey of confidence building, reconciliation and development. Join hands to address the real grievances and concerns of people of all communities, especially the minority communities in the North and the East. 

 

 

This is the surest way to ensure that terrorism will not raise its head in this country again, Minister Samaraweera emphasised.