Ottawa denounces Sri Lanka embassy attack
May 28, 2009 10:09 pm
OTTAWA: The Canadian federal government has reacted angrily after hundreds of protesting Sri Lankans vandalized the Canadian High Commission in Colomboyesterday, accusing Ottawaof supporting Tamil Tiger rebels.
The demonstrators pelted the mission with stones, sprayed graffiti on the wall and painted over a security camera.
Officials denounced the “organized and targeted attack” as “reprehensible.”
“Canadahas expressed concern about the inadequate response by the Sri Lankan police to protect High Commission staff and the premises and has registered an official complaint with the government of Sri Lanka,” a foreign affairs official said in Ottawa.
“Canadaexpects the Government of Sri Lanka to fully investigate the incident,” she said in an email.
The protest came a week after Sri Lanka declared victory in its quarter-century war with the Tigers.
In a separate statement, Daya Perera,Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Canada, attempted to make amends. He said the government has been supportive of efforts to combat terrorism and has taken measures to ban the Tamil Tigers and stifle fundraising activities.
Perera noted the Sri Lankan diplomatic outposts in Ottawa and Torontowere provided with security during recent demonstrations by Tamil supporters and “ensured there no incidents.”
A fire at a Sinhalese Buddhist temple in Scarborough earlier this month threatened to further polarize Toronto’s Sri Lankan community. Some Sinhalese suspected local Tamils were responsible, a charge vigorously denied.
In Sri Lanka, government troops yesterday killed 11 suspected guerrillas in eastern jungles during a mission to flush out the remnants of the Tamil Tigers. It was the largest clash since the military declared victory last week against the rebels.
Sri Lankacited the continued threat of rebel attacks as justification for maintaining a 30-year-old anti-terrorism law that gives the police and military sweeping powers of search and arrest.
“The termination of civil war does not suggest a complete halt to terrorism and related atrocities,” said Nimal Siripala de Silva, the governing party’s legislative leader.
The government also indicated yesterday it would maintain restrictions on outside aid to the hundreds of thousands of Tamils displaced by the war, despite complaints from the Red Cross that its workers were being locked out of some displacement camps.
Rishard Badurdeen, the minister for resettlement, said a limited number of international aid vehicles were able to enter the camps “subject to security procedures.” – (The Star)
