Jayawardana welcomes joint patrolling proposal

Chennai, Mar 14 (UNI) Former Sri Lankan Minister for Refugees and United National Party (UNP) Assistant Secretary Jayalath Jayawardana today welcomed the proposal of joint patrolling as it would be the best way to protect the fishermen's lives.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Jayawardana said some other ''forces'' were behind the recent attacks on Indian fishermen.

He said his party was willing to meet the Indian political leaders to clear their doubts, if they had any.

''The UNP will raise the attack on Indian fishermen issue in the Parliament next week and he is in India on a fact finding tour assigned by his party High Command,'' he said.

Launching a scathing attack on Mahinda Rajpakse government, he said the Rajpakse government had derailed the peace process, initiated by the then Vikramasinghe government with the LTTE, for ''political mileage''.

They signed cease fire agreement with the LTTE and took several steps like opening up the A-9 road for the Sri Lankan Tamils to return back to the country.

''Now the present government has closed the highway again, blocking the supply of food and other essential materials. The only access to the North East is through sea,'' he said.

He wanted India to play the role of a ''twin brother'' and ask the Rajpakse government to restore peace immediately in the island nation.

By thwarting the ceasefire agreement, the lives of Lankan Tamils were under danger and the economy of the nation suffering.

He said the majority of Lankan people support the UNP to bring back normalcy in the country.

He thanked the Tamil Nadu and Indian government for handling the influx of Lankan refugees by providing food and shelter.

''Between January, 2006 and March 12, 2007, 17,889 Sri Lankan Tamils have fled the country. Nearly 27 per cent of them are children and 34 per cent female adults,'' he added.

UNI