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Britain to oppose Sri Lanka hosting next Commonwealth summit in Colombo
28 November 2009 10:40 am
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Walter Jayawardhana, SINHALAYA News Agency, Colombo, Sri Lanka : The United Kingdom, still furious over, how the Sri Lankan government crushed a thirty year long armed insurrection of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will try to block Sri Lanka hosting the next Commonwealth summit, news reports in London said.
Although Sri Lanka will resettle all refugees of the war at the end of January following systematic demining of the Tamil lands the news reports attributing to the UK government said, “treatment of refugees” is one of the causes of UK’s opposition to Sri Lanka.
But the main cause for Britain’s opposition is Sri Lanka’s “conduct of war against the Tamil Tigers.” The Tamil Tigers were exploding suicide bombs harming civilians and recruiting Tamil children by kidnapping them from their homes, schools (with the connivance of some pro-LTTE teachers), playgrounds, streets and even Hindu temple festivals. They were accused of being used as cannon fodder for their war against the Sri Lanka government.
Leaders of the Commonwealth are meeting in Trinidad and Tobago and Sri Lanka is one of the countries bidding to host the next summit.
A Reuter report datelined London said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's opposition to Sri Lanka getting the honour could cause friction at the meeting.
Meanwhile the Times of India said, “Britain will block Sri Lanka’s bid to host the next Commonwealth summit amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over the conduct of the military campaign against the Tamil Tigers, news reports said on Friday.”
