Untitled Document

The Jungle Telegraphic by aliya

Bottoms up for privileges
Leader of LTTE's Peace Secretariat, S. Pulithevan, who returned to Colombo after the European tour, had a rude shock waiting for him. If he thought he would be whisked off like a VIP past the Customs, he was mistaken. The Customs opened his only piece of baggage and carried out a thorough physical check. This was whilst his one time pal, Gamini Abeyratne, Director (Operations) at the Bandaranaike International Airport looked on.

A glum Pulithevan who left the airport spent a few days in Colombo before returning to the airport again. This time he wanted to collect five pieces of baggage, part of a lot of 24 pieces belonging to the four-man political team led by S.P. Tamilselvan, who returned to Colombo last week from the same European tour. They brought in 17 pieces of luggage whilst the five pieces had been off loaded. Pulithevan had told Customs officials he had come to clear the five pieces of luggage that did not arrive as scheduled. They told him to go back and bring letters of authority from the passengers concerned.

None of the baggage had belonged to him. They bore the name tags of the other members of the delegation. He did not turn up until yesterday. At long last, special privileges seem to be drying up for this guerrilla playboy.

One after the other
The Joint Opposition protest rally on Divali day (last Friday) drew in large crowds despite appeals to the sponsors to call it off in view of the religious festival.
People's Alliance operatives had spread out a security net of their own and guess what they found out -the big chief of a leading state intelligence agency and the head of its political division were among the attendees.

In the past, political rallies, particularly those of the opposition, were covered by operatives of state intelligence agencies and not the big bosses. But now the top men themselves were there trying to assess the crowds and listen to what is being said.

So it ended up with the operatives watching what the big chief and his political wing were up to. How much more absurd can the state intelligence services be, where the biggest pre-occupation is on who leaks information to the media, can get. As one wag remarked, from the top to bottom in this agency, they now obey one man.

Unclear about anything
One state intelligence agency reported just over a week ago that 20 more Tiger guerrilla suicide cadres had infiltrated the City. Their task, sleuths say, is to take on special targets. But what these targets are is not clear.

Well done!
The Norwegian Government is now hosting eight Sri Lankan media personnel - four from television and four from the print media - on a tour of their country. The invitation is to co-incide with "Operation Day's Work." It is by no means a military exercise of any sort. Every year 120,000 Norwegian students give a day's work for the benefit of education in the South. Some mow lawns, work in factories, clean offices, or work at home. Others sing, play music, arrange international coffee shops, or baby sit.

What all of them have in common is that the money they earn is used in a country in the South to ensure youth an education. Every year around 30 million Norwegian Kroner (around Rs 400 million) is earned. This International Week lasts from October 13 to 23.

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