Thoughts from London

Duplicitous Norway lies exposed
One does not have to be a student of British history to have heard of Perfidious Albion. At least that is how the French called the British. That duplicity and treachery did not die with the end of colonialism. It has been very much alive as the book by Mark Curtis "Web of Deceit" so amply illustrates.

In fact it still continues. Now, however it is done in the name of fighting terrorism where hundreds of innocent people, particularly Muslims are rounded up for questioning or foreigners are held without charges. But all the while publicly known members of groups banned by Britain as terrorist organisations such as Anton Balasingham of the LTTE sit at home and have discussions with diplomats.

While Britain continues in its hypocritical ways, applying double standards in its "war against terror", in continental Europe other countries such as Norway are doing the same, but in the name of peace.

In war and peace, it is the poor and weak nations, for centuries exploited by their colonial masters who plundered the resources to build their industrial societies, who are even today the victims of those dressed in the duplicitous garb of peace brokers and peace makers.

Since Norway entered the scene as the accepted peace broker to the Sri Lankan conflict, its public image of a peace maker with impeccable credentials of impartiality and genuine concern, have not only been questioned but also systematically exposed layer by layer. Last month the last fig leaf with which this so-called peace broker covered itself was unceremoniously pulled away, exposing to all, Norway's callous disregard and moral nudity.

Ironically it happened in the very heart of Norway, its capital Oslo where several organisations from across the globe under the banner of the World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS) decided to beard what it saw as a leading Tiger supporter, in its den.

It was not just organisations of Sri Lankan expatriates from Australia to the United States that sought to expose what they perceived as Norway's partisan role in the peace process.

A major part at this conference called "Road maps to peace in Sri Lanka", which featured foreign academics and analysts, was played by a Norwegian organisation named R-Senter.

At the centre of the charges of bias and duplicity levelled in Oslo are the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the then Norwegian ambassador in Colombo Jon Westborg, the Norwegian head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major-General Trond Furuhovde.

But there are also other Norwegian and Sri Lankan dramatis personae including Bradman Weerakoon, the then secretary to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who was trying to appease the LTTE by finding a way whereby the LTTE could avoid paying duty on some five tons of highly controversial communication equipment that was imported from Singapore with the diplomatic and financial help of the Norwegians.

Right now, however, what is of concern is the part played by Norway in the peace process that is increasingly becoming a game in which at least one foreign government and foreign-funded NGOs are taking the Sri Lankan government and its people for one long and dangerous ride.

These charges of Norwegian complicity in assisting and supporting the LTTE are, partly at least, based on telephone intercepts of various conversations between the LTTE and Ambassador Westborg, the head of the SLMM and Bradman Weerakoon.

Transcripts of these conversations had, of course, appeared in the print media in Colombo a few months back and Weerakoon had admitted it was his voice on the tape. But last month was perhaps the first time that the intercept- tapes were actually played in Norway to Norwegian and foreign participants to the conference who heard for themselves how the so-called impartial peace makers had conducted themselves to the detriment of the very country that accepted Oslo as a peace maker in the naïve belief that it was a nation worthy of our trust and respect.

That is not all. The Norwegian players in this charade called peace brokering have also tried to keep in the dark the Norwegian people who have to pay a heavy price in terms of money and goodwill for the clandestine operations of a gang of hoodlums on behalf of an organisation whose leader has been convicted of murder in Sri Lanka and India and is also on Interpol's wanted list.

It was a Norwegian senator Falk Ruvik who was mainly responsible for laying the charges of partiality and involvement at the doors of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and the other Norwegian actors in this tragic drama of international skulduggery.

Though several accusations were made about Norwegian involvement on behalf of the Tamil Tigers at the Oslo conference, the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo issued a statement to "correct the record" only on one issue- that was to deny that Norway had provided military training to the LTTE and to explain why an LTTE delegation visited the Rena military camp in Norway in March 2003.

Was this statement also issued both in Oslo and Colombo? If not why? After all the charges were made in Oslo and the Norwegian people have a right to know. The whole explanation about the visit to Rena military camp sounds dubious, if not lacking in credence. The embassy says the visit was for a lecture and demonstration on "how Norwegian troops prepare to participate in peace keeping operations internationally."

Since Norway has not been asked to send troops to Sri Lanka for peace keeping or any other operation, is it not premature if not totally irrelevant how these troops prepare for peace-keeping missions?

Surely a lecture on the subject does not warrant a visit to a military camp. Or was the intention not to show how a Norwegian soldier packs his haversack or polishes his helmet but to give a demonstration of weaponry in the hope of future LTTE purchases?

The embassy states that "Norway regularly provides such presentations on peacekeeping to a wide range of organisations and governments from around the world."

How nice. Was the Sri Lanka Government ever invited? What about Hamas and Palestinian militant groups. After all Oslo tried to broker a Middle East peace too and that is already in pieces. Leave that for the moment. Why has the Norwegian Embassy not replied to other accusations in order to "correct the record?" The IPS news service reported that Norwegian ex-special forces soldiers are believed to have trained LTTE Sea Tigers to launch underwater demolition strikes. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported on September 1, after the Oslo conference, that "Norwegian financial institutions don't check whether money flows from Norway to known terror organisations such as Hamas, ETA or the Tamil Tigers. Norwegian authorities haven't required them to do so."

This, despite the fact that Norway as a signatory to the UN Convention against funding terrorist organisations, is obliged to do so. There is much more evidence that throws grave suspicion on the role of Norway and some NGOs in this so-called peace process. But on that, later. It is time, however, that Sri Lanka starts counting the cost of their presence in the country.

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