• Any peace deal needs to have popular support
• Ratnavale first Lankan to serve on UN
• By George he's gone!
• 'No fraud' at Varna
• Tight checks on security firms
• Miracle and healings at site of vision
• Canals to come alive soon
• Muslim groups slam US
• Swedish operator cancels tours to Lanka unrest the reason
• One bidder withdraws from Galle harbour project
• The hills come alive with hosannas for Murali
• Jeyaraj remarks upset ministers
• House with a lesson on pollution
• No delaying tactic in UNP move – convenor
• Bomb journey for office train
• Swiss- Sri Lanka Chamber Gen. Sec. wins FR case
• 2 Chinese fall for a tall story
• New IGP not keen on independent commission
• The facts speak for themselves
• "Jayawewa" to those with Access - From the Green Corner
• Beware of gifts from Norway

Any peace deal needs to have popular support

By Ameen Izzadeen

A Northern Ireland conflict resolution expert has said that for any peace package to succeed it must be offered when popular support for it exists.

Professor Thomas Fraser, one of the architects behind this year's Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland, told The Sunday Times that it was popular support that was holding the April peace deal among all the major parties to the conflict despite the worst kinds of violence such as the car bomb attack in Omagh last month. In spite of opposition, the political elite could sell a package if people are longing for peace. For instance, in Northern Ireland, some 40 percent of the Protestant community still oppose the agreement.

But it survives because of more than 70 percent of popular support, " he said.

Prof. Fraser, who teaches political science at the University of Ulster said the 1973 deal and the 1985 Anglo-Irish agreement failed because they were offered when there was no mass support for a peace deal.

"When mass support exists, terrorist tactics such as bombings would have negative or counter effect.

The Omagh bombing and the killing of two innocent children in July this year during the Orange March stand-off had strengthened the peace-loving people's resolve to safeguard the Belfast Agreement," Prof. Fraser said.

He also said the victims of violence or the families affected by it should be involved in the campaign for pushing any peace deal. "Without engaging the man and woman affected by the gun and violence, there is little meaning in any peace process."

Asked what lessons Sri Lanka could draw from the Northern Ireland peace deal, Professor Fraser said consent of the people should be the underlying principle of any peace deal, though Sri Lankan case might be on a different plane.

Quoting the Northern Ireland agreement which stressed on this principle, he said that "Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland."

The agreement also says: "A united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of the people."

Describing the Sri Lankan government's peace proposals as "something worth putting on the negotiating table," Prof. Fraser cautioned that one should always leave some room for bargaining when peace talks take place.

He also said that the inclusion of all parties to the conflict in the negotiating process was as important as popular support for any peace deal. One reason for the failure of the 1973 and 1985 Northern Ireland agreements was the exclusion of Sinn Fein from talks, he said adding that the present agreement was succeeding because Sinn Fein was part of it.

Ratnavale first Lankan to serve on UN

Civil Servant, Victor Ratnavale and his British wife Joyce died in the Swissair crash which claimed the lives of 229 last Wednesday.

Victor who was in his mid-seventies was returning to Geneva after having undergone successful cardiac by-pass surgery in the United States, said friends of the family. The eldest daughter of Victor and Joyce Chantal is a Medical Physician living in West Virginia, USA. Their son Myron is a computer scientist and the youngest, Amanda, an investment banker living in Switzerland.

Ratnavale who hailed from a family of eminent professionals was a product of Trinity College Kandy.

He was the first Sri Lankan to work for the United Nations, when he joined the International Labour Organization (ILO). Swissair Flight 111 which took off from John F Kennedy International Airport was reported to be carrying 15 members of the United Nations staff returning to Geneva.

Fourteen crew members and 215 passengers were said to be on board the plane which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Airline sources stated that as the black box has not yet been located it is difficult to understand what exactly happened.

Saturday, September 5 was declared a day of mourning in Switzerland for those who lost their lives in the plane crash which is said to be the biggest in the history of Switzerland, reliable sources said.

By George he's gone!

By H.P. Perera

More than 60 years after his death, British monarch George V was in the centre of a controversy not at Buckingham Palace but at Kalutara.

The row was over a statue of King George V erected near the public library in Kalutara.

Some members of the Urban Council wanted the statue of the colonial king removed and replaced by one of the revered Sinhala writer Martin Wickremasinghe. Others, including some members of the UNP said King George V must remain as a symbol of gratitude for the beneficial or positive aspects of British rule. After arguments for and against the statue the chairman put the resolution to a vote and the decision went against the famous King. So Goerge V is going to the museum.

'No fraud' at Varna

Varna Limited, a company owned by the family of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesighe, issued a press release yesterday dismissing reports in the state media of an alleged fraud in the company. The release under the signature of its Managing Director Channa Wickremesinghe states.

News items which appeared in certain sections of the press last Thursday have alleged that Mrs. A.K.Weeratunge, a director of Varna Ltd, has illegally withdrawn Rs.2.75 million from the company's account in a Colombo Bank.

"As the Managing Director of the company I wish to state that Mrs.A.K. Weeratunge has committed no act of defrauding the company of Rs.2.75 million, Mr. Wickremesinghe he said..

Tight checks on security firms

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

A security clamp down is to be imposed on private security organisations soon, a Defence Ministry official said.

He said regulations to register, control and monitor the work of the increasing number of private security agencies were being finalised and would be presented soon. At present it is not compulsory to register private security agencies and reports indicate some of them follow procedures which are both haphazard and hazardous. The regulations will lay down standards for recruitment and proper training of security officers to prevent unfit, unqualified or even undesirable elements from getting into the agencies.

Miracle and healings at site of vision

The miraculous healing of an Air Force officer who suffered from lung cancer is drawing an even larger number of devotees to a Catholic Church at Rawattawatte where the mysterious apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding out the Cross continues for the fourth week. Rev. Fr. Edward Revel, a parish priest of the Queen of Angels Church said the Air Force officer from the Ratmalana base had spoken to him on Friday of the miraculous cure.

The officer had a patch on the lung and it had been diagnosed as cancer. He had come to the Rawattawatte Church and prayed for healing along with hundreds who gather there every day for prayer. A few days later a medical test on his lungs had shown no trace of any patch. Such miraculous healings have been regularly reported from Lourdes and other Holy places where the Blessed Virgin appeared.

Fr. Revel said other healings had also been reported while people were coming from all parts of the country to see the mysterious apparition or revelation and pray. Three Holy Masses are celebrated every day in the packed and often overflowing Church. Today's Masses will be at 8.30 a.m, noon and 6 p.m.

The extraordinary revelation began on Sunday August 16 when the Church was celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi (body and blood of Christ). Fr. Revel had just placed the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance for adoration at a holy hour when many in the Church saw a flashes of brilliant light from the Blessed Sacrament along with a white cloud. The rays of light left an imprint on the wall behind the altar. Thousands of devotees who saw the vision said it was the figure of Mother Mary holding out a Cross.

The Archbishop of Colombo, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando visited the Church last Saturday and saw the revelation. He is likely to make an official proclamation soon, but a spokesman for the Archbishop's House said yesterday the Church was still watching and waiting to see what would happen.

The Bishop of Galle and scores of theologians, priests and nuns have also visited the Church which residents already treat as a holy place. Residents say they believe the revelation is linked to the restoration of peace in the country.

Canals to come alive soon

By Faraza Farook

Boat transportation will be made possible from Attidiya to Wellawatte, Kotte and even to Maradana, with the rehabilitation of the Colombo canal systems, an official said.

Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLRDC) Chairman Godwin Withana said the project would also provide for the transport of goods by canal as in the past, thus substantially easing the problems of congestion on city streets.

"Restaurants and recreational activities would be available in islets set up on the Attidiya lake and elsewhere along with paddle boats , and water sports he said. Mr. Withana said tenders would be called soon for the project. The particular area would be leased out to the private sector canal transport firms which would charge an agreed fees.

Muslim groups slam US

Twelve Muslim organizations in Sri Lanka have demanded compensation from the United States for the targets it attacked in Afghanistan and Sudan recently.

The organisations in a resolution also called the United Nations to hold an independent inquiry into the destruction of the pharmaceuticals factory during the US missile attack in Sudan. The US claims the factory was producing nerve gas for Iraq but Sudan dismisses the charges as rubbish and says the factory was producing only life saving drugs.

The groups which met at the Headquarters of the All Ceylon Young Men's Muslim Association accused the US of being persistently anti Islam as seen in the targets it attacks-Iraq and Libya earlier now Afghanistan and Sudan.

The groups which adopted the resolution were the All Ceylon YMMA Conference, All Ceylon Moors Association, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Muslim United Liberation Front, Sri Lanka Jamath E Islami, Sri Lanka Khatheebs Federation, Memon Association of Ceylon, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Alliance, Islamic Services Organization, National Muslim Welfare Association and the Sir Razik Fareed Foundation.

Swedish operator cancels tours to Lanka unrest the reason

A media campaign about unrest in Sri Lanka by an ethnic group is one of the reasons given by a leading Swedish travel operator for the cancellation of its winter tourist traffic to Sri Lanka.

Larsen Reisen, the Swedish operator has told its Sri Lankan business partners that there was also a low general demand for Sri Lanka, particularly because a number of other destinations offer easier transportation, higher hotel quality, competitive sightseeing opportunities and lower prices.

"It is difficult to find reliable and competitive airfare to Sri Lanka. Few airlines now fly to Colombo and hardly any are online with Copehnagen and Billund. And those offering Sri Lanka do not provide rates that can compete with Thailand, Malaysia or the Philippines.

"It is at the same time my opinion that the tourist board of Sri Lanka, which is the only body potentially having the key to development of tourism in Sri Lanka has little understanding of today's international tourist markets and they should be far more proactive and energetic to stimulate tour operators to include Sri Lanka in their brochures," the head of the travel firm has said.

Mrs Bobby Jordan-Hansen, Managing Director, Columbus Tours (Pvt) Ltd, local handling agent for Larsen Reisen Tours said: "The tour operator's contribution was not large but it was significant because the Scandinavians' per capita spending capacity is high. It also provides a lot of business to hotels in the Hikkaduwa and Bentota areas.

One bidder withdraws from Galle harbour project

One of the firms bidding to develop the Galle harbour has withdrawn its proposal, accusing the Ports Ministry of handling the tender procedure in a cavalier manner.

John R. Wood Vice President, of Cretnor Canada Inc. in a letter to Minister M.H.M. Ashraff says the firm's proposal sent in June has not even received an acknowledgment.

More News/Comment  *  The hills come alive with hosannas for Murali  *  Jeyaraj remarks upset ministers  *  House with a lesson on pollution  *  No delaying tactic in UNP move – convenor  *  Bomb journey for office train  *  Swiss- Sri Lanka Chamber Gen. Sec. wins FR case  *  2 Chinese fall for a tall story  

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