12-31-2004, 05:57 PM
Behave like Indian Navy, says LTTE:
[World News]: Colombo, Dec 31 : A Tamil guerrilla leader has urged the Sri Lankan Navy to act like the Indian Navy and come to the rescue of the tsunami-hit Tamil population in the island's north and east.
The head of the rebels' Sea Tigers unit, known as Colonel Soosai, also called upon the people to beware of post-disaster diseases like the ones he said killed many in Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake.
"The Sri Lanka Army says it is in Jaffna to protect the civilians. If that is the case why is it using its helicopters to search and rescue only its soldiers missing in the peninsula?" Soosai said in an interview put out by TamilNet, a website run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"We see what the Indian Navy is doing to help the tsunami-devastated people on the south Indian coast. The Indian Navy, despite suffering losses in the disaster, is actively involved in the evacuation and medical care of people in Tamil Nadu," he said.
Soosai said the LTTE was using all its heavy vehicles to retrieve bodies trapped under buildings destroyed by the Dec 26 tsunami.
But he added: "Even if we deploy all our resources for the rescue work, it won't be enough.
"Many people who survived the earthquake in Gujarat were killed later by epidemics. We should not let it happen here. We should take precautions now."
Soosai also urged the Sri Lankan government not to differentiate between the Tamils and Sinhalese populations in relief and rehabilitation work.
"The government should not look at this as a Sinhala or Tamil issue. It should see it as a human tragedy and help.
"We should now ensure that the people rescued from the tsunami devastation are protected from diseases rather than let the enormity of the tragedy make us inactive. The government of Sri Lanka should consider our people also as human beings," said Soosai.
Soosai said the LTTE asked for heavy vehicles from the Sri Lankan government for rescue work here but they took time in coming.
"We are now using all our heavy vehicles round the clock to retrieve bodies buried under buildings and trees flattened by the tsunami. This is not adequate to deal with the crisis of this proportion.
"If Colombo really wanted to help our people in this crisis, it would have done so much until Dec 28."
Almost 30,000 people have died in Sri Lanka in the Dec 26 tsunami.
Indo-Asian News Service
[World News]: Colombo, Dec 31 : A Tamil guerrilla leader has urged the Sri Lankan Navy to act like the Indian Navy and come to the rescue of the tsunami-hit Tamil population in the island's north and east.
The head of the rebels' Sea Tigers unit, known as Colonel Soosai, also called upon the people to beware of post-disaster diseases like the ones he said killed many in Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake.
"The Sri Lanka Army says it is in Jaffna to protect the civilians. If that is the case why is it using its helicopters to search and rescue only its soldiers missing in the peninsula?" Soosai said in an interview put out by TamilNet, a website run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"We see what the Indian Navy is doing to help the tsunami-devastated people on the south Indian coast. The Indian Navy, despite suffering losses in the disaster, is actively involved in the evacuation and medical care of people in Tamil Nadu," he said.
Soosai said the LTTE was using all its heavy vehicles to retrieve bodies trapped under buildings destroyed by the Dec 26 tsunami.
But he added: "Even if we deploy all our resources for the rescue work, it won't be enough.
"Many people who survived the earthquake in Gujarat were killed later by epidemics. We should not let it happen here. We should take precautions now."
Soosai also urged the Sri Lankan government not to differentiate between the Tamils and Sinhalese populations in relief and rehabilitation work.
"The government should not look at this as a Sinhala or Tamil issue. It should see it as a human tragedy and help.
"We should now ensure that the people rescued from the tsunami devastation are protected from diseases rather than let the enormity of the tragedy make us inactive. The government of Sri Lanka should consider our people also as human beings," said Soosai.
Soosai said the LTTE asked for heavy vehicles from the Sri Lankan government for rescue work here but they took time in coming.
"We are now using all our heavy vehicles round the clock to retrieve bodies buried under buildings and trees flattened by the tsunami. This is not adequate to deal with the crisis of this proportion.
"If Colombo really wanted to help our people in this crisis, it would have done so much until Dec 28."
Almost 30,000 people have died in Sri Lanka in the Dec 26 tsunami.
Indo-Asian News Service
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