16/8/2007

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama announcing Sri Lanka's plans to host an International Conference on Countering Terrorism (ICCT) from 18-20 October 2007 in Colombo, has described it "as a lasting monument for the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar", "so that his memory will be remembered as one not only who has sacrificed his life due to terrorism", but for his efforts "in bringing the world to understand the effects of terrorism and the need to counter the same." The Minister said he saw the ICCT "as the start of a process that has the prospect of growing to be something like the "Shangri-La Dialogue" held annually in Singapore by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which is devoted to discuss defense and military issues". He said Sri Lanka's "thirty years of experience and sacrifices made on account of terrorism", and the manner "in which it is finding its way out of terrorism", had broader relevance, particularly to developing democracies.

Minister Bogollagama made these observations when on Thursday (16 August 2007), he addressed a media conference at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) in his capacity as Foreign Minister and Chairperson of the Board of Management of the LKIIRSS, to brief the media on details of the proposed ICCT.

The LKIIRSS, a body affiliated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs named after the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, functions as a multi-disciplinary research forum dedicated to study Sri Lanka's strategic interests and develop a national perspective on issues related to international relations and strategic studies, within the contemporary domestic and global contexts. He noted that since its inauguration on 10 August 2006, this conference will be the first major initiative undertaken by the LKIIRSS.

The Minister said the theme of the conference will be 'Terrorism: A Challenge to Democratically Elected Governments'. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake will be the Chief Guest at the inaugural session, while the Special Guest of Honour will be the renowned French investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs Judge Jean Louis Bruguiere. He said, besides being credited as having tracked down and captured one of the world's most wanted terrorists, Carlos (the Jackal) and being involved in the case of UTA Flight 772 which was sabotaged over the Sahara Desert in 1989 with the loss of 170 lives, in more recent years Judge Bruguiere was invited by the US Government to assist in the investigations conducted into the terrorist acts of 9/11 in New York and Washington. He also investigated the LTTE's illegal fund raising activities in France.

The conference will have eminent personalities in their respective fields lead eight thematic sessions. They are; Dr. Gerard Chaliand, Former Director, European Center for the Study of Conflicts from France (International Terrorist Networks), Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Anti-

Terrorism Judge of France. (International Responses to Terrorism), Gen. V P Malik, Former Commander of the Indian Army (Regional Responses to Terrorism), Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, Head, International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Singapore (Domestic Dimension of Terrorism), Dr Peter Chalk, Political Scientist and Analyst, RAND Corporation, USA. (Combating Terrorist Financing), Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka. (Socio-Economic Costs of Terrorism), Mr. Shyam Tekwani, Assistant Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Terrorism and the Role of the Media and Civil Society) and Mr. N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, Hindu Group of Newspapers (Transforming Terrorists). A concluding panel discussion on the conference theme will be chaired by Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka and will be attended by all principal speakers.

Commenting on the factors that prompted the decision to host the ICCT in Colombo at the present juncture, the Minister said firstly, since the events of 9/11, while there has been much focus on the terrorist threat posed to the developed world and to its interests, comparable attention has not been paid to the challenge faced in the developing world, particularly to democratically elected governments by terrorists. Hence there is a need to compare experiences, and to discuss strategies required to counter such threats through enhanced international cooperation.

Secondly, in recent years, particularly since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), there are sections of the global community, while being misled or more consciously seeking to dilute, sometimes even ignore the fact that Sri Lanka confronts a serious terrorist problem from the LTTE, a threat that terrorism expert and Chief Scientist at the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College Dr Magnus Ranstorp has described as "probably the most sophisticated terrorist organization in the world." He said, "it is not as though this fact is not known among experts in the field who deal with this problem who have made constant references in the terrorism related literature of instances and also further potential for technology transfer involving the LTTE", and noted that "the past year has seen an unprecedented level of action taken against LTTE activists and members of LTTE front organizations operating internationally, both by individual countries, as well as by international bodies such as the UN, for terrorist involvement".

Thirdly, he said it was proposed to devote an entire session of the conference to the theme "Transforming Terrorists", which is reflective of the Sri Lanka Government's continued commitment to seek to arrive at a negotiated settlement, notwithstanding past failures. He said Sri Lanka was ready to learn from the experiences of other countries, as well as our own, how this goal can be achieved.

It was noted that in addition to local participants, it is proposed to invite for the ICCT prominent foreign academics and journalists who have previously focused on terrorism related issues as well as on the activities of the LTTE in Sri Lanka and overseas. The proceedings of the conference will also be published in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages and possibly in several other international languages, with a view to ensuring the widest possible distribution both in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Most of the costs of the conference will be borne by the Foreign Ministry on the basis of a cabinet paper presented by the Foreign Minister last month, while the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank and the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation has also undertaken to bear the costs of certain aspects of the conference.

The Foreign Minister, in association with the members of the Board of Management of the LKIIRSS also ceremonially launched the website (www.kadirgamarinstitute.lk) which has been a long felt need. In addition, a dedicated website is also being launched for the ICCT.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs