5.5.2008

Speaking at the UN Security Council Debate on Small Arms, in New York, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Amabassador Prasad Kariyawasam told that the LTTE terrorists wreaks havoc in some parts of the country and their campaign of terror has continued unabated, despite all efforts by the Government to seek a solution to the conflict by political means of dialogue and democratic accommodation.

Ambassidor Kariyawasam stressed that all such efforts initiated by the Government towards sustainable peace have failed primarily as a result of the phenomenon of illicit trafficking and trade in small arms and light weapons, making it easy for this misguided terrorist group to sustain their campaign of violence and keep faith in the bullet rather than the ballot.

Sri Lanka appeals to the international community to take urgent action with all available means, to stem the flow of weapons into the hands of non-state actors like terrorist groups who do not respect internationally-accepted civilized norms and conduct. Unbridled violence and abominable terrorist acts can be stopped only if supply and access to such weapons can be halted immediately, he said.

He said that weapons and ammunition should only be held by legal entities and states who are responsible to the international community for their conduct under international law and other treaty regimes that govern good conduct and respect for human rights and humanitarian law.

Earlier in a report, the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon emphasized that most of the present day conflicts are fought primarily with small arms and light weapons.