24 April 1995

SRI LANKA: LTTE ATTACKS CONDEMNED

The Australian Government strongly condemns the attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lankan naval vessels at Tincomalee on 19 April and an attack on an army camp in eastern Sri Lanka on 22 April.

These attacks, which caused the deaths of a large number of Lankan military personnel, represent a unilateral decision by the LTTE to end the cessation of hostilities between the Government and the LTTE that had been in force since 8 January.

I welcome the Government of Sri Lanka's statements of 19 April indicating that despite the severe and unjustified provocation of the Trincomalee attack the Government remains committed to peace and will not be diverted from its goal of seeking a sustainable political solution to the ethnic conflict in the north and northeast of the country.

The Australian Government calls on the LTTE to return to the negotiating table and refrain from any further acts of violence, which can only lead to a renewal of the tragedy of the past. The vast majority of the people of Sri Lanka have indicated their support for peace and reconciliation and the LTTE will bear a heavy responsibility if the opportunity for a peaceful solution to the conflict opened by the election last year of the Kumaratunga government is ultimately lost.

CANBERRA