‘SL crushed terrorism without British arms’

Army Chief Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya yesterday dismissed British press reports that weapons of British origin had been used against the LTTE in the Eelam war IV.

Sri Lanka’s largest ever combined forces offensive, spearheaded by former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka brought the LTTE to its knees, first in the East and then in the Vanni in two years and 10 months. Major combat operations came to an end on May 19 this year.

Responding to The Island queries, Jayasuriya said that the army had not acquired armaments from the UK during the fourth phase of the conflict.

The British press on Wednesday (August 19) reported that all party committees on Arms Export Control called for an investigation into whether weapons supplied by Britain were used in the Sri Lankan army campaign.

Meeting local and the Colombo-based Indian press at Rock House Armoured Corps camp, the former Vanni Security Forces Commander revealed that the West had denied ammunition needed for sniper weapons.

The British press quoted Labour Party MP Roger Berry as saying that Sri Lanka highlighted the need for the UK government to monitor closely the situation in countries recently engaged in armed conflict. The panel headed by Berry said that the UK had exported a ‘wide variety’ of weapons to Sri Lanka following a truce agreed in February 2002.