COLOMBO: The government yesterday hit out at moves by certain groups which claimed there was genocide in Sri Lanka and said the operations in the North, though an uphill task was aimed purely at liberating the Tamils from the clutches of the LTTE. Minister and government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said it was misleading for these groups or individuals to label the humanitarian operations in the North as genocide and by such claims were providing a lifeline to the Tigers who were on the verge of total defeat.

The US media recently reported that former US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Fein had filed genocide charges against the Sri Lankan government with the US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice under the US Genocide Accountability Act (GAA) of 2007. 

Mr. Fein asserts this was the first genocide investigation and prosecution under the GAA which is applicable to genocide irrespective of the place of its occurrence. 

The indictment charges two government officials with genocide of Tamils in 12 geographic areas of Sri Lanka between December 6, 2005 and the present. The indictment chronicles more than 3,750 extra-judicial killings, with 10,000 suffering bodily injury and more than 1.3 million displacements. 

Minister Rambukwella said the LTTE had begun buying over people to make comments and act on its behalf to save itself from the jaws of defeat. 

“This action may mean hundred of thousands of dollars for the LTTE,” the Minister said. 

Mr. Rambukwella said this kind of action was carried out at a time when a good part of the world such as the European Union and United States had banned the LTTE. 

“If the citizens of these countries are engaged in these kinds of acts they can be described as LTTE supporters,” he said. “The effort to free the Tamils is not a bed of roses it is a difficult road to tread. A road dotted with many obstacles. The beneficiaries of our efforts are the Tamils of this country,” the minister said. 

He said a large number of civilians have already escaped to government-controlled areas with some 7,000 crossing over on Saturday.