Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has slammed the Tamil National Alliance for criticising the LLRC report and calling for an international investigation.
Talking to reporters on Tuesday morning, the president accused the TNA for still harbouring an ‘LTTE mentality’ and denounced the call for an international investigation as ‘treacherous’ and harmful to the country.
"They think and act like the LTTE. The LTTE behaved similarly. They came to talks (with the government), put conditions and withdrew," Rajapaksa said.
"They are proving to be as difficult as the LTTE in talks, adopting the same negative tactics".
"The Eelam dream is still reigning in them. What the Tamil Alliance should do is to nominate representatives to the Select Committee for a political solution," he added.
External Affairs Minister GL Peiris also criticised the calls for an international investigation.
“That the TNA is calling for an international probe is a matter for profound regret” Mr Peiris said.
Talks between the TNA and the Sri Lankan government have struggled from the onset due to disagreements on contentious issues, such as the devolution of police powers to the Tamil provinces.
Rajapaksa reiterated at this meeting that police powers will not be devolved to the provinces, one of the most basic demands, by the TNA.
