Danish MEP condemns Sivanesan killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 22:42 GMT]
Danish Member of European Parliament, Søren Søndergaard, condemned the murder of K. Sivanesan, Sri Lanka's Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian calling on the Danish government and the entire International Community to condemn the killing of Tamil parliamentarians, and to take efforts to help Sri Lanka reach a just peace that could benefit people of all ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, media sources in Denmark said. He also expressed concern that Norway has carried a significant burden in shouldering peace mediation task with little assistance from others.

Sri Lanka Tamil Member of Parliament was killed in a bomb attack Thursday. He is the fifth Tamil parliamentarian to be killed under mysterious circumstances. The murders indicate an escalation of the current conflict in Sri Lanka, after the Sri Lanka government chose military approach to meet the challenges posed by the Tigers, the paper said.

The assassinated MP, K. Sivanesan, visited Denmark last year where he met the MEP, Søren Søndergaard, from the Peoples Movement Party and others to discuss the serious situation in Sri Lanka, including the risk that he too could be killed by Sri Lankan nationalists, the paper added.



The following is the excerpt of Søren Søndergaard's message:

"I am deeply grieved on learning the murder of K. Sivanesan whom I met a short period ago in the past. Our conversation dealt with the need for International Community's effort to bring peace to Sri Lanka and a clear condemnation of the murders of four Tamil parliamentarians there. He being the fifth is very tragic. The murder is an expression of the current oppression of the Tamils in Sri Lanka which I have personally experienced on my visit there.

"I will, therefore, urge the Danish government and the International Community to condemn the murder of each of the parliamentarians and to make an effort to bring justified peace that could benefit all ethnic groups.

"This task seems to have been conveniently relegated to Norway only.

"I pass on my condolences to Sivanesan's family and the Tamils in Denmark who knew and respected him. The fight for peace and justice in Sri Lanka should continue."