September 1, 2012
The LTTE was able to acquire weapons from overseas with ease during the
war, Charge d’Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United
Nations Major General Shavendra Silva has said.
Silva told a UN Conference on preventing, combating and eradicating the
illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, that in the post conflict phase,
Sri Lanka is beginning to uncover not only the extensive overseas networks that
have facilitated the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons but also
the extensive arsenal that terrorists had been able to acquire.
“The massive stockpile of weapons which were recovered from the
terrorists during and following the end of the conflict bears testimony to the
ease with which terrorists could procure such weapons globally and reiterates
the urgent need to eliminate this illicit trade,” Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission
to the UN quoted Major General Shavendra Silva as saying.
He noted that with the eradication of terrorism, efforts are being taken
to make a fresh analysis on small arms and light weapons particularly in the
areas that were unlawfully occupied by terrorists. He also said that action is
being envisaged to take steps nationwide to recover illicit weaponry and
ammunition.
“Sri Lanka is a country which has experienced, first hand, the
destruction that can be caused by the illicit trade in such weapons. For a
period of nearly 30 years, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a
terrorist outfit, which unlawfully occupied areas in the North and East of Sri
Lanka, made ample use of the easy access to small arms and light weapons
globally to procure and use such weapons with lethal repercussions on a
democratically elected Government and its people,” he said.
